TrainingPeaks is an online and mobile software platform that helps you prepare for your goal race, whether you are a new cyclist looking for a training plan, an experienced racer with a coach, or even if you want to plan and analyze your own training.
To get the most accurate and personalized planning and analysis out of TrainingPeaks there are some steps you should take as soon as you start using TrainingPeaks:
- Set your thresholds and zones - All of the personalized workout targets and data analysis in TrainingPeaks is based on your Functional Threshold. Don’t know your threshold or just want to get started training without performing a test? No problem. Just enter your age, weight, and fitness level when you create your account and TrainingPeaks will set an estimated value that you can use until you record more data.
- Connect your devices and apps - TrainingPeaks is compatible with hundreds of the most popular devices and mobile apps (Including Garmin, Zwift, Wahoo, and Suunto). When you connect your TrainingPeaks account to your device your completed workouts upload automatically to your TrainingPeaks account. Many apps and devices will also sync your planned workouts from your TrainingPeaks account to your device so that you can follow the workout instructions and see your workout targets on your device.
- Make a Plan. Whether you are training for your first race or you’ve been racing for years, TrainingPeaks works best with a plan. There are several ways to find the best plan for your event. Here are some of the options:
- Find a coach. Have a goal, but don’t know where to start? You can search for a coach in the TrainingPeaks Coach Directory. If you aren’t sure what kind of coach will work best for you, answer a few basic questions and sign up for our Coach Match program. We’ll find the best coach for you and your event.
- Buy a training plan. Not ready to commit to a coach or just need a basic plan to work with? Choose from thousands of training plans in our plan store. You can find plans for every discipline, experience level, and available training time. Look for plans with Structured Workouts to receive personalized training targets based on your threshold which update as you gain fitness over time.
- Do it yourself. TrainingPeaks has the tools to make building your own training plan quick and easy, as well. The Annual Training Plan (ATP) lets you build a season-long periodization plan.
- Use Joe Friel’s workout library. Over 700 pre-built workouts are available for you to quickly drag into your calendar to plan your next block of training.
- Use the Structured Workout Builder. The builder lets you quickly and easily build structured workouts based on heart rate and pace. Structured workouts can sync to many devices and platforms automatically.
- Check your progress. Once you have a plan in TrainingPeaks and you complete workouts, review your workouts and track your progress over time. TrainingPeaks provides the tools to analyze individual workouts to make sure that they went as planned or to find out what went wrong if they didn’t. Here are some of the ways TrainingPeaks keeps you informed as you move forward:
- Peak Performances notify you when you set new personal bests for power or heart rate for the year or all-time.
- The Workout Card gives you a quick overview of basic workout data, including color codes which explains how close the completed workout was to the plan.
- The Analysis view has a variety of tools that can give you a complete picture of your workout or race.
- Lap and split analysis lets you view all the data for individual laps or intervals from your workout. You can also create and save a selection in the workout to analyze important sections like climbs or finishing sprints from your rides and races.
- A variety of available workout charts lets you analyze the data that’s important to you, whether that is time in training zones, power distribution, calories expended, or elevation gained.
In addition to analyzing individual workouts, you can use the TrainingPeaks Dashboard to track important workout information over time:
- Performance Management Charts let you track your training load over time so you have a real idea of your current fitness and fatigue, and can plan your future training to have the perfect balance and preparation on race day.
- Track weekly hours or training load to make sure you are training the right amount.
- See how your training intensity changes throughout the season to make sure that you are targeting the specific demands of your event as it gets closer, and make sure that your recovery time is actually easy enough.
- Track race results or peak performances over time to see how your hard work in training is turning into real-world results.
*NOTE: some features are only available to Premium athlete accounts. If you are interested in learning more about Premium please Contact us!