TrainingPeaks: Plan Lift Train

I am an IRONMAN because of Training Peaks. Training Peaks was my guide during my first season as an age-group triathlete in which I competed in 5 triathlons—an Olympic distance, a half-IRONMAN, a full IRONMAN, and 2 sprints. Training Peaks has so many training plans available for any level of athlete, and the flexibility you get with the Premium edition to move sessions around as needed to fit your schedule worked so well for me. My “A” race in my first season was the Lake Placid IM. Three days before the race, I noticed my fatigue score was higher than it should be, so I took those days completely off. I was really nervous about doing so, wanting to get those last couple of taper-week sessions in, but I trusted the numbers and my training. On race day, according to my fitness score I was in perfect form. Turns out I was. I finished about 1.5 hours faster than I projected, and I felt really great at the finish. A few weeks later, I took 3rd in my age group in a sprint distance tri. A great way to finish my first season. Training Peaks provided me the detailed plan I needed as well as the flexibility to work sessions into a demanding work and life schedule. I just had to bring the discipline, dedication and faith that the plan would help me achieve success. And it did. As I begin my second season, I can’t even imagine being without Training Peaks. It is my daily guide to what I believe will be another successful season.

I am a distance runner and cyclist training at an amateur level. I’ve logged as many 100 miles/week running and up to 400/week cycling. I do it for fitness and personal enjoyment so the amount of in-depth training analysis offered by Training Peaks is probably more advanced than anything I really need, but I do like to see the effect my training is having on my health and well being. That said, I do occasionally participate in sanctioned events and it’s nice to have access to some structured workouts to mix in with my steady state rides and runs and to see the effects these workouts have on my endurance, and speed/pace. As stated in another review, I do wish the training plans were less expensive so that some of us non-pro level athletes could justify the cost of purchasing and likely benefitting from a structured plan. But then again...we all have to make a living and we can’t expect the coaches that developed these plans to work for free...

Training Peaks is a great app for training for Triathalons. I recently joined a Triathalon team which uses this app for workout schedules. I downloaded it in early October 2017 and I have been impressed ever since. Training peaks allows my coach to load my weekly workouts with notes and all I have to do is follow the plan. No thinking! I have a tomtom spark 3 activity tracker watch which uploads my workouts automatically into training peaks. Tomtom isn't as compatible as garmin but it works just fine when I use the editing mode. I used to rely on strava all the time to see my workouts, but now training peaks gives me way better information so I can analyze all my activities. I highly recommend training peaks. Although there are some things that are better to do from a computer as well as things that are better to do from this app. I recommend both the app and access through a regular computer.

If you want to train like a pro athlete regardless of your current fitness level then this is the right app. If you're after something quicker and easier to use or that you can dip in and out of then a regular fitness tracker such as Under Armour or Nike+ is probably more for you. I link with my Garmin and train with Carmichael Training Systems. My coach gets the data at the other end and has more software available to analyze my fitness in more detail. I'm not a pro athlete, but have always wanted to see how fit I could really get whilst still busting a hectic and demanding full time job and family life. This has really helped keep me honest throughout and understand how fatigue from every day life impacts my ability to train. Great app - keep up the good work!!

If you have the ambition to complete an Ironman race, then you must get Training Peaks. It is the only app designed to capture, track, model and predict your future readiness for a race based on easy-to-understand metrics based on the stress experienced by duration and intensity. It all begins by establishing your thresholds for each sport, (swimming, biking and running). Each new workout is then assigned a Training Stress Score (TSS), in relation to your thresholds. One hour at full threshold produces a score of 100. Training Peaks keeps rolling averages of your TSS for you to capture how well you are doing in relation to your personal history over the past 42 days (the past 6 weeks) and the past 7 days. The 42 day average is called Fatigue, because it recognizes that your body remembers the work you’ve performed over the past six weeks. The 7 day average is called Fitness and it represents how fit you currently are. Your Form, or readiness to perform at your best, is the difference between the Fatigue, (42 day average), minus your Fitness, (the 7 day average). If you can remember these 3 concepts then Training Peaks can help you avoid injuries and help you to taper down to be ready for your best performance.