Part of this is just the season wrapping up and Jonathan grabbing interviews before athletes disappear into the ether of off-season. There have been a lot of good, actionable episodes this year, especially around nutrition. I particularly love that kind of learning because it slots in with TR training so well.
The “I did XXX block” doesn’t really resonate with me because I’m always going to be doing what AT tells me to do, but TR athletes aren’t the whole audience for the podcast, so I suck it up and give those an idle listen.
It’s certainly a matter of perspective along with Jonathan being humble. His results at Leadville were definitely not average. 15/269 in his age group. 100/1400 overall. He’s not an elite pro but going under under 8 hours at Leadville is very solid. But judging by what he says on the podcast about his training he puts in the work. But no reason to get mad just because he called himself average.
Yeah I guess it depends on what you want to consider ‘average’. No one is ever going to be ‘average’ in every way. But I think he’s average in the sense that he has a family with kids, full time job, house, etc. But he’s certainly not average in his fitness or skills on a mountain bike but at the same time he’s pretty far off the pros in most respects.
I’m just getting into the TR podcast so his podcast and the one with Alex Wild and the CX/XC with Keegan teammates were what I’ve listened to. All I thought were solid, but maybe that’s because I’m new to them. I also really liked the Cooldown with Alexey.
What I enjoy about when Jonathan reviews his performance is that even though he’s strong, I believe by putting in the work one can get there.
Then if you follow him on Strava and you see his rides, they don’t look out of this world.
Add the fact that he is doing this using workouts from TR on what looks like a working persons schedule make it even more relatable.
Back to the OP’s question, I don’t think TR is dropping the ball.
There’s still some tweaks and work to be done but what they have at this time I feel works and seeing how the staff is always putting in the work I think it will get even better with time.
Let’s see what that big update brings that Mr Lee keeps talking about.
I’ve been a TrainerRoad subscriber for nearly a decade, and for the first time, I’m seriously considering dropping TR or switching platforms.
That said, there’s still a lot TR does really well:
What still works
Workout Player – rock solid.
Support – easily the best I’ve experienced.
Calendar – simple and effective.
RLGL – neat, though rarely offers new insights.
What I miss on the technical side
A proper, easy-to-use Workout Creator – this is my number one request. There are workarounds, yes, but there really shouldn’t have to be.
More freedom in creating workouts – slope mode per interval, cadence goals, HR-based Z2, merging workouts.
TrainerDay and others are starting to get ahead here.
Ability to merge workouts on the go or in planning.
Fullfunctionality in the apps/website.
Weight, HRV, RHR and subjective feeling tracking.
Integration with apple health. Every other app can do it somehow…
Training Plans
The AI plan builder feels underwhelming.
The plans just don’t provide enough variety for a full season.
I’d love to see base phases with a clearer focus e.g. extensive aerobic development in base.
Neuromuscular work seems to have disappeared — ironically, it was more present in the “cookie-cutter” Sweet Spot days. Some classic Z2 with cadence drills workouts of different lengths would go a long way.
For advanced athletes, block training could (should?) be an option.
Endurance Progression Levels – I struggle with the idea that endurance progression = higher intensity rather than longer duration. That logic doesn’t always hold.
The workout library is so vast that it’s hard to navigate. A few well-designed core workouts, with variations in length and added cues or cadence drills, could easily be the foundation. The naming could also better reflect the actual content — for example, in a threshold progression, I don’t need endless variations of percentages and ramps. Just give me simple sets of 1–5 FTP intervals, then extend time in zone or reduce the number as progression.
I get that one can build / adapt things around this (which is what I do). But with the limited Workout Creator it is annoying and suboptimal.
The Podcast / Communication
I really, really miss the old podcast — when it was Chad, Nate, and Jonathan. That mix of science, banter, and practical advice was pure gold and my favorite pod of the week. Now, I kind of listen to some podcasts, but mostly lost interest. (Nothing against Jonathan — I just miss that mix!)
I also found it super interesting when they did challenges and reported on issues, successes, etc., especially since they were at different ability levels. That made it feel practical and relatable.
Hints are dropped, but I miss the days where communication about the roadmap was more open. Maybe that was just Nate being on the podcast and spilling the beans.
The capital letters everywhere and all the thumbnails kind of annoy me. Maybe I’m just an old grump by now — or maybe that’s what the YouTube gods demand. Still, I don’t think it does the brand any favors long term to be associated with that kind of clickbait-style messaging.
Oh man, this got long… but maybe a few of these points will resonate with others — or with the team at TrainerRoad. Love you all, still a fan.
I ran into this as well, my first year on TR I gained a lot of fitness (like many others). Over time as I figured out how the plans work and how my body responded to them it became less and less value especially since the fitness gains each year were smaller and smaller, down to only 3 watts the final season. I decided it wasn’t worth burying myself for 6-7 hours a week with their plans that all had too big a focus in intensity, and paying for practically no improvement and since then I have been free riding and writing my own workouts based on what I learned from TR, and what I learned NOT to do from TR.
Since I cancelled I’ve been free riding outside however I want and feel, and supplementing with indoor in the summer and doing a polarized-ish plan (not sure if TR is still resisting incorporating these plans into their program) during the winter, focused most on easy riding with 10-20% intensity thrown in. My fitness has remained largely the same with some small improvements in some areas of my power curve, and I feel much better not doing intervals 4 days a week with one scheduled day of Pettit.
TR is fantastic for newer riders and definitely works, but I think after a few years of the program most semi-competent athletes can take away their learning and apply it themselves but even better because once they learn what they respond to they can tailor their plans to themselves. I know that adaptive training was supposed to do something similar but at least when I was using it, it did a pretty abysmal job of adjusting my plans according to survey results, and train now was all but useless as it almost never suggested the workout I wanted to do that day. Maybe things have changed in the last few years
I still recommend TR to newer athletes but after a few years of structure under your belt you can do the same thing, possibly even better. I have friends who are in the same boat and abandoned after a few years. Maybe it’s a testament to how effective TR is if it can essentially teach someone how to train themselves in only a few seasons
May be not exactly what you’re referring to and may be a very specific thing but I often split my workouts in 2, half outside for fun/technical skills and then intervals inside. I have to often explain to the AI god I did not in fact fail the workout.
1000% agree. Thanks for taking the time to write this; it reflects my thoughts exactly. TR is good and it works, but assuming it cannot or should not improve because “it’s already the best” feels short-sighted. Complacency has brought down far bigger players, and TR operates in a fast-changing space.
I’m working at altitude this month and would love a feature that adapts training accordingly. For example, no intensity for the first few days, then a lower FTP adjustment.
A short pre-workout survey could also help: feeling great, increase PL; feeling fine, keep it steady; feeling off, reduce slightly. If sleep or recovery is poor, it makes little sense to push through a doomed workout only to confirm it afterward.
Consistent, thoughtful updates every few months would keep TR ahead. Right now, it feels like progress has slowed.
To maybe add a point which I don’t recall reading so far:
Despite the feeling of TR being slow and possibly dropping a ball or two along the way - as someone working in a SaaS Company myself, I do appreciate the perception of TR shipping new features not when the users demand to have new shiny things (right now!), but when the team is sure the feature is actually ready to be shipped.
There are more then enough companies using their customers as an extended QA team and sending half-baked features out because they are “good enough”, so it’s nice to see a company doing better every once in a while.
Maybe I’ve also had a bit too much TR kool-aid, but please be kind and let me have my delusions
Now don’t take this the wrong way, I’m still well on the TR train but, there have been teasing of things coming “shortly” for quite a few months now. I suspect the the definition of “shortly” has been stretched a long way.
Polarized Plan Updates! 
