TrainerRoad review

What is it?

Simply put, TrainerRoad is a subscription service that unlocks hundreds of different workouts, multi-week training plans (over 40 of them), fitness tests and lots more to provide some structure to your indoor trainer routine. In addition, it provides a useful interface that displays the prescribed workout as well as your real-time numbers (i.e. using your powermeter, cadence sensor and heartrate via bluetooth or ANT+) and maps them against the day’s workout.

Structure

If you’re looking for some structure to your trainer sessions, TrainerRoad takes the guess work out of your day’s workout. There are over 800 workouts to choose from. Anything from VO₂Max sessions to strength endurance work and time trial efforts, etc. They’re categorised many different ways for you to chose from so that you’re not paralysed by choice.

But what if you don’t know which workout to choose and want to train towards a goal? TrainerRoad also has a variety of multi-week training plans that can be used to set your fitness goal and work backwards from there, giving you the workout you’ll need. It’s not a personal coach who looks at your strengths, weaknesses and all the rest, but it’s more than adequate for someone who needs some structure to your build-up to your goal, race or event.

Real-time feedback

The wonderful thing about TrainerRoad is that your laptop, smartphone or tablet (iOS, Mac & PC compatible) acts as your head unit if you have a wireless powermeter, cadence sensor or heart-rate monitor. There’s even virtual power if you only have a speed sensor. If you have none of that, using RPE is still useful. It displays your workout with prescribed power levels, interval times, and gives you real-time feedback on how you’re tracking against that workout.

desktop_workout

Using the trainer for your targeted workouts is an efficient and measurable way to achieve your training goals and TrainerRoad makes that process easier and more motivating. It tells you exactly what to do and you just ride to the numbers without second guessing yourself. If you’re like me, riding to the levels and charts makes it harder to skip an interval since everything is being recorded and measured. If you cheat, you know about it. It’s all there.

There are even motivating messages that pop up on-screen from time to time that make it fun and as if someone is there pushing you on. And if that’s not enough, there are even a number of Sufferfest workouts that you can pair up with the Sufferfest videos if you own them.

Testing tools are available to help you find out your functional threshold and training zones which are essential to use it’s features going forward. In order to set your proper training zones you’ll need to know what your thresholds are so TrainerRoad can customise its workouts for you. After every few weeks you can test yourself again to see your improvements and for TrainerRoad to reset your baseline levels.

Summary

Building towards a goal in cycling needs various fitness layers built one on top of another. Setting your goal and working backwards from it is the strategy that most coaches will use and TrainerRoad gives you an excellent set of tools necessary to build those layers. You don’t need to know anything about training to do this. TrainerRoad does it all.

Again, it’s not a personal coach, but it’s a fantastic stepping stone towards that. If you have a coach or know what workout you want to do and it’s not already in the system, you can customise your own. In that case TrainerRoad is still a useful tool to help you through the session.

Along with hundreds of workouts to choose from, TrainerRoad does an excellent job at giving real-time feedback on power, cadence, heartrate, and time against the workout being performed in a simple yet effective interface.

Note: The ipad app will be released shortly and will include a larger and more legible interface (with landscape mode).

The subscription service costs $10 USD per month or $99 per year.

Would I recommend it? Without a doubt. It’s a brilliantly thought-out and effective tool and a service well worth the cost if you want to make the most out of your indoor trainer sessions.

Find out more on the TrainerRoad website.

trainerRoad app

lefthandside

I’m KOM on all the segments on my trainer
Rhys

Few other points.

It is awesome for time-crunched people. Straight on the trainer and straight into it and then into the shower and off to work/time with family.

It has great variety rather than rolling around the same old rides.

The commentary on each workout is great for those that don’t have a coach but looking to improve their riding (particularly if you were late to riding like me)

No cars

Most people I know that have used it have got BIG gains on their FTP - some about +50% in <1 year.

If it is windy/wet/hot etc - you still get in a quality workout.

In short - fantastic and bloody cheap
- a different ben
  
  “It has great variety rather than rolling around the same old rides.” - I think I’ll need to digest this for a bit before making some sensible response.
dhlywka

It doesn’t get any better than this. You can even customize
your own workouts.
Craig Schaepe

I do like the software but it is the video integration that kicks it over the top. Rather than ride to a power level you can chase a pro down.
Bren

One word…..Sufferfest!
All the videos have been mapped to workouts, so you can train more accurately to the Sufferfest videos.
- http://www.nonprocycling.com/ norbs
  
  What he said!
David Gardiner Garcia

I agree with all the comments, it is a great piece of software. One thing missing from the review is that it comes with a separate app “Workout Creator” where you can make your custom workouts. I like the already made workouts but sometimes I need more warmup, I simply add a warm up to the already made ride in the workout creator. Amazing
- David Gardiner Garcia
  
  I also love how it integrates with the sufferfest videos
Mark

Probably worth explaining that it “integrates” with Sufferfest and other trainer videos. eg for sufferfest, it takes the RPE vales and converts them to the relevant percentage of your FTP (whichever way you measure that). Certainly gives new meaning to Sufferfest. I love it.
- Eric
  
  Im trying to understand the RPE values while using the Sufferfest training plans. Ive read that if I take an outdoor ride and make it a trainer ride… take off 25% but increase the RPE value to +1. But how do I do that in Trainerroad? Just add 10% to TR?
  - Mark
    
    Eric,
    
    not sure what you mean. But I think it’s irrelevant.
    
    If you use Sufferfest Video’s in Trainer Road using power (real or virtual), Trainer Road works out your target power and you try and ride to that target power as opposed to RPE.
    
    eg if you know your FTP power level you enter that into Trainer Road and away you go. If you don’t you do the ‘8 min’ or ’20 min’ FTP test, and then take the number that Trainer Road gives you, and away you go.
    
    You’ll then better appreciate the definition of “suffer”.
    - Eric
      
      To explain a little bit further… I recently purchased Sufferfest and I have had Trainerroad and a Wahoo Kickr for awhile. My with Sufferfest was the videos for Novice 10 week training plan.
      
      The plan itself states to do 2 Sufferfest rides and then 2 outdoor rides in a week. But, since its an extremely cold winter over here… I found an article that states:
      
      “We recommend when you’re unable to move outside is that all the rides which we indicate to be ‘outdoors’ be done indoors on the trainer. Reduce the overall time by around 25% and increase the RPE we have asked by around 1 point. So if we asking for 4 RPE please increase to 5 RPE. This will maintain the stimulus but please do all of the specific efforts we have asked in this reduced time.”
      
      But how do I modify RPE value in terms of TR? How can I increase the RPE by 1 point on TR?
      - Mark
        
        Right. Understand.
        
        In terms of programming, not sure you could do it. But you could just work out what the power is and try and ride at that average power for the length of the ride. Would be bloody boring though. Sorry not much help on this point.
http://thebellevelo.tumblr.com The Belle Velo

As a rider who spends more time indoors than outdoors I have used many of the current batch of indoor training applications.

IMHO TrainerRoad and their Workout Creator has the best interface of all the “trainer” apps by a mile. I used TrainerRoad for a couple of years and wont hesitate to say it will suit the majority of riders with a trainer. It’s a great product and worth every cent.

However, if you have a smart trainer (like the Wahoo Kickr) I’d suggest that you seriously look into PerfPro Studio as it has the most advanced workout creation options (FTP, Power, Cadence, Grade) and smart trainer/power meter controls. The non-subscription based purchase is also worth your consideration.
- bfgaunt
  
  The analysis tools included with Perfpro Studio are also very good.
JIm

Does this work ok with rollers or is resistance a must have ?

by Wade Wallace - February 5, 2015

Structure

Real-time feedback

Summary