We put up a post on our social channels today about how the new features we’ve built are focused on increasing your training consistency.
When we analyze data, training consistency has a tight correlation to performance improvements, and because of this, much of our product development has been and will continue to be aimed at increasing training consistency.
BUT! One key thing I don’t think we’ve talked about enough is how all of these more recent updates to TrainerRoad make it easier to be consistent with your training.
I’d love for this thread to be a place where all of us can share what we are doing individually to make training consistency easier in our lives, whether that comes from adjustments to our schedule, nutrition, equipment, recovery, our psychological status, how we leverage our support circles, etc.
Share what has had the most positive effect on making you more consistent with your training!
The key focus here is consistency, not just sticking to the plan.
There are a number of features that support flexibility while ensuring I stay on track with my training.
Train Now lets me adapt my workouts to fit the demands of my daily life. For instance, I can swap a Threshold ride for a more manageable endurance session based on how I’m feeling.
The option to adjust the intensity within a workout is a game-changer. On tough days, I can dial it back to get the session done, or push the intensity when I’m feeling strong and want to challenge myself.
The Red Light feature helps me schedule a recovery ride or even take a full day off when needed, which is key to avoiding burnout and staying fresh in the long run.
Finally, the extensive workout library gives me a wealth of options to choose from, so I can select alternatives that keep my mental game strong while still aligning with my training goals.
I set out-of-office blocks on my work calendar for the weekdays I’ve set aside for training. Basically, no meetings before 8:30 AM on those days for me.
I prepare everything the night before. My bike, kit, any nutrition & drink, have all the electronics charged, etc. All ready to go so I don’t have to think about these things.
I stretch around 20 minutes everyday, whether it’s a ride day or not.
I prioritize my sleep by making sure I’m asleep before 9:30 PM. I then wake up early enough to eat what I need to before the session and walk our dogs. Yes, this means waking up pretty early, but going to bed that early makes this doable.
I do my best to ensure I’m not putting the bike before my most important relationships. While I’m pretty rigid in my routine, I’ve tried hard to make sure that doesn’t overtake time with my loved ones. This has meant getting up pretty early so I have time to ride while not interfering with time I spend with loved ones. It also means missing out on certain events/rides at times.
The biggest contribution to consistency is that I stake out my training days & times, then defend that time vigorously. To align with other life stresses, I will sometimes move the hard/easy days around from what plan builder creates, to put hard days on lower life stress days, and vice-versa.
Being able to set the workout duration for each day helps too.
I’ve been really consistent for many years now. A couple things that keep me going are:
Plan everything out using the TR calendar so I know what I am doing day in day out with no thinking required. Even if it’s not a TR workout. I’ve got my strength sessions all planned out and even ski days this time of year. I look at the calendar daily and move things around depending on how much or little life gets in the way each week. I’ll literally have the calendar open on my extra monitor while I’m working throughout the day. I also typically on a Sunday look at my work calendar for the week ahead and make adjustments to my workouts for the week depending on my meeting schedule or any travel.
Not on option for everyone, but I have a dedicated training area in my home (I also work from home with 1-2 travel days a month). A gym with everything I need and also a dedicated trainer bike (old roadie on a Kickr) ready to go at any time. It takes me less than 10 min to get TR (and Zwift) set up together and I’m ready to go.
Motivation is of course a big part of it too, I spent my 30’s (I’m 50 now) as a semi serious triathlete and during that period of my life daily training became a part of my lifestyle rather than something I “needed” to do. I’m not sure what I would do with myself if I didn’t train like this year in year out.
This came about due to a hard period in life but I find that doing more shorter sessions improves my consistency.
It’s harder to find an excuse to skip a 45 minute turbo or 20mins Kettlebell session. That way I do 4 or 5 turbos after work and 3 or 4 kettlebell before work. It may not be as good doing 3 long sessions but that only works if you do them and long harder sessions are easier to talk myself out off after a stressful day at work.
That’s interesting. I’m kind of the opposite. I’m retired now, but when I worked, I would go to bed early and workout early to ensure I got it done. I also learned that short workouts have to be really intense to make up for the lack of volume, which made me dread them.
I get that our life circumstances are all different and you do you! Just sharing the difference.
Application just works, on mobile device (always been android, currently an iphone 8). I’ve tried other software over the years, but really it’s the least faff option.
The calendar and ease of movement really helps me.
Workout alternatives - again, less faff if I have less time than scheduled
TrainNow for when scheduled Outdoor rides don’t happen.
Adaptive training has definitely meant less failed workouts over all.
AI FTP - I was a poor tester, and ended up making educated guesses. Now I’m happy with my training zones.
I suppose the tl:dr version is that TrainerRoad really reduces my cognitive load. It’s kinda full of the rest of life shít, so this is important to me.
Personal methods
Having a consistent training time. The struggle was real to transition to morning workouts, but at this stage I actually prefer (and perform better) with first thing/ early workouts.
Linked to morning workouts, having everything prepped the night before - kit out, bottles mixed and in the fridge etc.
A permanent set up. Well it’s in the mancave and moves if it’s a full house for the social aspects, but for all intent and purposes a permanent set up in that I am generally not having to set up the bike to train. Old phone lives on that bike, just for TR.
A decent set up. Smart Turbo/ erg mode (cognitive load, again!); 3 air movers on remote sockets; big TV with discovery+/ netflix et al; decent headphones/ decent HiFi (depending on who else is up). I’m a firm believer that people that “hate the turbo/ indoors” ultimately can’t or won’t invest in their set up.
Permanent setup (behind my office chair, using my office screen and laptop, giant fan, and a bike that never leaves the trainer).
Decent gear and software. Tech troubleshooting is infuriating when it’s eating into time you carved out to train. Learned the hard way.
Fixed schedule. I chose extended lunch times. I dislike morning training, and muscles aren’t their best right out of bed. I still get up earlier to accommodate the extended lunch, of course.
Avoid evening training. This is time for family, friends, chores and general adulting. Sacrificing those is short-term thinking, and a sure route to failure.
Protein shakes and 8 hours sleep FTW. 9 hours if you’re going very hard. Caffeine early in the day helps too.
Other things that help me:
Podcasts and audiobooks.
Having a long term goal (a ride I plan to do).
Clarity in my motivations (health, having reluctantly abandoned the greatest sport of all, squash).
Biggest change that has helped me be more consistent… kids got older.
Now that we are in the teen/pre-teen years, the decrease of “all-hands on deck” parenting has allowed more of a consistent routine. Of course sports, friends, etc. still have their time demands but nothing like when they are younger. This has allowed both of us to kind of have a “workout hour” in the after school-before dinner time slot and (being teenagers who love sleeping in on the weekends) allows a decent morning ride on weekends. I still have a “time cap” on rides these days but consistency is up!
Edit: And one more bit to add… When you only have a limited window to train, the convenience of pulling up a workout and jumping on the trainer is
I am brand new to the indoor training community. Literally 1 week into my TR journey as my wife surprised me with a trainer for Christmas. I have never done structured cycling training before but I did CrossFit a few years ago and with that I enjoyed the % of 1RM aspect, similar to % of FTP. All of the workouts were % based through an app. So it took all the guesswork out of the process. Just show up and do the work! In the few workouts I have done in the last week, I have already noticed how TR made some changes to a few workouts next week based on my efforts. I am a pretty detailed person, so for me, having a workout that is easily spelled out, makes it easy to get that workout done. Instead of aimlessly just going for a ride and likely pushing too hard. I was a 5am workout(gym) person for the last few years but as life has changed a little bit, I have transitioned into working out in the evenings. I have always done my outside rides after work though. I would really like to get back in the groove of morning workouts, especially with the addition of the trainer. That means I need to start getting in bed earlier. I’m excited for 2025, look forward to trusting the process and crushing my goals!!
I have young children and work so I’m very time crunched. The last four to five months is as consistent as I’ve been in the last seven years and I credit:
Ultra low volume resistance training. I have a full body programme and do just one set of each exercise to failure so the whole routine takes 35 minutes, and I can do it at home (body weight and dumbbells). 35 minutes means I can fit it in quickly after kids are asleep or before everyone wakes up and coming off the couch the resistance training is a game changer, I feel so much better in myself and it encourages consistency in cycling and eating.
Use the TR calendar to plan each week in advance, for motivation/accountability.
Prep cycling sessions in advance - clothing, drinks, electronics. I also have an old road bike from eBay on a turbo, it all decreases any obstacles to starting.
Looking at my TR history, I’m one of the ones that improves when consistent, doesn’t when not. My thoughts (mostly based on past failures):
Don’t push them limits of time and body. Maybe you can push and get more hours or intesity for a while, but your family or job may need some time back. Or your body breaks. Or (most likely for me), my will breaks.
Don’t neglect cross-training. If you get injured, consistency is tanked.
You priortize what you put first . I have a spreadsheet outside Trainerroad that keeps consistency (weekly) as #1 metric. Perhaps there’s more to fitness than FTP. Maybe.
Training with others. Accountability of meeting people makes it much easier to train at a specific time, especially early before work midweek. Still do a good amount of solo training but normally train with others 2-3 times/week
Reducing all barriers to getting out the door. Multiple bikes (this is a luxury) including a dedicated trainer bike so that even allowing for maintenance and cleaning there is always a bike ready to just ride without having to put it on or off the trainer, swap wheels around on a “single quiver” bike, etc. Similar approach to kit where I just have enough versions of everything that is always easy to lay my hands on the right combo for the weather without finding a key item is in the wash or MIA. My box of gloves is quite something to behold! Similar approach also to strength training where I have enough equipment in the garage (again I recognise this is a luxury) to quickly and easily do a strength workout at home where I can multitask between sets if necessary.
Keeping the plan simple and flexible. For me volume and consistency trumps exactly what I’m doing on each ride. Trainnow and workout levels have been great for this. My motto is that the ride I do is always better than the ride I didn’t do! So I’d rather earmark a day for a VO2 ride and then decide on the day what exactly that involves - inside or outside, Achievable, Productive or Stretch, how long, etc. I’ll try and progress week to week but not actually sticking a specific workout in the diary (either manually or with Planbuilder) makes it easier for me personally to adjust to what I need without feeling I’ve failed if I can’t manage the scheduled workout. I know there are people who do better with the accountability of more of a plan, for me I tend to get too perfectionist about it and have a tendency to dig myself into a fatigue hole attempting to stick to it (and don’t yet trust enough in the ability of the plan to automatically adjust, which is more on me than on TR)
Same here. Are you married / do you have a significant other? If so, how do you do this without waking them up?
I’ve always worked out early - mainly due to a long commute / early work start - but recently my wife awakes 10-15 minutes after I leave. I have a silent, vibrating wrist alarm that wakes me but not her, but she still wakes up after I leave. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
No real tricks from me. I have my alarm that doesn’t wake up my wife. From there I try to be as quiet as possible. My wife wakes up quite a bit later.
For indoor sessions, I have things setup in our garage and I’ve been told that you can’t hear it unless you’re pretty close to the door from the house to the garage.
I walk our dogs first thing and they can be a bit loud at times with excitement (the husky in particular) as I get them on their leashes. I blame them for any noise in the morning
. I have a spreadsheet outside Trainerroad that keeps consistency (weekly) as 