Training

Training plans

A training plan turns one goal and a date into a day-by-day schedule on your Calendar. You tell Pedalsim what you want to achieve and how much time you have, and it builds the plan most likely to get you there. It then shows you how likely that is, as a plain percentage.

Every riding day in a plan is an adaptive session. The plan sets the kind of work and how long, such as an hour of threshold, and the exact shape of the session is set on the day from how you are riding, just like the adaptive mode. Consecutive sessions of the same kind vary their shape, so no two threshold days feel the same.

Choosing a goal

Open Calendar and pick Build my own, or start from a ready-made plan. Every goal is a number:

Raise my FTP, in watts or W/kg.
Climb a climb faster: a famous climb such as Alpe d'Huez or Mont Ventoux, or a climb on one of your own routes, with a target time.
Ride a time trial faster over 10, 20 or 40 km, a distance you choose, or one of your routes.
Finish an event, outdoors or in Pedalsim: its distance and climbing, and optionally a target time. You can link the course or import its GPX.
Raise a peak power over 5 minutes, 1 minute or 15 seconds.
Get fitter, or Maintain my fitness through a busy season.

A plan runs from 4 to 52 weeks and builds towards its last day. You say how important the goal is (must hit, normal or stretch), and you can add up to two more goals alongside it, such as being able to ride for five hours or reaching a body weight.

Ready-made plans

Ready-made plans fill in the goal for you, so you only confirm your details. They include FTP Builder, Climb Specialist, Time Trial, Gran Fondo, Winter Base, Return from a Break, First Structured Plan, Maintain, Criterium and Racing, Gravel and Ultra, Sprint, Hill Climb Race, Everesting, Journey Stage Race, Time-Crunched and Fitness for Weight Loss. Every answer they fill in stays editable.

The questions

After the goal, Pedalsim asks one question per screen, usually 25 to 35 in all. Anything it already knows, from your profile or your recent rides, is filled in and only needs confirming. Your answers save as you go, so you can leave and pick up at the next unanswered question. The questions cover:

Your time: the most hours a week, the longest ride you can fit on each weekday, busy dates, and which days you ride outdoors.
Your background: how long you have trained, recent hours, other sports, and how past training went.
Your health: a standard pre-exercise health check, any pain or injury, sleep and stress. These answers are used only to plan and are deleted with your account.
Your preferences: sessions you enjoy or would rather avoid, your preferred FTP test, and your trainer.

Once the goal is set, a live odds chip at the top of the screen updates as you answer, so you can see what each answer means for your chances.

Your odds, and a realistic alternative

The preview leads with the likely result: a range showing where you will most likely end up, your goal marked on it, and your odds of reaching it. Below are the phases of the plan, the hours of each week and the first two weeks day by day.

If the goal is unlikely, Pedalsim says so rather than pretending. It offers the same target on a later date, a lower target on your date, or, when your available time cannot move the number enough, how many hours a week it would take and the option to maintain instead. You can always keep your original goal: the plan is built the same way and the odds stay visible.

Tap the odds to see what moves them, such as your consistency or your available hours, and a few what if changes, like one more hour a week or a goal two weeks later, each with its effect on your odds. Applying one rebuilds the plan, and you can undo it.

What you need

A smart trainer or power meter, and a heart rate strap: plan sessions adapt to your heart rate, so pair one before your first plan ride. Anyone can build a plan, see its odds and ride its first week for free. The rest of the plan needs a subscription, and subscribing unlocks the same plan without starting over.

Once your plan starts, Following a plan covers the day-to-day.