TrainerRoad Adaptive Training Review: A Faster Future

TrainerRoad is a A bit of an anomaly in the world of bike training apps.it lacks candy-colored gamer bling Zwift, offbeat humor and a range of riding options system, and the personal style of the human coach (expensive monthly) training peak. But the platform is very effective in fulfilling its unique mission: to make you a faster cyclist.

The platform through its adaptive training, the system creates goal-based training plans that are updated daily using machine intelligence software that responds to a rider’s unique strengths, weaknesses and schedule constraints. The program analyzes each workout by measuring how easy it is for the rider to complete each training zone.

For example, if you smash a VO2 max workout, the program will adapt and spit out a harder workout option the next day. Or on a day when riding feels tough, this program will relax you a bit and provide a slightly less intense follow-up workout. You can choose to accept the adjusted program or stick to the original difficulty. The more you use it, the more data it can use to fine-tune your training, sort of like a Google Nest thermostat that will fine-tune your home’s temperature over time by studying your daily usage patterns. Since it tracks you over time, it’s sold as a subscription service; you pay $20 a month, or $189 if you buy it for an entire year at once.

First, TrainerRoad creates a custom training plan to help you prepare for a future race, ride or event. It will ask you to select the race type (gravel, mountain, road), race date, and your preferred indoor and outdoor workout days. For those who have no competing goals and are only interested in working out, there is also the TrainNow option, TrainerRoad allows you to choose from three categories of daily workouts: Climbing, Offensive and Endurance.

Adaptive training may be smart, but it’s still not smart enough to eliminate the need for ramp testing to establish a baseline “functional threshold power” (FTP). The highest average power that can be sustained over the course of 45 to 60 minutes is indicated in watts. These FTP tests are incorporated into the training program at the beginning of the experience, and then you retest every four to six weeks to recalibrate the program based on your “level of progress”. These progression levels are how the app tracks your growing fitness in each training zone. They’re rated on a scale of 1 to 10 and are calculated using three methods: machine learning, the vast amount of anonymized data the company has collected from millions of workouts done by other athletes, and your own recent workout performance.

TrainerRoad’s adaptive training appealed to me. In my testing, I found it efficient, economical, and easy to use.I was also inspired podcast Company production.Users I’ve heard from include Masters National Champion Jessica Brooks, a busy mom with a full-time, high-level job; and American Para Cycling silver medalist Francesco Magisano, who is a blind; and David Curtis, a mountain biker who ran less than 9 hours off the couch Leadville 100 within nine months.

I tested the app in Minnesota one December when I took a 4-week hiatus from cycling due to minor surgery. Without a serious training goal, I set an imaginary 100-mile gravel race at the end of May as my goal. I ran the slope test in the recommended Erg mode; short for ergometer, which is a mode commonly found on bicycle trainers that lets the trainer set the amount of resistance for you based on your pedaling output. In my testing, there was a time when pedaling was so easy that I couldn’t spin fast enough to keep up with the baseline power.