No reason not to say. Keep us updated on how it goes, alway good to know if a coach is effective or not (since there are so many not great coaches out there)
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If your training’s been hit or miss, a coach could definitely help tighten things up. They’ll tailor your workouts, manage fatigue, and give feedback you can’t get from apps. Even without an “A” race, structured coaching can make your training more consistent and efficient. If budget allows, it’s worth trying for a few months to see the difference.
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Will do! So far, it’s been rather easy to integrate into day-to-day life. Curious if it will change as volume gets up.
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I know you’ve made your choice but for me the reason to use a human coach vs TR (and my coach makes use of some TR stuff) is I dont have the time or mantal space to make the decisions and my life has a lot of chaos. Having a coach lets me have a place that doesnt have chaos so I can train in a consistent manner. I’ve used TR, but my schedule is not consistent so it makes AI coaching sub optimal. I need that human imput.
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Right. Well its been 4 months. So I figured I could give my thoughts on the coaching. I am not able to share exact stuff, as you agree to a two-sided confidentiality clause when you sign on.
I have been working with Drew Dillman. I did an FTP test when I started, just cause I had not done one in like 3 years. My FTP was around 270. Which, for me, is kinda trash. I was at 280 at 15 in the winter. But that’s ok cause I had just gotten over some lung stuff when I started. So to be expected. Yesterday I did Temo efforts at 290. So obviously a great improvement. A lot of that is probably just not being ill. I had also already been at a guesstimate ftp of 320 before. So once you have hit a fitness level, it is easier to regain that fitness level. Another part is the fact that having a coach means my effort days are not just every Zwift race I can go blow up on.
I have really liked the ability to talk to him anytime. Heck, there have been times when I am mid-ride, and I will shoot him a text, and my workout will change during the ride based on how I am feeling. You do have to schedule calls, but you could schedule one every day if you wanted to, I guess. He has a link that you select one of the time slots. They are 30m each, but we often go over that. Sometimes we will talk for an hour.
My workouts are uploaded once a month for that month. My first kinda gribe is that at times it can be the last minute when I get my next month’s workouts. This has happened 2 times. So take of that what you will. But, for example, I just rolled over for the next month and got my workouts uploaded on Monday. My last planned workout (other than some strength stuff) was that Sunday. So, Monday, I was delayed in doing my workout as I did not have it posted till around noonish. Not a huge deal for me, but I can see where it can be for some. I am not sure if this is an Ignition coach co thing or a Drew thing, but each month, he sends me a video around 10-20 minutes long, walking me through how last month went and transitioning into what we are working on this month. I have read on some forums about coaches not really paying much attention. Heck, one guy said he could die, and his coach would still probably send “great job, I knew you could do it” or something like that. I have not had that experience. While he does not comment on most workouts, if there is something of note, like an abnormally strong or weak day, then he will comment on it.
TLDR I am coached by Drew Dillman (That guy the Vegan Cyclist beefed with some 2y ago).
Positives: bang for your buck, fast response, and full communication.
Negatives. Sometimes takes a bit to get next month’s training. Dose not comment on most workouts unless something is abnormal.
I hope you all found this useful.
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If “Temo” = Tempo, that’s solid tempo wattage if your FTP was below that a few months ago. Congrats on the progress. And great to hear a review on Ignition coaching, nice to hear they have their stuff together and aren’t just riding a bit of youtube influence.
Yeah. The fitness increase is pretty heavy right now. My z2 is up from 170 to 200w now. But as I said, I got some lung stuff that really hurt me when I started. So all my power numbers were a bit lower than what would be natural. Plus, I am still regaining fitness, so my body has been at this level before.
I agree, I am rather surprised as YT famous as they are that there are not more reviews. Honestly, doing my search found very few reviews on any of the major training companies other than those written by the coach.
Interesting read! How are you finding your coaching integrates into the new TRAi, or are you not using TR software?
I have never used Trainer road. I just like all the forums and stuff lol. So I do not know what TRAi is. Sorry.
Hopefully you’ve found the right coach and its working for you. I actually got my best results a year or two after I left my old coach (well for trainer sessions anyway, I was still riding in his group rides) and had been using trainer road for a bit with the old burn out plans (although I just set my FTP at what felt a sustainable level and didn’t up it).
Yeah. I think the key thing is being able to communicate with him and adjust things on the fly. I think having a coach helps you go from getting 90 or 95% out of ya to 100% if they are the right fit. So far so good.
Sucks that you had a bad coach. I hope you found my test of Ignition coach co usefull. I am genuinly suprized no one else has really reviewed them. All I found is one redit response that was just “Yeah I liked them”
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My ex coach is an ex pro, so I’m sure he knows his stuff, but I think he was/is too nice a person, he seems to be going more holistic these days too. My stubbornness to admit I was ill in 2018 (bowel/colon) cancer wouldn’t have helped either.
Thats valid. I think a lot of it depends is just who works with who.
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