The last few years, I’ve shifted my training to much be much more track focused. IP, mass start and sprint. I’ve just really been enjoying everything at the track, the community included!
My observation with Train Now and levels is… it doesn’t get me as an athlete. Any workouts it gives me that are VO2 or higher, feel crazy easy… the targets are just just way off and too easy. I’m guessing that maybe this is ML deciding, based on a percentage of FTP and everyone else’s data on the platform… so does that make my an outlier?
TrainNow is not all that complicated. It is mostly a tool that looks at your recent workout history, your current Progression Level and gives you 3 choices within some categories of workouts.
It will generally lean towards giving workouts in the Achievable & Productive Difficulty Level based upon your current Progression Level relative to the zones covered by each of the 3 categories.
It is not aiming for anything more than “a bit more” than the last time and certainly is not long-term focused like following a training plan. That is what you get with Plan Builder and is worth considering. I don’t know why you are using TrainNow specifically, but it might be worth considering changing up your usage of the TR tools.
All that out of the way, also recognize that Progression Levels are only a record of what you have completed, not what you are capable of doing. Added to that are your workout survey ratings to give TR the picture of how those workouts went for you, which can help to drive recommendations for TrainNow as well as Adaptations given if you use training plans.
That all sidesteps whether you are an outlier or not since I don’t think there is anything close to enough info here to consider that question.
To a degree, I am not sure you are using the right tools in TR to give it the best chance to zero in on the workouts that may serve you best.
TR only calls stuff “VO2” because the power level appears on a zone chart. If you have a large anaerobic capacity, then typical above threshold percentages from canned plans will probably feel easy.
You’re an outlier but not alone. I’m on a fresh “ai ftp” and still have some 10+ PL vo2 sessions this week. I have to use workout maker to get proper hard vo2 workouts. Just congratulate yourself that you’re on the end of the bell curve I guess. Pitiful threshold sprinters unite.
Not officially. The few times this comes up they usually point to the Gravity Specialty, that tends to give Short Power Build prior to that along with General Base (formerly Sweet Spot Base). That and Short Track XC Specialty have been mentioned and may align with some track use, but there isn’t anything tailor made.
I’m guessing you know this and deal with it, but for those unaware… custom workouts via TR’s Workout Creator may or may not give great Workout & Progression Level results. Some with higher power in the Anaerobic and Sprint range in particular tend to give extra high Levels. This can incorrectly push some Progression Levels well above the typical TR range in their library at least. So it’s worth watching this closely for anyone doing custom workouts.
I was thinking about this over on the RLGL thread. I wonder if the fact PLs are often incorrect for externally created workouts will skew the traffic lighting.
Per the podcast comments, RLGL is supposed to be using Workout Levels V2 in the background… so I would hope that it will be seeing any and all work done more clearly, but we don’t really know at this time.
The fastest way to get your progression levels on track is to manually search for and complete TR workouts that you feel will be a bit challenging but definitely achievable. Then in the post-workout survey rate the difficulty honestly.
Do that for the zones you think have the most incorrect PLs. You’ll then get accurate PLs and your training plan and Train Now will both adapt.
You can search by zone and time available and set difficulty to breakthrough to find a good workout to try
I haven’t used TR workouts in several years but when I did the VO2s were just too easy. Most power targets top out at like 125% or so. I just did a VO2 block and I scraped 150% for a couple intervals and never dropped below like 123%. VO2s should never be prescribed as a percentage of FTP and should always be done to MAX.