I just signed up for JOIN a few days ago and just starting to get into it. I had the same qualms with TrainerRoad when I tested it. I thought I was liking Xert, but the amount of information there is overwhelming. I just want something simple that takes it all into account with a goal, and JOIN seems to fit that nicely. Not overwhelming at all with what it tells you.
On top of your missing of FTP auto detect, I’m also kind of missing a “TrainNow” equivalent. I’ve got a recovery day today but still feel like moving my legs - albeit lightly. I can go into the workouts manually and find something easy but it’d be nice to just have that capability to have it choose something anyway taking into account my availability setting.
If you go to the Workouts tab, you can pick a workout from the categories VO2max, Threshold, Strength or a test.
Is your issue that you would like the app to suggest a workout anyway?
I think the philosophy of the Join app is that it optimizes the trajectory to achieve your long-term goals. You can do anything you want at any time and it will adjust, but that does mean that if you want to deviate you need to choose what you want to do yourself.
I do get the same vibe from it as what you describe in terms of simplicity. You can simply do whatever you want or follow the prescribed schedule and it just adjusts to what you did after each ride.
Can you still edit / see training weeks in the future? For example, if you put in four days off after new year, or for your kids birthday, or whatever, would it adapt appropriately?
From my perusal in the app and the usage I’ve done so far just for the current day and the upcoming week. It doesn’t really give you a “calendar”. Farthest ahead I can see as I type this is “November 4”.
The screenshot I had above shows the screen for available training hours per day. Join assumes this for all weeks until the goal date. You can see for all future weeks the total number of training hours and the projected level that it thinks you can achieve with current training hours.
Whenever you have weeks that differ from the standard week, you can change the availability 7 days in advance per day and the schedule will automatically adjust.
So at any time you can either change the weekly available hours assumed for the rest of the program or change only the hours for the coming week.
I’m sure I would learn to adjust, but iI wish they’d give you 2 weeks. I just like knowing what’s coming up so I can get things focused in my head. I think I understand why they do it like they do, but it stresses me out not knowing. I haven’t done the 2 week trial to play with it yet but I plan to.
Not knowing I can deal with. The VO2 Max pyramid on Sunday, that’s a different story. Haha. I’m really liking how I can just push the workouts to Training Peaks. Shows up in RGT fine and dandy, or on my Bolt.
It might simply be to cut down on recalculations? Doing one week at a time will make sure it’s not drawing out months every time you ride outside or change a workout. Byproduct of the flexibility.
Just downloaded it to check it out. Cancelled my TR $99 sub about a month ago now but haven’t been biking much anyway as I am taking a break and mainly using concept 2 rower and skierg.
That is definitely not the case. The engine works out a detailed plan up to the goal date every time anything changes from the previous projection. In the Dutch podcast that the Join founder participates in with Laurens ten Dam, he even describes an anecdote where an user had a goal date hundreds of years in the future and that was overloading their systems.
Join computes your current level as a number between 0-50, like described above in the original thread from some months ago. You can see the expected development of this level weekly up to the goal date as well as the exact total amount of time training in each of those weeks. And this projection is updated any time something changes and the total workout trajectory is recalculated.
So the reason there is no calendar with the schedule of all workout is I think simplicity. The concept is, you just live your life and Join will optimize the best route to your set goal.
Does that also work with the basic TP account? This would allow me to automatically export from Join to the Garmin Connect calendar and onto the head unit, with one click from within the Join app.
Because currently, exporting a workout directly to Garmin will only put it in the workout list, not in the Garmin Connect calendar. You then still need to manually send to device.
Yes, it works with the basic Training Peaks account. If your TP account is connected to Garmin Connect then it does sync over there and appears on the calendar automatically.
This is true for any workout in TP, right, not just for this app? At least that’s how it works for me. There is no need to manually upload to the Garmin head unit.
Yes, I would expect so. Just tried it and it works. This now gives me a one click export from Join app to Garmin head unit. TP syncs the workout with the Garmin Calendar, and that gets synced automatically to the head unit by just turning it on.
