Training zones in TrainerPlan

Transcript

Translated from the Spanish narration.

0:00 Introduction

Welcome to the third TrainerPlan Masterclass. Today we're looking at training zones: how to set them up, how to use them when planning, and how TrainerPlan detects when your athlete has improved.

0:13 Where the zones are

The zones are in each athlete's profile, under Zones. There are three types: heart rate, power and pace. And within each type, each sport has its own, because heart rate when running isn't the same as on the bike. From here you add zones for another sport.

0:32 Heart rate calculation methods

Each sport chooses its calculation method. In cycling, for example, you can use the percentage of maximum heart rate, or of heart rate reserve, which is the Karvonen method. And in running, the percentage of lactate threshold: you enter the threshold heart rate, and maximum and resting heart rate are always requested.

0:53 Calculate and save

When a value changes, for example the threshold goes up to one hundred and seventy-four, you click Calculate zones and all the ranges are recalculated. And if you prefer to set your own limits, type them in by hand and click Save directly: they are saved as they are, without recalculating.

1:10 Power and pace

In power, the zones are a percentage of FTP: here, two hundred and fifty watts and seven zones. And in pace, a percentage of threshold pace, with each sport's unit: minutes per kilometre when running, and minutes per hundred metres when swimming.

1:30 Threshold detection

And now, the best part. Every time a workout is synced, TrainerPlan looks for a new threshold: the best twenty- and sixty-minute power, the same with heart rate, and the best sustained pace running or swimming. And it only suggests improvements.

1:51 Accepting a new threshold

When it finds one, it lets you know. You see the current threshold, the suggested one and the workout it comes from. You click Accept, and the zones recalculate by themselves. And if you turn on this switch, TrainerPlan applies it automatically, without asking you.

2:10 Zones as targets

The zones work for you when you plan. When you create a session, choose HR Zone as the target and you'll see this athlete's zones with their real heart rates. And when the session reaches their Garmin, COROS, Suunto or Wahoo, the target goes as that exact range.

2:32 Time in zones

And after the workout, in Analyze you have the time in each zone. Here, half an hour in zone two, and about twenty minutes between Tempo and SubThreshold. And the same with pace, just below.

2:49 Zone templates

If you use the same zone model with many athletes, create a template. In Zone Templates you save only the names and the percentages. Then, in each athlete, you choose Apply Template and the ranges are calculated with their own thresholds. Save, and that's it. With the zones set up properly, every session and every analysis speak your athlete's language. In the next Masterclass we'll look at strength training: the exercise library, the blocks and what the athlete logs. Try it free at trainerplan.co, and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the next ones.