Outside Workouts allow you to substitute an outside equivalent for your regularly scheduled TrainerRoad workouts.
Why Outside Workouts?
The key to getting faster is structured training. Since most people don't want to spend all of their time riding indoors, outside workouts ensure users have the same access to structured workouts when they head outside.
Since each outside workout is tied to a set of similar TrainerRoad workouts, you can ensure your training will stay on track if you are following a training plan.
Choosing an Outside Workout Alternative
When scheduling a workout, TrainerRoad workouts with outdoor alternatives will have the option to do "Outside" listed.
Note: Workouts are "ready to be pulled for Wahoo/Garmin/Hammerhead" within 3 days of the current day.
Switching to an Outside Workout will reveal a text-based description and goals for the workout. Power-based descriptions will include actual power targets based on your FTP.
RPE-based descriptions are built for users without a power meter.
You can switch back to the originally scheduled TrainerRoad workout after swapping to an Outside Workout.
Workouts within 3 days of the current day show as "Pushed for Wahoo/Garmin/Hammerhead"
Workouts scheduled more than 3 days in advance will be “Scheduled for Wahoo/Garmin/Hammerhead”, but won’t be available to pull yet.
Completing an Outside Workout
There are two ways to complete an outside workout; file upload and manual completion.
File Upload
Outside workout files uploaded to TrainerRoad will automatically pair with your planned outside workout. Files can be uploaded automatically using Activity Sync, or manually uploaded from the "Import Activities" button on the Past Activities page.
Manual Completion
Not everyone has a way to record their Outside Workouts. These users can manually complete outside workouts.
You will be given the option to input actual stats (Duration, Intensity) for the workout.
Adding a Training Plan with Outside Workouts
When adding a training plan, you can specify workout days you'd like to have an outside workout scheduled (if available).
When prompted to select the days you want to train, select "Outside" for days you'd like to receive outside workouts.
Note: "Outside" will show as an option if any workouts on that day have outside equivalents in the plan.
If a training day has no Outside Workouts tied with it, you won't be given the option to do "Outside".
Pushing Outside Workouts to a Garmin Head Unit
If you have a power meter, Outside Workouts can be sent directly to your Garmin head unit. This allows you to follow a workout directly without writing down the workout instructions. For more information on how to push a workout to your Garmin, click here.
Pushing Outside Workouts to a Wahoo ELEMNT
If you have a power meter, outside workouts can be sent directly to your Wahoo ELEMNT. For more information on how to push a workout to your Wahoo, click here.
Pushing Outside Workouts to a Hammerhead Head Unit
If you have a power meter, outside workouts can be sent directly to your Hammerhead head unit. For more information on how to push a workout to your Hammerhead, click here.
Pushing Outside Workouts to an Apple Watch
If you have a power meter, outside workouts can be sent directly to your Apple Watch and then mirrored to your iPhone screen if wanted. For more information on how to push a workout to your Apple Watch, click here.
FAQ's
Why do some outside workouts have a different name than my scheduled TrainerRoad workouts?
Not all TrainerRoad workouts are easily completed outside. To address this, we created many new "outside approved" workouts designed to give the same training benefit as their inside counterpart.
The other example of this is with Endurance workouts. Since many of these follow a more generic structure, these are grouped together so that one outside workout would be prescribed for a group of inside workouts.
Why are some outside workout equivalents longer than my scheduled TrainerRoad workouts?
Riding outside is less efficient. Things like terrain, stoplights, and weather have to be taken into account when heading out to ride. Riding inside controls all of these external factors, and therefore allows the workouts to be incredibly precise. To account for these external factors, many TrainerRoad outside workout equivalents will be between 15 and 60 minutes longer (depending on TR workout length) to ensure you are getting the same training benefit while riding outside.
Is there a library of Outside Workouts I can view?
Not yet. We have plans to continue building more Outside Workouts but need to restructure parts of the website for outside workouts to be clearly understandable at a glance.
Can I export an outside workout to another head unit?
We have an API available for other manufacturers to be able to pull Outside Workouts from TrainerRoad. Wahoo is the only manufacturer that has set this up to this point.