TrainerDay outdoor app and improved outdoor workouts?

#1

So I am not a person that tries to follow outdoor structured workouts. Maybe I just have in my head I will have a few intervals I want to do but nothing more than that. I know many people like following more “full structured training” outdoors. Not sure if any of you are one “those people” :slight_smile:

Anyway, rumor has it that some cyclists are starting to get over the stigma of riding outdoors with their phone. I think we could actually do a small amount of work and make our app better than a Garmin or Wahoo for outdoor structured workouts (just the structured part not the rest… no maps no… )

A user would likely still use their Garmin/Wahoo for tracking (possibly). We could better support features like open-ended intervals, cadence targets and free-ride than it currently works on these devices. Not to mention a more clear view into what is going on.

My question is does anyone here see a need for this? I am partially thinking about this related to support TrainingPeaks workout of the day, so a coach could prescribe a workout and you see in the app and it would be easier to follow then on a training device.

Just currious anythouts here.

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#2

I do some structured outdoors workouts, but no to much, in a year maybe around 20 maximum, and in my opinion is a lot of products tot do that, in my opinion don´t spend time on this

#3

Can you tell me what other apps? I don’t know of any. Meaning TrainerRoad has TP Workout of the day and shows structured workouts with a big library. I am sure they don’t record your GPS data or show you speed for outdoor (or I don’t think they do). Who else? Generally most performance riders don’t want a phone on their bike, but do think their is a market for this, maybe more so for TrainingPeaks coached athletes that want to follow “the plan.”

Generally, I know you might be right and I never thought of it until recently :slight_smile: I don’t think it is much work for us but it might turn into bigger, I realize. I am just exploring ideas now. Part of what gave me the idea is another app is going to integrate with us for outdoor structured workouts.

#4

I absolutely follow structured workouts outdoors. I just push from TrainerDay to TrainingPeaks which connects with my Garmin (could also just push to GC I suppose).

I’m not sure how many people use their phones for structured workouts outdoors, though. Anyone I know that follows structured outdoors either uses a stopwatch and a written workout plan (on the top tube) or a GPS device (Wahoo, Garmin, Lezyne). I know there are phone holders out there to put on the handlebars, just never really seen it…

#5

I only do hill repeats, and long 20minute type intervals outside, where i just use the lap button. I never used TR outside function, and don’t think it is necessary for this app.

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#6

Jeremy yes yours is the “standard approach” or as Cabbage suggests, hill repeats is a perfect approach from my perspective.

I just know Garmin / Wahoo have problems regarding structured workouts. Garmin does not support the idea of “Free-Ride” for example. The idea of open-ended intervals is something most people don’t know about or use. Garmin needs watts not % so when your FTP changes you need new workouts… A bigger screen and a company focused on continuing to improve the outdoor experince could evolve to something better (although I don’t like the idea of phone on bars either, other than for indoor). Garmin basically does not seem to care much about a device after they sell it. They are not drastically improving their structured training experience.

I also hear there is a trend towards moving to apps for training but since their are no good ones I know of I don’t know how this is possible.

Jeremy you are the perfect candidate for this, meaning guys training with a Garmin, if they could get over the idea of having some big phone on their bars could have a better solution for outdoor structure training. The Garmin might be there too, but the app for driving the workout. Right now we might be ahead of our time on this. :slight_smile: That new Karoo Hammerhead has promise in this regard.

So it could be virtual power based for an audience that does not have a power meter. Just GPS and weight and elevation changes (and wind ideally) could give a fairly accurate power.

#7

I should say I am not trying to convince anyone of anything here :slight_smile: This is very possibly some features that most people don’t need and for sure this audience. I just wanted to talk about it and see if it resonated with anyone.

#8

Hi Alex,

I am very interested in this topic, and I wanted to know if there have been developments in this direction.
I only use the phone on my bike outdoors, I think it is much more forgiving, versatile and powerful than Garmin or Wahoo computers. Battery autonomy has increased significantly to no longer be a major limitation. Then we always carry the phone with us anyway, so I save myself a device.
thanks for letting me know

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#9

Hi, I am not sure your question. We have outdoor training in our app now but I don’t really like and very few people use it so we are removing it. If you want to use your TrainerDay calendar with a better and affordable outdoor training app on iOS then CheckMyRide is a good choice. For Android I am not sure what is a good option. I don’t know of anything that integrates with TrainerDay.

#10

I use the outdoor training indoors. If I want to do some specific activity to clear up a residual in WKO but do my regular rides on Kinomap I use out door mode. Works well technically but the body isn’t always compliant.

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#11

We are working to improve the outdoor experience now. It should be better in the next 2 weeks.

#12

I am just curious, how can I search more outdoor trainings? Because when I search it as “outdoor”, it barely find something.

#13

We are working on a converter right now to convert indoor workouts to outdoor. Any workouts for indoor could be done outdoor but the problem is there are lots of small changes indoor that don’t make sense outdoors. Outdoors should be simplified. So I would say this feature should be live in the next 2 weeks although this is a little complex so it might require some refinement for some specific workouts.

Not sure if that helps…

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#14

Yea, it is more clear now :slight_smile: Not helpful for me because the good weather here will be ending but good to know for future :sweat_smile:

#15

Hi Alex - I’m new to TrainerDay and really enjoying the platform so far. I use an Apple Watch for HR when using a Wahoo Kickr Core trainer indoors and have been searching for a good app to use for outdoor HR based training. It was during these searches that I discovered that TrainerDay previously had an outdoor mode. It must have been removed just before I started using TrainerDay.

It’s a pity it has been removed because TrainerDay seems to have the most reliable/stable Apple Watch connection that I have found.

If GPS and outdoor features have been removed from TrainerDay, are you aware of any other apps that can display HR data from an Apple Watch? I don’t think CheckMyRide has this feature. I’ve trialled Cadence, but found that the Apple Watch connection can be problematic (and usually requires the Watch to be rebooted before it will work).

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#16

Hi Mike, yes only 11 people ever recorded an outdoor workout using our app so we dropped that feature and no one complained… With HR based workouts are you trying to do interval workouts at say Z4 for example? Or just steady state Z2. I am just trying to think of ideas. I would think there must be something available for this.

#17

It would be for steady state Z2 mostly.

#18

So why not just record it on your watch using the standard activity feature? Then you don’t even need a phone based app.

#19

retracted

#20

Thanks Alex - I’ll try that. I’ll give Checkmyride a try too.