If you’re an athlete working with a coach, you probably take your training pretty seriously. TrainingPeaks is trusted by coaches and athletes all over the world, but do you need a Premium account if you’re working with a coach?
Many coaches include a Premium TrainingPeaks account as part of their coaching services. This allows them to give their athletes the best possible experience and get the most out of their training. It also helps them stay more connected with their athletes, strengthening the coach-athlete relations and providing top-tier service.
Premium Perks
If you’re already invested in a coach but haven’t yet made the jump to Premium, here are some Premium features you’ll benefit from when you upgrade:
- Performance Metrics CTL/ATL/TSB – Learn more about the impacts of training
- Coach Notifications – Faster feedback from your coach
- Limited Availability – Simplify communication with your coach
- Moving workouts – Flexibility to adjust your own schedule as needed
- Peak Performances – Help you gauge your effort and know how you are trending
But don’t take our word for it. We surveyed more than 1,500 athletes using TrainingPeaks Premium and discovered their favorite TrainingPeaks features. Here’s an example of how Premium can enhance your training experience:
“TrainingPeaks is instrumental to measuring my progress. Everyday I see the dashboard update and know I am on target to accomplish my fitness goals. Reviewing my workout helps me to understand where I need to improve and provides my coach the information he needs for my workout plans.”
Bill, triathlete
Learn How Training Impacts You with Performance Metrics
Premium gives you the tools to track your progress and see your fitness gain momentum.
With a TrainingPeaks Premium account, you’ll see three important numbers on your home screen each day:
- Form (TSB)
- Fitness (CTL)
- Fatigue (ATL)
These trademarked metrics show you the full picture of your training so you can feel confident you’re on track to hit your goals.
(Pro tip: For a deeper dive into each of these metrics, check out this blog on the Performance Management Chart.)
If you’re working with a coach, the Performance Management Chart (PMC) is an especially handy tool. Your coach can use the PMC to see if your training is on track or if something needs to be changed. Seeing these numbers change is key to learning how you respond to training.
Find Your Sweet Spot With Form
As you’re tapering for a race and your Form (TSB) increases, you can identify what Form feels best for you on race day. Some athletes like to see higher Form (10-15+) while others like to keep it a little lower to feel sharp on race day. You’ll also learn over time what TSB is too low and overtraining is at risk. This helps you and your coach know when to dial it back.
“Since I started working with a coach, TrainingPeaks has been the basis for all of my training. Over time I’ve got to really understand the importance of tracking my form before events using the fitness tracking graphic. The data can also help to analyze how an event really was statistically, rather than just relying on feel.”
David, cyclist
Stay Connected With Post Workout Notifications
Get faster feedback and better guidance from your coach by sending them real-time workout notifications.
When you finish a workout using TrainingPeaks Premium, your coach gets a notification as soon as it uploads to TrainingPeaks.
Every coach provides feedback on your workouts at a different cadence, but you may get faster feedback and better guidance from your coach when they receive a real-time workout notification.
This becomes particularly important when you are getting closer to a race, or if a workout goes particularly poorly. Your coach may want to adjust your upcoming training based on your most recent workout.
Your coach also gets notifications when you leave a comment, so they can respond and get back to you quickly.
“The numbers keep me honest and act as motivation. My coach puts the workouts on and I just do the work!”
Louise, triathlete
Help Your Coach Tailor Your Plan with Limited Availability
Let your coach know when you’re available to train so they can plan around your schedule.
Limited Availability allows your coach to plan training around vacations, work trips, or major medical appointments.
You can enter details of days you are unavailable or have limited availability directly on your Calendar. For example, if you’re going on a work trip and you can’t bring your bike but you can still run, your coach can see this on your Calendar and make adjustments.
Cut out the emails, text messages back and forth, or worse: missing workouts altogether due to miscommunication.
“Let’s just say it is my second coach: TrainingPeaks was meant for athletes like me who have two full-time jobs and have to carve out each second of the day to train for their hobby to race well. I train about 14 hours a week so I use it everyday many times!!”
Jeri-Lou, runner, cyclist, triathlete
Fit Training Into Your Life by Moving Workouts
Reschedule workouts so you can stick to your plan no matter what life throws your way.
Flexibility is crucial for athletes balancing training with work, family and life commitments. And let’s be honest: that’s all of us!
With Premium, you can drag and drop your training sessions around so you don’t get derailed when your schedule fills up.
Premium users also get the full details of their workouts in daily emails, making it easier to train on the go (and harder to make excuses). Of course, you can work with a coach with a Basic account, but you can’t reschedule activities on your calendar like you can with Premium.
“TP Premium allows me to enter all my workouts in the Workout Library, drag and drop them into the calendar, and move them around to fit work and family commitments.”
Robin, runner, cyclist, triathlete triathlete
Stay Motivated With Peak Performances
Receive a medal icon every time you get a new workout best.
Peak Performances highlight your progress on key distances, paces, and power durations. These icons are a good way to know if you just went hard in a workout or if you had an easier day. For example, if your coach assigns you an easy recovery ride but you see a bunch of Peak Performances for power, you probably didn’t stick to the plan.
Peak Performances also show how you’re progressing and keep you motivated as you train. Hitting a new Peak Performance for a running distance or power number indicates that you’re improving and training is going well.
You can still work with your coach using a Basic TrainingPeaks account, and you can still set goals and log your workouts. However, you can’t plan future workouts, reschedule missed training sessions, or track your fitness with advanced metrics without a Premium account.
If you still aren’t sure, remember that we offer a 14-day Premium trial and see for yourself!
