Does trainerroad have a cyber monday deal?

We aren't running any special deals for cyber Monday. We feel pretty confident that our product is already quite the bargain! :) And you can always hop on the yearly plan which is already at a discounted rate.

Cheers,

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Hey man! Thanks for all the kind feedback! We're stoked to have you training with us. :)

Have you considered starting our full-distance triathlon plan to prepare you for Ironman Wales? That would be our recommendation since you'll also be given run and swim instructions in addition to your structured cycling plan to prepare you for your event.

There are a lot of grey areas when it comes to classifying everything in zones. So while 'zone' implies black & white boundaries, the zone 2 (endurance) work that is meant to spur aerobic adaptation is truly anywhere in that "zone", with some overlap as well. There is a lot of overlap between zones. You can be a lot of places within a level of effort and still get the targeted stress on a particular system.

That said, our training plans and workouts strategically vary the intensity in these "zones" at the right time to spur the right type of adaptation in accordance with your training goals. But to answer your question, zone 2 should be used to work on your aerobic endurance, and in order to spur that type of adaptation you'll need to train in that zone for long periods of time (like those longer efforts you mentioned). Working in your active recovery zone wouldn't be as effective at these aims, but that doesn't mean tempo or sweet spot work couldn't help in that department either. Remember, a lot of overlap here.

Regarding your question on cadence, if you plan to ride the hills in a big, grinding gear this could help. But Coach Chad rarely recommends high-force/low-cadence training for really anything other than strengthening the musculo-tendonous system and correcting poor form by analyzing the slower pedaling. Although it seems like the opposite, moving a big gear slowly is actually exhausting your endurance fibers instead of helping the strength fibers like you'd think.

Hope this helps! Cheers!

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I just got over the worst cold/flu ever. I literally haven't ridden in 3 weeks. I was about to start Sweet Spot Base next week. I was going to do a few rides this week but is it ok to dive right into SSB after a few weeks off?

(Not a joke...)

What's the difference between the 40k tt build and Olympic tri build?

I am 48, second winter on TR, middle of the pack long course goals. Need some zip as well as increased FTP

Thanks

You really want to listen to your body here. Coming back from an illness too soon can really affect the rest of your season, so I think doing those few rides this week before getting into SSB is smart.

If you're just starting SSB from square one, there's no additional adjustments you really need to make. Just make sure you're feeling good and fresh since an FTP test is the first workout of your plan and that will set the pace for the next 6 weeks. :)

Happy Training!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

We don't offer a 40k TT Build plan so I assume you're referring to our Specialty Plans. :) A main factor that sets these two plans apart is the fact that the Olympic Triathlon plans also include run and swim instructions which you can find by expanding the 'week tips'. And of course that each are geared toward those types of events/disciplines.

TrainerRoad training plans progress through three sequential phases: Base, Build and Specialty. The Base phase plans are where you'll cultivate strength and endurance skills to set the stage for further increases in fitness. The Build Phase plans are meant to focus on your short-punchy power, sustained power, or varying degrees of both. And the Specialty Phase plans are intended to refine those skills and specialize them for the particular discipline you're training for.

It is likely you'll see the most improvements in FTP in your Base and Build phases. The Specialty phase is more meant to make those skills you've cultivated as specific to their respective disciplines as possible.

Hope this helps — cheers!

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Nick--Can you suggest plans for these three phases of my schedule next year? I have not used trainer road before but interested in using this winter after marathon. I would bike 4/5 times a week and 7-10 hours. I'm looking to cycling instruction only as I have run/swim scheduled planned already.
12 weeks for 70.3 (then 2 week break)--- 8 weeks to build FTP--- 16 weeks for 140.6
Thanks!

Course! Since you already have your run and swim instructions, yet are preparing for half- and full-distance triathlons, it'll be wise to use a plan consisting of workouts aimed towards similar goals as your event (i.e. sustainable power, aerobic endurance and muscular endurance).

I think a solid choice would be to start your season with Sweet Spot Base (High-Volume), assuming you're alright with a little extra intensity. Once completing this you'll be right at your 70.3. Following your break (if you need it) jump right into Sustained Power Build (High-Volume) to focus on strength work, lactate tolerance, and maximum aerobic power intervals. After completing your Base and Build phases you'll be prepared to refine and specialize these skills for your Full-Distance tri. Choosing the Full-Distance Triathlon Specialty plan will be perfect to pave the way for a successful bike split.

You could technically use the Full-Distance plans for Base/Build/Specialty as well, but you mentioned the amount of time you'd like to train for the bike leg (7-10hrs) and I think Sweet Spot Base and Sustained Power Build would fit that time frame well, and also meet your goals as well. These choices are both highly effective in raising your FTP and establishing significant fitness gains.

Now, if I have my count right, you'll be finishing up your Specialty plan roughly 8 weeks before your Full-Distance tri. This would give you time to schedule about 2 weeks of low-intensity work before jumping back into Sustained Power Build for 4 weeks (first-half if fatigued, second-half if fresh) then use the final week (week 8) of your Full-Distance Triathlon Specialty plan to taper until your event.

Hope this helps — happy training!

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Hey Nick,

Looking for some guidance on which plans to follow for an upcoming cycle tour in Austria. This coming Monday (Dec 12th) marks 28 weeks till the beginning of the tour on June 25th. The tour includes 7 days of riding, approximately 470 miles and 60,000 feet of climbing. This is not my rodeo at these kind of rides. Our group has done a French Alps trip and an Italian Dolomites trip. I've done those past trips in Ironman preparation phase for Kona. I've retired from IM and have moved on the some ultra running. So, while I've got this ride 28 weeks away I've also got a 50 mile ultra during week 17.

My current thinking is to continue my running as usual. This is 6 days of running with up to 8 runs in a week. Most of this running is very aerobic running. I'd supplement this with the following:

Weeks 1-12 - Traditional base (low volume). This would be to keep essentially keep my body accustomed to riding.

Weeks 13-20 - Sustained power build (low or mid volume). Do as much as I can handle and still keep up with the running. Necessary taper in and out of the ultra run in week 17.

Weeks 21-28 - Climbing road race (mid or high volume). The running would stop or be significantly cut back.

Let me know you thoughts.

Thanks

Hi Nick,

Did IMWI and IMLOU this year and beginning again to now build toward next year and want to be bike focused in the winter with the hopes of being stronger and faster next year at IMMT and IMCHOO. Currently been biking 5-8 hrs a week and mostly all endurance base and sweet spot type workouts. Been running easy as well(20-30 Miles/Week) and swimming sparingly. want to know what are your thoughts as what to follow the next few months to increase FTP and make for a great IM season next year. I hear a lot about a bread and butter 2 x 20 workout and wonder if there was a name for it. The only one I see is the 2 x 20 FTP test. Thank you.

Hi Trainerroad.

Thank you so much for supporting erg over BT for Tacx. Have made an awesome product even better (TR, that is).

I am currently doing SSB, targeting a HIM in the summer. I had a look at a calendar and see that I have a 4-week gap if I follow through build and specialty.
What phase (base, build or specialty) would be the most beneficial to use as "padding"?

Thank you

Hey guys,

On your podcast a couple episodes ago you were talking about spacing out anaerobic training (specifically weight training) and aerobic training to put time in between working each system. I was hoping to learn more about that. Can you point me to any of the research that talks about this in depth? I assume it's somewhere on PubMed but I can't seem to locate it. Thanks in advance!

Any thoughts on having a Power Meter offset calibration with a smart trainer. There are several threads with people trying to figure out the difference between their power meter and smart trainer. When using PowerMatch, it still seems fairly inconsistent for me. This is especially true when doing 100rpm or more as per the workout text. The resistance doesn't seem to catch up and I'm easily 20w short of the target until I get down to around 85rpm or so. It seems like I should be setting up a manual offset for a more consistent workout. Any thoughts on this?

Eichorn

Hi Nick,

There is one thing that is pretty minor and that should be an easy fix.
If I access my career using mobile web page it automatically shifts to next week after last ride for the week. So in case of e.g. HIM plan on Sundays I see weekly tips (and running/swim trainings) from wrong week - on week 7 i see week 8 - since web page moves to the new week after last ride on Saturday.
Right now on Sundays I have to manually navigate full training plan page to see weekly tips for my Sunday trainings. Its pretty confusing.

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch!

Have you considered getting into a plan that'll incorporate all three disciplines into a training plan? If so, we offer three volumes of Full-Distance triathlon plans. This of course would spread you focus among swimming and running as well, but you'll be able to use our software to provide the interface for your cycling training to get faster. The running and swimming we'll provide written instructions and ways to determine pace/effort for. You'll find the instructions in the training plan's "Weekly Tips". Feel free to check those out here: Triathlon Training Plans

You'll progress through a Base phase to establish a foundation of strength/aerobic endurance to lay the groundwork for the rest of the season. Then move to focus working on short, sprint power, sustainable power, or varying mixtures of the two in a Build phase. The Build and Base is where a majority of FTP improvements are commonly seen. Then you'll move into whats known as the Specialty Phase which is meant to sharpen and refine those skills you've cultivated over the previous 20 weeks. Moving through the entire Full-Distance BBS cycle will bring you to about 28 weeks of training where your training will taper to prepare you for your events.

The 2 x 20 workout you mentioned is 'Eichorn' — 2 intervals at 90% FTP with a 5-minute rest in between. :)

Hope this helps!

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Heck ya! We're stoked to bring that to the table now. :)

Since its 4 weeks, your best bet would be to maintain your "freshness" by repeating 1 of the final 2 weeks in your Specialty plan in that interim 'til your event. Its a short enough timeframe that will allow you to effectively maintain your race-day readiness, but not enough time to revisit a Build phase to set stages for further gains in fitness. A partial repeat of the Build phase is what we'll recommend for users with gaps any greater than 5 weeks between goal events.

Feel free to let us know if you run into anymore questions.

Cheers,

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

We've heard some of these concerns about PowerMatch and are focusing on making some changes that will alleviate these concerns. We've actually been compiling a bit of a report of-sorts to narrow down exactly what concerns people are having — I'll add your's to that so we can investigate further. We appreciate your feedback.

In the meantime of those changes, an offset can be a reliable (temporary) solution. But of course we want to make sure you'll be able to use PowerMatch without issue, so rest-assured we are working towards doing so. Some people will also use a head-unit to monitor any discrepancies in the power measured from their trainer to that from their power meter to make it easier on the trainer to adjust resistance. The nature of the power-measuring devices' power is more sensitive and can cause some issues when dictating the resistance of the trainer. That said, using the power measured from the trainer can be just as useful for your training purposes. Consistency is the key variable with indoor training as you can monitor your progress.

Hope this helps!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Thanks for letting us know this! It should definitely keep that previous week up to avoid that confusion. :) I'll relay this to the team in the morning.

Cheers,

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Hey nick
Sent you a PM. If you have a min
Thanks

I just set up my P1 pedals and am using a Kickr, I know it's been said that transmitting via Bluetooth won't work, but transmitting ant+ is fine, I currently use my phone with TR, and will be getting an ant+ dongle for my computer to run TR moving forward. My main question for all you out there is regards to the watts difference, I have read that most have a difference ~5-10 watts, when on a Kickr, but when I go for a ride the Pedals are anywhere from 30-40 watts less than the Kickr at any given time. So when I get my ant+ dongle should I just drop my FTP by 30-40 and that would give me a relatively similar workload?

Thanks

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Ask me how much I love my Kiwami LD Aero Trisuit

I'm in SSB 2 and on my second season of using Trainerroad. I've had really great FTP increases and a solid improvement in my race performance. Thank you!

My question: I'm finding that I feel like it's taking me much more time to feel warmed up than it used to when I was less fit, and so I'm finding some of the early intervals really difficult to get through, especially if there is any over-FTP work early in a workout. For example, I did Haeckel today and found that I didn't feel warmed up until maybe 25 minutes into a 60 minute workout, when I'd finished the first 4 of 12 intervals. After that, the intervals were much, much easier to get through and my heart rate came down substantially, too.

Is there anything I can or should do about this? I have enough time to add some short (10-15 min) warmup intervals pre-workout if it would let me hit my main intervals feeling stronger. Would more warmup be a good idea? Bad idea? Is there a good workout built for this already?

Nick,

Sorry if this was answered elsewhere (couldn't find it using the brilliant Slowtwitch search function), but my Kickr (the new version) cadence is all over the place in TR. It's like watching a power meter without smoothing jumping from 70 to 99 constantly. On my Garmin it is not having the same issues which leads me to believe it's a TR issue. Any ideas/solutions or should I submit a ticket through TR?

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Here are a few that discuss the topic:

pponline article — strength and endurance training responses

PubMed — HIT training responses

PubMed — Training Responses under carb availability

This should do the trick. :)

Cheers,

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