I am a month into my first attempt at a TrainerRoad program and it is going well. I was injured this summer and took a couple of months off from all activity. I am now at the point of progressing rapidly, increasing the intensity of all my rides, and changing my scheduled fairly easy ride to something more challenging and completing them no problem. What I don’t understand is the adaptive piece then wants to change my upcoming schedule to even easier rides. I have bumped my FTP once, and almost ready to again. Are there other changes I can make, or just keep increasing intensity within rides, change to harder rides and bump FTP even more? I am doing short power build - Mid volume.
- What actual app method are you using for this change?
- Again, can you give the precise method here?
- How have you been rating these in the completion survey?
Per the many questions above and details we can’t access on the forum, you may also want to email support@trainerroad.com since they will have direct access to your data and much more than we can see here.
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Probably:
You’re being given easier (lower TSS) rides because the software recognises that they’re what you need to consolidate the gains you’ve made.
Adding more TSS/going consistently hard doesn’t translate into continuous improvement - it generally leads to stagnation or deterioration in form. It might feel frustrating not to be pushed hard in every session, but honestly, it’s likely what you need to progress.
support@trainerroad.com are your friends if you think something’s really not right.
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- Using the intensity button in the android app, to bump the intensity.
- Swapping the planned ride on the calendar for a harder ride
- Most rides have been rated easy/moderate, with some hard.
I am used to much more TSS prior to my injury, and handle it well. I will keep bumping things. I just didn’t know if there were other methods to try to better fine tune my needs.
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OK, despite what we might think or hope, Adaptive Training is not recognizing when we bump stuff up harder.
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If you want a harder workout than the scheduled one, using the Alternates below is much better than using the Intensity adjustment in the workout. This replacement will align better with the work you actually so and the survey rating at the end.
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Are you using the Alternates tool or some other method?
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https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402284012571-How-to-use-Workout-Alternates
- Ok, that is good.
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Ok, is that inside training TSS or more outside riding? It can sometimes be that the steady load inside ia more demanding that an otherwise equivalent load outside. Coupled with that is an potential for variation in power data if you use different devices inside and outside.
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It could mean you want to look at a different volume or even plan type, but that’s hard to know without more info.
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Make sure the accumulative stress does not put you into a state of over training.
Gains can be good in the short term however disruption to your training schedule through illness or mental burnout means gains will diminish.
Build and speciality are much more stressful on your body than base.
I’ve found the best strategy overtime is to ensure consistency, compliance and completion and for me that’s two hard sessions a week supplemented with zone 2 rides. But we all respond differently to training stimulus so find what works for you but it’s always a moving feast.
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That makes sense now about the intensity changes in the workout. I did an anaerobic workout yesterday at 130-150% and barely got a bump in level.
Had not been doing the alternates tab, will use that going forward. Have been going to workouts, and selecting the same type of ride and duration and finding the highest level.
Volume has been good based on availability to ride. Not even close to over training. Easy rides have been easy, hard rides have not been hard.
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- OK, that explains at least part of it. Using the Alternates should help and be more “seen” by AT, which should get you better results within the system.
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Are you saying you did an anaerobic workout and you manually increased the intensity an additional 130-150%? If you did that, it sounds like your FTP may be too low.
The intensity starts at 100, I bumped to 130-150%. It is only 30 second intervals.
Yeah, don’t do that. Choose an alternate (harder) workout with a higher PL and then respond to the post-ride survey realistically.
Changing intensity within a ride only makes that one ride harder, you don’t get “credit” for the harder ride otherwise.
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Don’t be shy of browsing the workout library, either. If you already have a bit of training history and you know what you can do, you can look through the library and find a workout and eyeball one or two that are in the right ballpark and get a handle on the workout difficulty (and hence progression level) that you should be working at.
Choose an alternate at or around that level and you should be good to go.
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Glad to hear things are going well for you!
It sounds like you’ve got some previous training history prior to your injury, which means your fitness is starting to come back quickly now.
If things feel too easy, don’t be afraid to manually bump up your FTP by 2-3% at a time until things start feeling right based on what you know about what you’re capable of. You could also do a Ramp Test or use AI FTP Detection.
As other athletes here mentioned, Workout Alternates are a great idea as well. Alternates will allow you to choose a workout that still targets the goals of your training plan, but lets you determine the intensity you’d like for a given day.
The main thing, though, seems to be your FTP – once you get that dialed in correctly, you won’t have to worry about manually adjusting your workouts or choosing Workout Alternates anymore. 
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