I answered this some where else in great depth but there is nothing special to creating a workout. One workout is good for someone and not the best for someone else, it does not matter who uploaded it (best coach in the world or a beginner with an idea). If it is popular chances are it’s reasonable for some guys.
Coaches and platforms have tried to make their workouts seems special but this is not true. Plans can be more special but a specific workout can not.
It’s all about providing a reasonable workout for the right person at the right time. This will have a benefit. The wrong workout is more about way too intense or way too easy. You can see this clearly in TrainerRoad forums talking about workouts. One person thinks something is fine the other thinks it is way too hard. They were all created by a coach.
Most important for most users is staying consistent and not digging themselves in too deep of hole. The perfect workout vs an ok workout probably changes the effectiveness of the workout by less than 5% and affects your overall performance by .001%. The major big picture of volume and consistency make a big difference (like 90% of your results).
Doing mostly easy and some hard can produce good results for the majority of people. All moderately hard workouts is more risky but might work for some, especially in the short term. Even though I recommend against all moderately hard, in reality if you don’t burn out or get hurt and it it keeps you consistent then all moderately hard can be reasonable.
If you want a well tailored plan that takes this into account then Coach Jack is better. Our plan is to better integrate Coach Jack logic into Today but that will still be a while. I believe our Today is closer to TrainerRoad than to Coach Jack but I am not claiming it is as smart as TrainNow. Today recommended workouts should be reviewed and given some thought. “Looks fun and my level, lets try it.” Looks too hard… We are changing the logic everyday to improve it. New version is there today and new one coming tomorrow. Tomorrow’s version should be much better than the one that is there now.
One problem with TODAY, and my guess is TrainNow in TrainerRoad is that it does not incorporate quality periodization. Training consistently year in and year out without periodization probably has a negative hit of reaching 10-20% more than with quality periodization (guess, no science to back this up). Again consistency and volume matter even more than periodization if someone is inconsistent (years of training 48+ weeks a year a few times a week). So if you are 100% consistent, you could likely do better with a plan. You could use TODAY and easily incorporate periodization. Part of the year do mostly easy, and keep picking more and more of the hard workouts as you get towards peak season. Dr Seiler thinks that all year long of 80/20 with no periodization works ok as well. It might but we don’t have any proof of that. We just have a study to show it is effective for 9 weeks. Even all year round I think it is reasonable.
Today tries to always recommend a workout you should be able to do but that is not guaranteed. It can be on the harder side. Coach Jack’s recommendation everyone should be able to complete because it is a plan and starts easy.
Hope this helps.
This is WEB ONLY for now but it is coming to the app in the next week or two.
