Hacking the Trainer Road warmup

[Deleted User]

It seems the warm-ups for several of the Trainer Road WKOs are shorter/easier than the warm-up prescribed by EN (e.g. 25 mins). My typical warm-up before I started using TR was a build to the top of Z3 within 12 minutes, followed by 2 times a min in Z5, then a 5 min easy spin - total 20 mins. This always seemed to get my legs and heart rate ready for any WKO.  Today's workout (4 * 4 min Z5) on TR had a 12 min warmup - no more than Z2.  Is there some way to change the warm-up on TR to accommodate specific types?  I'm also confused as to why this in an EN WKO and has this shorter/easier warmup??

Robert Sabo

I would assume that most of us don't have 25 minutes for warm up for a wko we need to finish in an hour. That said the weekend 90 minutes trainer rides would be good for the longer warmup.

dnesom

Carol, I find that I just can't hit my numbers if I'm not well warmed up. It's kind of a pain, but at the beginning of the week I go into the Trainer Road Workout Creator and generate my own version of the week's WKOs with a fifteen minute WU that always works for me and includes a set of over and unders and a few 1 minute z5 intervals. Main thing for me is to try to keep it short but work hard enough to get a bit sweaty. Then I'm usually ready to buckle down to the main sets.

If you create your own snippets in TR for WU and other stuff it is pretty quick. It usually takes me less than 5 minutes to create a workout in Workout Creator. The extra few minutes to roll your own pays off I think.

Below is my default WU that I created in TR. Easy enough to create one that matches EN's recommendation or create one that suits you.

[Deleted User]

Thanks guys! Dave, I'm going to try that! How hard can it be:-)

dnesom

Once you get the hang of it you'll find its pretty easy to create workouts. Good luck

Gary Lewis

Trainerroad has a video on their site that explains exactly how to do it.

cgres123

For the new folks in the Haus or others getting back into biking with a purpose I suggest using the program as written for the OS. For others the Get Fast Plan of a 10-15 W/U would be fine. 10 Min to warm up the tire on your trainer with an additional 5 min for good measure to get your legs moving.

morpheus

For the last 6 months, I've been using the warmup as a test of what I have planned for the day.

First of all, I've started liking the Free Ride option and just hit the interval button on my watch. Free Ride defaults to a %of FTP and I seem to respond well to that. 95% seems easier to accept when it tells me it's 95% rather than a specific number that seems so short of my FTP. It has kept my highs and lows much closer. And, it affords me the opportunity to do my own warmup without looking like I'm competing with the EN or TR warmup.

So, as far as the warmup.....If it's an ez day, I ride ez. Duh. The whole time. But, if it's a day where my intervals are demanding, TSS is priority, and it's a 1hr focus, I start out pretty aggressive and see if I can hold or build. Start at .8 or .85 and quickly increase about every minute. When i get to about .93, I hold it there until the 10-12' mark and see how I feel. Then, a soft 2-3' before I hit the intervals. I've found that it really puts me in a no nonsense state of mind right off the bat. When I try to ease into intervals, I get 'sleepy' and disinterested in the whole point of being there.

In addition, if I notice that I'm struggling harder than usual by the 5' mark of the warmup, I bail and just spin ez for 45-60'. Nothing in between right now. All or none.

Just thought I'd add my 2cents.

[Deleted User]

@Dave and Gary. Thanks again. I watched the TR videos on how to create, clone, etc. a workout or snippet. It looks relatively easy and fun:-) Problem. My screen does not look like the one on the videos. There is no where to click on "workout" and "custom". I know I'm a paying member because I can get the EN workouts:-) Any clues??

dnesom

Carol,This is what it looks like on my screen (Microsoft Windows.) Perhaps different if using an Apple. In my case the button only appears when in the "workouts" tab of TR.

When you click on it the first time it prompts you to download and install the workout creator program. Once completed and installed it will open the program and let you create wkos.

Hope that helps...

[Deleted User]

Thanks Dave.  Nope - I tried logging in on my laptop and my iPad.  It doesn't look like that on either device.  Weird.  I'm going to email them and see what's what.  Grrrrrrr......   Thanks so much for your help!

Al Truscott

Carol, to get the screen shown above, you have to run the TrainerRoad stand alone application on your laptop. You cant access Workout Creator from the web site, nor on the iPad.

https://www.trainerroad.com/install

Download the Mac or Windows version via Green button, depending on your system.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Al! That worked. I'm sure the others assumed I had done that already:-) I already created my modified version of the Tues workout with my "warm-up snippet" included!! That was fun!!!