We see these main categories for winter training

1. Higher Intensity
2. Zone 2 — Low Intensity
3. Polarized or mostly easy with some intensity
4. Classic Periodization
5. Chase the squirrels — How many people ride in Zwift

So there is a lot that can be said about each of these choices.

Let’s start with, any of them might be the best choice for you!!!

If you have any risk of losing motivation and stopping training during the winter that by far the most important one is the one that brings you the most enjoyment, and having fun should always be a top priority.

Any of these choices can be done in any training app but option #2, #3, and #5 stand out for TrainerDay and our training app being one of the best choices. Any of these choices can be static training, meaning do it as planned no matter what. Any of them can also be made a more dynamic style of training, meaning change your training during the workout. We are strong believers in dynamic training and training by feel.

ERG mode should be a convenience not a contract!

Our app works extremely well with the dynamic model of training because you can go quickly from HR mode to ERG mode to slope mode within a workout as well as very quickly raise the intensity and even merge different workouts together on the fly.

I am not answering the question. Which is best?

Regarding #1 — High intensity indoor training. “i.e. TrainerRoad style.” You can design hard plans in Coach Jack or pick from our community workouts and plans but is this the best choice? Many riders understandably want to do a reverse periodization style of training, meaning high intensity interval training indoors in the winter and just have fun outdoors and not do structured training. This sounds perfect but it does have some draw backs.

Many people ride fairly hard outdoors so that can mean that you end up with a December to June or longer doing higher intensity training, this includes your more focused high intensity at the beginning, which is the reverse of normal endurance training (i.e. reverse periodization).

The downside risk is that anyone riding like this is at high risk of burnout, over training or at least lowered motivation by the time they get to May/June. I was talking to pro coach Andrea Morelli (the designer of Coach Jack plans). Andrea, does not feel reverse periodization working very well from a top performance perspective and you would need to really do it right it to make it work for you.

One addition to to a high intensity winter could include doing a small base period in early March to let your body recover, but that’s not easy for most people. Beautiful weather starting and you need to do focus on going really slow outdoors, good luck with that, strong dedication. Anyway it can be done, but just training hard in the winter and hoping for the best in late spring is not likely effective.

Option #2 — i.e. pure base — can be very effective but you need to fully buy into the idea, it’s a mental struggle if you don’t believe in it. Watch some Zone 2 GCN videos or google Inigo San Milan and see what he is suggesting. It has been shown this can be very effective on as little as 6 hours a week, but this is much longer discussion. One great benefit is you can be super hungry and excited when outdoor season starts and another is that indoor you can just watch Netflix and pedal easy :)

Number #3 and #4 overlap but this is very classic style and how most pros train. They don’t exactly follow the 80/20 principal of polarized training but they do include a a lot of easy in their training, getting progressively harder towards race season.

Coach Jack creates great plans that fit traditional periodization and you could just do base, build and peak periods. Indoors it could be more structured and outdoors can move to more dynamic training by feel just focusing mostly on volume and trying to control the urge and moderate your intensity so your outdoor season starts a bit easier and moves to higher intensity as your season progresses. It does not need to be super strict training to see good/great results just following the basic good practices in training. You don’t need to be spending long periods of time at threshold at the beginning of the season, wait until you get closer to your peak season. Don’t forget the critical daily, weekly, monthly and yearly recovery periods. i.e. Sleep, days off, recovery weeks and base periods.

And finally #5 — Chasing squirrels it sounds negative but actually can be very fun and the reason that Zwift is so successful as people get motivated by other people around and want to chase the ones that are about your speed or race. Generally this would not be considered an optimum training plan and aligns much closer to high intensity winters, but if it motivates you and you are smart with it probably including a mini base period in the late winter early spring it might be part of a plan that works for you. It’s not the way most pros train but we are strong believers in doing what’s fun and trying to manage your stress and health around this.

If you want to chase squirrles but do it right include easy days in ERG mode. You can even use our app to control your trainer in Zone 2 heart rate mode while riding in Zwift and recording your workout.

At TrainerDay we are just here to here to help cyclists solve their problems. That can include smarter training, avoiding burn out, reaching peak performance or simple just making it easier to do the workouts they way you want on the platform you want. If we can be a part of your solution that is great.

Remember buying TrainerDay from our site is $3.99/month or $39.95/year and comes with 100% money back guarantee. Buying from Apple or Google costs a bit more and we can’t offer the money back. Thanks so much.

Check it out https://trainerday.com

What type of training should I do this winter? was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s much better to use our paid version :) And use our calendar sync or “send to” option.

See below. Clicking send to allows you to send it to the platform of your choice.

If you use the free or paid version of TrainingPeaks then you can send workouts there that get distributed to all the other major platforms like Rouvy, Zwift, MyWhoosh, you name it.

Our Calendar Sync Feature sync’s to TrainingPeaks, IntervalsICU or Garmin every time you make a change to your calendar or each day in the case of TrainingPeaks. We only sync today, for free TrainingPeaks accounts and 2 weeks for all the other platforms.

Using TrainerDay Workouts in Other Platforms was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is the place to learn everything about TrainerDay and some overview of training and indoor trainers. Our Youtube Channel and our Forum are both good sources of info but there are also links to some videos and forum posts below. A few good book ideas below :)

Indoor Training and TrainerDay Basics

• Beginners Part 1, Part 2 (Setup), Different Types of Indoor Training
• Different kinds of Indoor Trainers (Smart, SmartBike, Dumb, Spin Bike…) Smart vs not so smart
• Workout Basics Different Modes — ERG, Slope, Resistance and HR
• Coach Jack Overview
• Adding Workouts to our Mobile App
• Using TrainerDay Workouts in Other Platforms
• Speed and Distance Indoors

TrainerDay Features

• Calendar vs My Plans
• Creating Workouts — The basics. Sets and Reps, Interval Comments, Target Modes, Importing Routes
• Seeing TrainerDay app on the big screen (Broadcast Feature)
• FAQ: Why don’t the workouts on my TrainingPeaks calendar show in the TD calendar? This is not how it works. Calendar sync sends TD workouts to TP and the WOD feature shows workouts in our training app.
  FAQ: Why don’t the workouts on my Intervals Calendar show in the TD calendar? This is not how it works. Calendar sync sends TD workouts to Intervals and the WOD feature shows workouts in our training app.
• Using IntervalsICU or TrainingPeaks for your calendar
• Using TrainerDay plans on Zwift, Rouvy, MyWhoosh and More
• An Honest Opinion on TrainerRoad vs TrainerDay
• Organizing and keeping a workout library

Deeper Dive into Training Concepts

• Training Plan Blocks (Base, Build, Peak and Event), and deeper discussion
• Start with the basics Consistency and Volume
• Recovery 101, Increasing Work Capacity
• Do I need a training plan?
• Improving Your FTP (or not)
• Consistency and Strength Training (from our forum)
• What is an SFR (Low Cadence) Workout?
• Why FTP based training is 1/2 wrong, W’Bal for Anaerobic Workouts
• Zone 2 Training FAQ (from our forum)
• Testing — What kind and how often should I test my FTP?
• Polarized Training including Sweet Spot and TSS Misconceptions
• A Rider Success Story

TrainerDay — Learn “Everything” was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

So indoor trainers output speed and distance. The problem is these trainers don’t know your weight or typical riding position or drag coefficient, rolling resistance and a host of other factors that equate to speed. Also speed and distance are based on gearing. While in slope mode this is not horribly off in ERG mode you can be in any gear and be going really “fast” or really “slow.” Because power is not depending on the gearing. There is a much more direct relationship between power, your weight and speed and distance.

So at TrainerDay we do not use this speed coming from the trainer but convert power to speed/distance. We also add maps to routes to your rides if you turn them on in our Strava settings, the climbs will slow your speeds a lot.

So you can turn off the maps if you want or only use interesting places which is flat. And you can further adjust your power to speed ratio to more closely match your distances outside using Drag Coefficient below.

Speed and Distance Indoors was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For many of us seeing progress is inspirational and keeps us motivated. That is one big benefit of FTP improvements. We think being motivated or at least consistent is the most important factor in performance cycling and health in general.

The bad part of putting so much focus on FTP is a few things. When you start to see FTP based progress, you think this is the best training there is. Hard/long sweet spot training can show some great results in short term FTP improvements for example. The problem is FTP is just a test, although in general your FTP or FTP watts per kilogram does relate to performance, specific goal based training and a wide variety of training produces better overall seasonal results. Also it’s very important to look at seasonal improvements not just short term FTP boosts. If you are continuously trying to boost your FTP, it will flatline. I think almost everyone realizes that periodization is important but then many don’t do a very good job of seasonal variety. Your FTP should drop down a bit and then build back up to new highs.

Also FTP tests have an anaerobic contribution so even short term sprint work will improve a ramp test for example but is likely not doing that much for your aerobic system. Aerobic changes come slowly over a long period of time.

Also when people are focused on FTP improvement, doing Zone 2 heart rate is very scary. They can feel they are not as strong and trying to do sustained threshold feels painful, oh my I am losing everything. But those that have the mental power to make it through a late fall / early winter of Zone 2 come out in peak form in the late spring with tons of motivation and realize this is the way forward.

Anyway, this is all very personal and depends on your circumstances and goals. FTP focused improvements can make sense.

Taking the cycling camp approach of a short 10 day boot camp period with doing cycling workouts everyday can cause some rapid boosts but this approach is not sustainable long term.

Improving FTP was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Four Modes of TrainerDay

Mode 1 — ERG

ERG is perfect for a few cases. One is when you just want to watch a movie or not think about the training itself but hit specific power targets. This is specially good for training in Zones 1 thru 4. It can also work reasonably well for Zone 5 with some adjustments. Most workouts are designed around your FTP but there is a problem with workouts that are Zone 5 or higher.

Generally ERG is the main workhorse of indoor workouts. We believe training should be more dynamic based on how you feel, but ERG works well, you must might want to press the + or - buttons in our app at times. You don’t need to kill yourself on the days that just feel a bit off.

Slope Mode

Our app has slope mode which you can instantly switch to at the click of a button. You also can design workouts that automatically switch to slope mode with a specific slope angle (design your own hills).

Slope mode is great because you can use your gears and cadence to control your power output and you can decide how closely you want to hit your desired power targets for each interval. It’s just like Zwift but you can ride at a sustained specific slope as long as you want and more easily control your power output. ERG mode does not work well on short intervals, how short depends on the trainer you own but some where around 10–15 seconds are as short as works well in ERG mode, in that range it’s better to manually control your power with slope mode. Read more here

Resistance Mode

Resistance mode is like slope mode but instead up to a 25 degree slope (very rare to do 25%, 3–10% is more common) you specify resistance from 1–100%. The actual power output depends on cadence and your specific model of trainer. We do not have any automatic resistance mode but really slope and resistance are the same and slope mode is more standardly used. You can switch from allowing switching Slope mode to using Resistance mode in our Other Settings.

Heart Rate — HR Mode

Heart rate mode is a very specific mode that automatically controls your trainers power target (ERG mode) based on your target heart rate. If your heart rate is too high it will lower your power target and the opposite if it is too low. It moves very slowly giving your heart rate time to catch up. This works as a limit not an average. Meaning if you say 120 limit we try to keep it just under 120. Some people like ERG for the warmup and HR for some good Zone 2 HR based training.

You can see in this video you can design workouts that atomically switches in and out of any of these modes.

Mixing and Matching Cycling Modes for Indoor Training was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Choosing your active plan. “In Mobile App” Below sets the calendar to be your active plan in our mobile app.

Below would set a “My Plans” plan to active.

Each time you complete a workout in our app it will ask if you want to consider it completed and then it will move to the next workout then next time you go to the Plans tab or the Today tab in our mobile app. See below, rather than specifying a date, it just says “Day 1.” You can skip ahead if you would like and it will just ignore the previous workouts.

Our Calendar has many features but generally from a training perspective in our app it is just a calendar for showing your planned and completed activities.

My Plans vs Calendar was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

When you select “Specific Event Date” — Coach Jack supports up to 4 block types. Base, Build, Peak and Event Blocks.

Through out your year following quality periodization principals, will make a huge difference in the how you feel, reduce your risks of injury and help you reach peak performance at the right time of the year. Many people try to keep peak performance all year long and this is a great way to stop your forward progress and burn out.

There are different methods of periodization that can work. It could be cycles of 3 months, 6 months or a full year.

Each block has a purpose

Base Block — Aerobic increase or at least maintenance and rest preparation for the harder blocks. This might be CJ recommend blocks or HR Zone 2 focus for example.

Build Block — Start off easy from base, and slowly build to more duration and intensity. You don’t need to kill yourself, starting easy with small increases will cause adaption. This period prepares you for a peak period.

Peak Block — This is typically a shorter period but by the end should be hard. We don’t believe you need to kill yourself in training but this will put the icing on the cake, especially if you mix in some fast group rides, full effort sprints outside or a b-race as a tune up to prepare you for your first a-race or primary event.

Event Block — After your first A-race or primary first event, you might have other events. During this time, it’s more about maintaining fitness and not burning out. If you have been cycling a while don’t expect big seasonal improvements during this time as you should have been close to your peak at your first A-level event.

This is very standard linear periodization. Joe Friel’s Cycling Training Bible goes into a lot of detail on this.

Try out TrainerDay’s Coach Jack Plan Builder today. 100% money back guarantee if you buy from our site. $3.99/month https://trainerday.com

Coach Jack Block Types was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What Is ZwiftPower?

ZwiftPower is a complementary platform designed to enhance the Zwift experience. Created by passionate cyclists and enthusiasts, it provides a range of features and tools that cater to the competitive side of virtual cycling. ZwiftPower acts as a bridge between Zwift and competitive cycling, offering a comprehensive set of analytics, performance metrics, and race results.

Key Features of ZwiftPower

1. Enhanced Race Results: ZwiftPower provides in-depth race results, which go beyond what Zwift offers. Riders can access comprehensive data about their performance, including power outputs, heart rate, and race times. This detailed information allows cyclists to assess their strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to make informed decisions about their training and racing strategies.
2. Categorized Racing: For those looking to compete in races that suit their skill level, ZwiftPower categorizes riders based on their performance. This ensures that racers are pitted against others of a similar caliber, creating a more competitive and enjoyable experience for all.
3. Anti-Sandbagging Measures: To maintain fairness in races, ZwiftPower employs strict anti-sandbagging measures. Riders with inconsistent or suspicious data may be disqualified, ensuring that races are fair and competitive.
4. Personal Performance Tracking: ZwiftPower allows users to track their performance over time. With the ability to view historical race data and trends, cyclists can monitor their progress and set goals for improvement.
5. Team Integration: For those riding as part of a team, ZwiftPower provides an invaluable platform for teams to manage and track their riders’ performance. This is especially important for team events and competitions.

Why ZwiftPower Matters

ZwiftPower is a game-changer for Zwift enthusiasts for several reasons:

1. Enhanced Competition: ZwiftPower takes Zwift racing to a new level by ensuring fair and competitive racing experiences. Riders are matched with competitors of similar abilities, creating exciting races for everyone.
2. Performance Insights: The detailed metrics and race data provided by ZwiftPower empower riders to gain valuable insights into their strengths and weaknesses. This information is crucial for setting realistic goals and improving overall performance.
3. Community Engagement: ZwiftPower fosters a strong sense of community within the platform. It allows riders to connect with others, share experiences, and engage in the spirit of healthy competition and camaraderie.
4. Training Benefits: Serious cyclists use ZwiftPower as a tool for structured training. With access to power profiles and data, riders can tailor their training programs to specific weaknesses or goals, ultimately becoming stronger and more competitive cyclists.
5. Race Integrity: ZwiftPower’s anti-sandbagging measures maintain the integrity of races. This ensures that participants adhere to fair play, making it a more enjoyable experience for all involved.

In conclusion, ZwiftPower is the perfect companion for Zwift enthusiasts seeking a more competitive and data-driven experience. With its comprehensive features, riders can gain invaluable insights into their performance, participate in fair and challenging races, and connect with a vibrant community of like-minded cyclists. If you’re serious about improving your cycling skills on Zwift, ZwiftPower is a must-have tool to unlock your true potential and take your virtual cycling to the next level.

Want to get faster on Zwift?

For $3.99/month TrainerDay offers 100% custom designed training plans that work with Zwift in one of 3 ways.

1. Connect TrainerDay, TrainingPeaks and Zwift and automatically sync calendars (Both free and paid TrainingPeaks works)
2. Download a plan of ZWO files and easily copy them to a folder on your computer to view in Zwift
3. Use our app to control your trainer while recording your workout in Zwift

TrainerDay Home - TrainerDay

ZwiftPower: Unleashing the True Potential of Zwift Cycling was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Principle of Polarized Training

Polarized training is a concept that has gained momentum in the world of cycling and endurance sports. It is rooted in the idea that focusing on two distinct training zones, high-intensity and low-intensity, can lead to more significant gains in performance and fitness. This means spending most of your training time at either very low intensity (zone 1) or very high intensity (zone 3) while minimizing time spent in the moderate-intensity zone (zone 2).

TrainerDay has a plan builder with very polarized plans. They are designed by Coach Andrea Morelli that has coached some of the best cyclists in the world. They don’t follow Dr Seiler’s suggested way to train but they are very time and results proven and do contain a lot of easy and hard and follow the same nature as Dr Seiler suggests.

Many cyclists including 4.3 w/kg and higher have followed Coach Jack plans with great success.

Successful Cyclists using the TrainerDay plan builder

https://forums.trainerday.com/t/my-experience-with-trainer-day-so-far/1355

Here is another
https://blog.trainerday.com/a-cyclist-and-his-coach-2dd63b2dc453

TrainerDay makes it easy and affordable

You can download an entire plan and load it into your Zwift folder on your PC or Mac. Here is a 40 second video how to do that

https://www.zwift.com/ca/video/how-to-running/import-custom-workouts

If you want even more flexibility and to make it super easy to edit your plan when you want. Use TrainerDay + TrainingPeaks (free version is fine) and you can sync calendars from TrainerDay to TrainingPeaks which will show your workout of the day (WOD) in Zwift each day. You can see a quick video on how to do that here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1pY9sKuSLk

The best part is TrainerDay is $3.99 a month and when you just feel like a quick workout you can use our all and get started on your workout in as little as 6-seconds.

This is an older video but it’s still just as fast or even faster now :)

Thanks so much and if you have not checked out TrainerDay workout selection. Take a quick look. https://app.trainerday.com

TrainerDay has some very unique plans. Because the recommendations are less intensity than other platforms, both elite as well as aging athletes prefer this. You can “turn up the volume” if you want, but we are sure it is not necessary to achieve great results. Every detail of a Coach Jack Plan builder plan is customizable. Weekly hours, daily hours, which days, intensity, you name it.

One of our favorite training blocks is the build phase with the “Serious Italian.”

This plan contains SFR (Salite, Forza, Resistenza in Italian). Which is a 35–45 RPM strength endurance workout sequence.

All of these plans work on very clear progressive overload which each weeks workout a little more time or intensity than the week before. So nothing should feel overwhelming. Please give it a try. https://trainerday.com

The Ultimate Training Plans for Zwift was originally published in TrainerDay on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.