Trainer Road help

jbarre03

So, I've officially signed up for TR and totally amped!  Then I realize I don't know much about how it works with the EN workouts.  Do  I just do my workout and it captures it?  Is there a lap button or something that I push so it tracks the intervals?  Do I load the EN workout in TR?  

I'm like a kid at Christmas that just got the new toy I wanted, unwrapped it, and am super excited, but don't know how to use it.  AARRGGHH!

 HELP???

Al Truscott

Jason - have you gone thru the sign-up process so you can access the EN workouts in Trainer Road, as outlined in >this< wiki page? Also, there is a Forum thread for Trainer Road/EN queries, which is monitored by the TR guys, >here<</p>

To your questions, if you need help with getting started on Trainer Road, the TR site has good intro videos, and there is >this< wiki page. Regarding intervals specifically, TR will automagically interpret any loaded workout into intervals, and the summary at the end of the wko will show you how you did in each wko.

jbarre03

Thanks....figured the info was out there...just didn't know where. Appreciate the guidance.

John Withrow

Make sure you download the "beta" version of the software. You can't get the EN workouts unless you have this one. Should be Version 1.4.0.

It's a great program, you're gonna love it!

Brad Marcus

If I am using a trainer that measures power (I have the Cycleops Power Beam Pro), is there any benefit to me using Trainer Road? Or would TR even work with my trainer, since I didn't see it listed on their website?

John Withrow

I have an SRM and a Powertap. The huge benefit to me is the visual that I get real-time on the screen. All of the EN OS workouts are in there and I don't have to think when I do the workout. I simply do the work. It's really hard to explain until you try it and once you try it, you won't want to go back to just using a little bike computer and post-it notes anymore.

I think the PowerBeam pro actually has a Powertap built into it and uses an ANT+ signal. So you would not set TR up to use Virtual Power. You would simply plug an ANT+ stick into your computer and have TR "find" the Powermeter.

Brad Marcus

John - I am all for simplifying things at a low cost! Just so i am understanding correctly, the intervals for OS and HIM, etc are already programmed in? Power levels will adjust automatically for me? Is setup easy on the laptop (pc)?

Al Truscott

Trainer road workouts show you graphically (and numerically) what your power level should be with each interval. There is a "cursor" (a traveling vertical yellow line) and a clock which show you where you are in the workout. But unless you have a CompuTrainer, you will have to generate that increased power yourself, generally by changing gears.

In Other Words, unless you have a ComputTrainer, Trainer Road does not "control" your trainer; you do. It will, however, show you what your power *should* be, and what your power *is* at each moment during your workout, as well as record that power and perform after the ride computations of Normalized Power, FTP, TSS, time spent in each interval, and power metrics for each interval. With proper sensors, it also will show HR and cadence. And if you have a power meter transmitting by ANT+, it will pick up the actual power readings from that, otherwise it generates a virtual power reading based on the trainer you're using.

So it removes thinking and planning during the workout from the equation, just as a coach-prepared workout does. Same as following a coaching plan, though, you still have to do the work! In this case, that means shifting gears or somehow otherwise altering the resistence on your trainer as prescribed by the TR workout.