What does workout and step compliance mean and how does it work?
ATTENTION: This support documentation is for Cadence version 2.6 which has not yet been released and is currently in beta testing.
Compliance is Cadence’s answer to the question: “How closely did I follow each workout step and the workout as a whole?”
It scores every structured step—and the whole workout—on a scale from 0% (way off target) to 100% (nailed it).
Each workout step is all about targeting specific zones for specific metabolic and muscle activation. The Compliance Score can give insight into how good you were at getting that specific training.
You can add “Current Step: Compliance” and “Workout: Compliance” metrics to any of your screen layouts.
What goes into the score?
- Step Targets: Cadence looks at the prescribed value for the current step (power, heart rate, cadence, or speed). Steady steps use the set value, range steps use the midpoint, and ramp steps use the current target at each moment of the ramp.
- Special cases: neither RPE or “Free” steps count towards step or workout compliance scores.
- Step Compliance: Compliance is calculated on both how close your average output is to the target for that step, and on how consistent your output has been to the target during the step. The step compliance value updates every second and rises or falls in real time, so you can make pacing tweaks on the fly.
- Workout Compliance: Every second Cadence updates a time-weighted average of completed steps plus the portion of the current step that has elapsed. This provides an overall workout compliance score that’s especially useful after completing a workout.
Why this approach?
- Balanced – rewards accuracy and steadiness instead of sheer intensity.
- Symmetrical – overshooting penalises you just as much as undershooting.
- Consistent – capped at 100%, so scores are directly comparable across workouts.
- Actionable – because it updates every second, you always know whether to push, ease, or smooth things out.
