As a self coached cyclist (Cat 4, Job, family…) I bought a Sunnto watch with coaching and also Firstbeat Athelete because I was really intrigued by their research into EPOC and Training Effect as a work out guide and over training indicator. I realize the short comings of the coach are max heart rate instead of latic threshold heart rate (my Threshold is above average ~95% though this doesn’t equate to speed!) so I’ve adjusted activity level and max heart rate above my real level to try and compensate, but what I’ve found is it consistently makes me UNDER train. After 6 months of Die hard following the coach, I got off it, moved to 3 hard, 1 easy week (more or less depending on races) and in 2 months saw much more improvement than following the coach (improvement measured by max Watts sustanable for 30min - i.e. CP30 ). Has anybody else had different experiences? Is the coaching and research flawed?
I seem to find it is much easier and more effective to have very easy days, and days where I spend a lot of time at my threshold HR or intervals above that.