Was very open to giving athletica a shot, but two things just stopped me in my tracks. #1. I don’t use garmin or strava, I use Hamerhead and Coros (I looked past this opened a strava hated that too and not deleted it) #2. How do I mark sessions completed when I don’t have a data file?
It is simply ridiculous to think people will wear devices for everything.
Very flawed app so far, hope things improve, but my two week trial was essentially a waste
Hi @STeaveA . Thanks for your willingness to try Athletica and for your feedback. As @Lagoon mentions, Athletica ideally serves the user that is passionate about sport science and enjoys learning about the interactions between sensor measured physiology and performance. In fact, Athletica users are now served by three experienced PhD level sport scientists (example review and analysis here). As you note, it works best on the Garmin system, but also works with nearly all other systems via Strava. We are working on further integrations with other systems and these are coming soon.
For your swim session, simply click on your ‘Details and Analysis’ tab (big green button), fill in your time and distance, your RPE and feel and any comments you might have, press save, and your load will be captured. I’ve provided an example here for you on my account.
Latest release: Athletica is now using Critical Pace/Power (CP) instead of the FTP method to calculate thresholds and training zones. Each zone individually is updated based on power/duration curves. Full details here.
One key aspect of Athletica is its seamless integration with your natural workout routine. It assesses your training progress without interrupting your activities, capturing your efforts without formal testing.
By analyzing your honest efforts during regular training sessions, Athletica accurately measures your power/pace profile, using this data to customize your training zones.
Does “honest efforts” mean “all out efforts”? Curious if Athletica requires maximum efforts at different durations to draw the power curve, or if it can estimate one from submaximal efforts (like Trainerroad or Intervals icu estimate FTP, for better or worse).
The latter would create big value IMO as my natural training routine doesn’t really include too many time trials, or indeed sessions with 10/10 RPE. (Maybe it would contain just enough of these under Athletica’s program?)
Generally speaking, maximum efforts at different durations are needed to reliably approximate thresholds and construct a valid profile. To our knowledge, there is no proven reliability for single or multiple sub-maximal efforts.
However, the efforts Athletica needs to construct a profile can be quite variable in power output, as Athletica adopts the method of the maximal mean power. As a consequence, these efforts do not need to be time-trials at constant power output for a given duration, but they can be casual rides punctuated by maximum efforts with different duration (a bit random as you see fit). This methodology is widely adopted in endurance sports monitoring, as it is perceived as less invasive by the athletes (i.e. invisible monitoring).
Here’s my profile today including Athletica generated insights. I did three random max efforts across 2 hours (30", 40", 20’) because the AI told me those were missing. I like how the AI is telling me what my deficiencies are from a profiling standpoint so I know in my mind what I want to work on in my training (read Insights above the profile). Each athlete’s insight is unique.
We do have that option available for our beta group, a feature we call user-time constraints. Declare your constraints for each exercise, each day, etc. and the loading remains optimized. The logic for this is heavy and still in development and so not yet for full general release. Probably within 2 months. Example here:
Select your rowing event, set your training volume, and create a personalized adaptive plan. For coaches and athletes wanting to self coach. Feature includes direct integration with Concept 2. Sessions can be done indoor or on-water. Usual Athletica features apply.
Seconded @Mmcewen. Mobile app would be nice, but the webpage works pretty well on the phone. On the laptop I just drag and drop once a week those workouts that don’t quite line up with my schedule or move them on-demand when life changes, and can easily substitute workouts with the workout wizard.
@STeaveA: After having used self-built plans, 8020 plans in TrainingPeaks, and TriDot premium, I found Athletica more user friendly and adaptable by far (much better than TriDot and about equal to TP), while also getting the algorithmic benefit of future training adjusting based on current work. I don’t have a coach to do that for me so it works well and doesn’t feel ham fisted at all.
Oh, and they take user feedback and feature requests seriously which is really promising.
We are excited to announce a new partnership with Cal Tri Events, bringing Athletica’s AI-powered, science-based training plans to their athletes. This collaboration is a massive step forward for us, and we’re thrilled to align with Cal Tri’s mission to make endurance sports safe, affordable, and accessible for everyone. Just like Cal Tri, we believe that high-quality, elite-level coaching should be available to all athletes, regardless of their experience or budget.
We also owe a lot to this amazing community. Your critical (and sometimes harsh!) feedback helped us grow and refine Athletica into the product it is today. Without the invaluable input from SlowTwitch members, we wouldn’t be where we are. And we know we still have a ways to go.
To learn more about the partnership, check out the full announcement here.
Thank you again SlowTwitchers. Please keep the feedback coming…
Interface change is now improved and modernized for athletes and coaches. Details as follows.
Athlete View
Streamlined Visual Design: We’ve focused on making the calendar view cleaner and more intuitive, so you can quickly get the information you need at a glance.
Enhanced Flexibility: You now have the option to hide or show detailed information.
What’s New for Coaches?
Your Brand, Front and Center: Showcase your coaching identity with customizable branding options. Add your Brand Color, Branding Text, and Branding Picture to create a unique platform experience for your athletes. Athletica remains in the background as the engine powering your expertise, while your coaching style takes the spotlight.
Streamlined Coach UI: Navigate with ease thanks to a cleaner, more intuitive design. Spend less time searching and more time coaching.
Searchable Athlete Library: Quickly find and manage your athletes’ plans in seconds.
Searchable Workout Library: Locate and reuse your favorite sessions effortlessly with enhanced search functionality.
Compact Weekly Training Totals: Gain a clear overview of weekly training metrics across your roster at a glance.
Enhanced Communication Portal: Connect with athletes using a more intuitive messaging system, now including both text and voice capabilities.
Why These Updates Matter for Coaches
At Athletica, we’re all about empowering you to do what you do best:
Understand your athletes’ context to tailor their plans.
Communicate effectively to build trust and buy-in.
Inspire belief in the process that drives performance and health.
While we handle the science, data, and optimization behind the scenes, you remain the architect of your athletes’ success. Together, we create the ideal balance of intelligence and human connection to help every athlete thrive.
As a Reminder
The Athletica coach account is free to use, with costs incurred on a per-athlete basis. You can choose whether you or your athletes cover the cost. We also offer bulk athlete discounts to make scaling your coaching practice even easier.
With more detailed assessment of your training across the week, as well as HRV and recovery analysis.
Finally, studies show that athletes perform better when they understand the objectives of their workouts… so every workout in Athletica now has an audio & video description from yours truly. Here’s an example:
At Athletica, we’re always looking for ways to enhance your experience as an athlete. We are really excited to announce that we’ve partnered with Velocity to bring our adaptive AI-driven sessions directly to you.
What it means to you:
Seamless syncing of your Athletica workouts into your Velocity homepage, and back to Athletica after ended workout.
Smarter training options: Access live sessions with Athletica coaches, replays and on-demand sessions.
Enhanced, social experience: social connections make training so much more fun, and we are proud to be able to offer social, immersive environment with expert coaching.
Those following this thread will know that this has been in development for over a year. Finally, Version 1.0 has just been released and is now available for Apple and Android.
This first version focuses on core use cases that most athletes need daily, while leaving more advanced features to the web app for now.
What You Can Do in the Mobile App Today:
Log in and out
Review upcoming session details Check completed sessions & add subjective feedback View AI Coach session feedback
Move, delete, and add sessions from your library Explore Workout Wizard alternatives Scroll & filter session charts with ease
What’s Not in This Version (Yet):
Account & connection management Training plan changes Performance, recovery & power/pace charts
Daily AI Coach summary
Manually add session data
We designed this app to prioritize ease of use while ensuring it covers the majority of your daily training needs. More advanced functions will remain on the web app (or mobile browser) for now, and we’ll continue evolving the mobile experience based on your feedback.
Log in and out
Account & connection management