Tips from the Coach for Cadence’s included Training Plans and Structured Workouts
ATTENTION: This support documentation is for Cadence version 2.6 which has not yet been released and is currently in beta testing.
Cadence comes with a set of premade Training Plans and Workouts and a lot of effort has been put in to creating them.
It is important to attempt to follow each Workout Step “as close as possible”. Even if a Step feels easy, e.g. 5 minutes at 50%, it is NOT better to do that Step at 60%—the Step targets specific muscular and metabolic responses, for a reason. So you will get the most out of these Training Plans and Workouts if you pursue a high “compliance”.
The “compliance” calculation (available as a “Workout Compliance” or “Step Compliance” metric you can add to any screen layout) in Cadence is more advanced than most other training platforms—so it is advised to take full advantage of that. It is also possible during a Step to follow how compliant (close to the planned effort) you are.
When out on the road—keeping yourself safe and following traffic rules, etc.—it can be very difficult to get compliance above 95%. That is easier on an indoor trainer.
The Training Plans are based on either starting with establishing your FTP, or knowing it beforehand. Progression is built into the Plans, and it is therefore NOT advised to do FTP tests during the weeks covered by the Plan—nor to change your FTP. If the Workouts (those that are supposed to be hard) feel too easy, it could be because your FTP or Zones are not correct, and in such case it could make sense to evaluate and adjust. But it is not needed to adjust your FTP during a Training Plan to ensure progression—it is built in to the Plans that Workouts will be either harder, longer, or more intense.
Obviously, mistakes can be made. If you feel something looks completely wrong, please post questions to the Cadence Subreddit, and you are also welcome to reach out to coach@topway.dk (who created the included Training Plans and Workouts in Cadence).
The Training Plans included in Cadence are mostly made with 3-4 training days per week, and not too many hours per week. This is for a good reason. Once training load becomes higher, recovery becomes more complex, and more delicate. Therefore the Plans are made mostly for beginners and intermediate cyclists. You are welcome to suggest other plans that could be added as well—all suggestions will be considered.
More advanced and experienced cyclist can obviously still use these plans, but in general, one of the three following approaches should probably be considered:
- You have the skills and insights to create your own plans. This can very effectively be done in Cadence or synced to Cadence from supported services like Intervals.icu.
- If you don’t have experience creating Training Plans, it’s strongly recommended you consult with a coach that can create plans specific for your goals, capabilities and life circumstances—to ensure you can recover adequately and get the benefit from the effort you put in to your training.
- Take an existing plan and add an extra day. This should be pure Zone 2, and you should be VERY strict to keep it in Zone 2! Otherwise you are greatly risking not recovering as intended from the structured part of the Training Plan, and thus wasting time on the bike, which would be a shame. And that is a best case scenario—you could also risk overtraining and ending with injuries or just demotivation.
