Why Pro Triathlete Jordan Rapp Loves Group Workouts

Jordan Rapp’s race resume is no joke. The pro triathlete is the 2011 ITU Long Distance World Champion and a six-time IRONMAN champion. Training is a full-time job for the Southern California-based father of four.

Until recently, it was his only full-time job — about a month ago he added Zwift engineer/group workout leader to his resume. One of the first to arrive at the office and one of the last to leave, he sneaks in plenty of Zwift rides and runs throughout the day.

After years of solitary training (because not many people can keep up) he’s loving group workouts. Zwift’s technology does more than level the playing field: Zwift unifies the riders.

“Zwift’s Group Workouts are something you can’t create outside. Everyone is training as hard as they can, but the group is staying together. If this was outside, people would immediately be off the front or getting dropped. It’s nice to be banded together,” says Rapp, explaining one of the primary benefits of the Group Workouts — if you continue pedaling, you stay with the group.

And that’s just the tip of the Watopia Volcano, as far as motivation goes. When Rapp sees non-pro riders like you and me digging deeper, he’s motivated to follow suit.

“Even when you want to soft pedal, you look at the watts everyone else is putting out and it pushes you to keep going. Where I probably would have stopped at my fourth interval, I see everyone else pushing to do five, and I want to do the same,” explains Rapp.

Jordan also appreciates how contagious the camaraderie can be.

“You quickly realize that you are not trying to beat the other riders. Even if you see someone generating more watts than you, you realize they are working for those watts, and it motivates you to go harder too. You never think they are trying to inflate their own numbers.”

Join Jordan’s weekly group workout on Thursdays.