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Email Preferences in TrainerRoad

When opted into emails you will receive training, educational, promotional, and product related updates from TrainerRoad. You can manage the types of emails you get from TrainerRoad in your account settings. What Emails Does TrainerRoad Send? Training Updates - Missing Survey Responses: If you forget to fill out a survey after your ride you will get an e-mail from TR with a link to update your recent workout survey. - Upcoming Workout Adaptations: If you have enabled the auto-acceptance of training plan adaptations you will be notified when your next workout has been updated and what the update is. - Red Light Green Light Updates: If you have a Red or Yellow day tomorrow you will get an email notifying you of the red or yellow day detected and the suggested update to your training. Product Updates - Educational, Promotional, and Product updates from the TrainerRoad team. How to Manage Preferences or Opt out of Emails You can update email preferences or opt out of all e-mails from TrainerRoad in the Email Preference page in the Settings section of your Account here: Email Preferences Screen Shot 2025-02-12 at 11.23.23 AM.png Step One: Go to Account > Settings > Email Preferences Screen Shot 2025-02-12 at 12.26.49 PM.png Step Two: Check and uncheck the emails you'd like to receive. When you are done select Update Preferences.

Account Information • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

The Basics of Specialty Training

To refine our cycling abilities and achieve peak fitness, making both highly specific to our cycling discipline and racing demands, we will progress through the third (and potentially final) training phase: the Specialty Phase. Specialty Phase training plans integrate the principle of specificity into training. Each training plan in this training phase strives to be as specific to your target events or riding discipline as possible. So the workouts you’ll find in this training phase focus on the specific cycling goals/efforts that you’ll be faced with on the road, mud, gravel, or whatever tickles your fancy. What You’ll Gain from Optimal Specialty Training During the Specialty Phase, we will increase our focus on the intensity levels that you will see in competition. In other words, we are increasing the specificity of your training to closely resemble the demands that you will see on race day. With this increase in specificity also comes a slight decrease in volume. By keeping the intensity high, and the volume levels moderate, your conditioning is maintained and a layer of “freshness” is revealed. This freshness is what we are looking for come race day, because if you've ever raced with overly fatigued legs, you know that that fatigue does not enhance your performance. While the Specialty Training Plans are primarily focused on increasing your fitness, the Specialty Phase is the perfect time to seek psychological, technical, and tactical adaptations as well. It is a good idea to get outdoors and train on the bike you will be racing to gain specific skills and comfort with the demands you will see on race day. This is important for all types of racers because, as we know, there is more to racing than your FTP. - Time trialists and triathletes will want to gain familiarity with their bikes, and possibly make tweaks for comfort out on the road. - Road racers will want to develop pack riding skills, tactical knowledge, and team dynamics. - Mountain bikers will want to practice riding technical sections and may want to tweak equipment like tires to further dial in their bike. - Gravel riders will want to get time out on the bike to make sure their bikes and fit will comfortable over rough and uneven surfaces. With the Calendar feature, replacing a planned indoor workout with an outdoor one is super simple. You can learn how to associate outdoor rides here. Picking a Specialty Plan If you're looking for guidance on which Specialty Phase to pick, we recommend checking out the discipline-specific articles for an in-depth recommendation that related to your goals and aspirations for the season. You can view these articles from the "Training Questions" section of our Help Center. Racing During the Specialty Phase Throughout the Specialty Phase, many athletes will be weaving lower-priority events into their training. This is assuming you’ll be racing a high-priority event at the end of the training phase. While this is the assumption, you don’t have to be racing to achieve a fitness peak. If you do have a race on the weekend but also have a workout scheduled that same day, consider this a “training race”. Forget about the scheduled workout for that day as you’ll be getting plenty of training stimulus from your race. In these cases, you may also need to adjust your scheduled workout that follows with a lower-intensity ride to maintain a good progression in your training plan. Sometimes a heap of stress from a race can necessitate these kinds of small adjustments. Tapering for Your Event I manufacture a tapering strategy into each Specialty Phase training plan I design. The goal of a taper is to minimize the negative physiological and psychological stresses of daily training to optimize sports performance. Instead of trying to eke out further positive physiological responses from increased training, our aim is to enhance performance by reducing training stimulus in a way that reveals a layer of “freshness” in the athlete. To properly taper for an event, I recommend 1-2 weeks of a progressive, nonlinear reduction in training volume while still maintaining a large portion of training intensity. Since many races will land on a Sunday, I design the taper week to leave out the Sunday workout in anticipation for the event. Should your event land on a Saturday, feel free to leave out Saturday’s scheduled workout in lieu of your event. Skipping Specialty Phase training amounts to missing out on the opportunity to capitalize on your season of hard work. Specialization is meant to sharpen your skills like a fine blade — should you establish your fundamental skills, build upon them in a slightly more specific manner, then why stop there? If the confines of timing ‘til your event are what you face, reducing the amount of time spent in Specialty training is an option. Summary of Specialty Phase Training Establishing base fitness paves the way for workloads that are heaped higher & higher during build training. With both forms of conditioning buttoned up, the intent is now to top off your fitness, uncover a high level of freshness and lock down your confidence over these final 8 weeks of training. What's Next? Now that you know the ins and outs of the three training phases, check out the "Adjusting Your Training Plan" section of the Help Center to learn how to make modifications to fit your schedule.

Understanding your Training Plans • Last updated on Aug 13, 2026

How to Add A, B, and C Events to Your Calendar

A key component of any training plan is knowing when your events are going to take place and how you are going to prioritize them. With Calendar, you can add events at any time and TrainerRoad will adapt your plan accordingly. What Types of Events Are There? Before adding any events to your Calendar it’s first important to know the different classifications of events. As athletes, races are often very important to us. For many, it's the whole reason we train, and in an ideal world, we would roll up to each race with the ability to perform at our maximum physical potential. However, the reality is that the human body cannot maintain the optimal conditions required to perform at its absolute peak for very long. "Peaking", as we call it, requires an optimal balance of fitness and freshness, and these "stars align" for only a brief window. Through the use of our Training Plans, you'll be able to plan your season so that the "stars align" on the day that your performance is most important to you. The first step of Building your season is Event & Race Prioritization. The terminology we use for this is A, B, and C races. Below, we’ll explain how each of these types of races will fit into your season. A Race - These will be races that you will perform at your absolute peak fitness and should be events that are the most important to you. It is best to have around one or two "A" races per year. - If you have multiple A races, they should be at least 12 weeks apart in order to be in peak form for both. If you have two A races within 12 weeks of each other, we recommend prioritizing one as an A race and the other as a B race. - "A" races often have two-week tapers leading up to them, which call for a reduction in overall Training Stress resulting in an increase in freshness, all while maintaining fitness to create this elusive "Peak.” B Races - While you won’t be fully peaked for these, B races will be excellent trials of your fitness, and you can still be very competitive in them. Keep in mind that your competitors are restricted by the same human limitations as you are, so while you can’t always be in your absolute peak form, they can’t either. - While these races can be season objectives in their own right, they mostly allow you extra opportunities to try different race/nutrition strategies to see what works for you and your body. - These races can be particularly important because they build mental racing experience and confidence that you can carry into your higher-priority "A" events. - You will be given the option to add opener workouts in the days leading up to their B race when adding events using Plan Builder. C Races - These races are strictly for practice, experience, and fun. The outcomes should carry much less emotional value, and as such, you will simply "train through" them. They should hold a similar value as a key hard workout. - Keep in mind that structured work is what makes you faster, not simply riding hard all the time, and recovery is just as important. - Since these are essentially viewed as a form of training, no taper is required, and if possible, you should schedule them in the same manner as which you’d find a really tough workout, i.e., following an easy or off day. Takeaway: You can't perform at your peak physical fitness forever, so it is important to decide when you want to be your fastest and plan accordingly. How Event Priority Affects Adaptations - A Events - TrainerRoad will add a taper for the event and an opener workout the day before the event (if you've enabled this option in the Plan Builder flow). - B Events - TrainerRoad will add an opener workout the day before the event (if you've enabled this option in the Plan Builder flow). - C Events - These events are essentially training/workouts, no taper is involved so TrainerRoad will remove any scheduled workouts on this day. For more on how to prioritize your events to build a training plan, check out this Article: - How to Prioritize Your Races and Build a Seasonal Race Plan Adding an Event to the Calendar 1. To add a Race/Event to your calendar, either click on the specific day that your event will take place, or the "+ Add" button on the top right part of your screen. 2. Select "Event" from the drawer on the right of the screen. 3. Enter the pertinent information regarding the event, such as whether it's an A, B, or C event, its duration, and intensity, etc. 4. Once the event is added, you'll be prompted to adapt your plan to include the event. Select "Adapt". Editing an Existing Event in the Calendar To edit an Event, simply select it from the Calendar to open the dialogue box then click the Edit/Pencil icon. To simply move the event, you can also drag and drop the event from one day to another if, for example, it was rescheduled. After editing your Event adaptations will be prompted based on A, B & C Events prioritization. Marking an Event Complete If you import an outside ride file on the day of your event, it will automatically match that activity to the event and mark it as complete. In case that doesn't happen automatically you can also associate your event's ride file manually (see Match a Planned Workout with a Completed Workout/Ride). If you don't have a ride file for your event, you can also manually mark the event as complete by clicking on the event from the Calendar and selecting Mark as Complete. Add an Event in Plan Builder You can use Plan Builder if you'd like to build a training plan leading up to a specific event as well as add multiple events during the Plan Builder flow. To learn more about how to use Plan Builder check out this article: - Plan Builder Overview For more information on A, B, and C, races and how to prioritize them, check out the resources below! Podcast Discussion: [13:20] Podcast 134: How to Prioritize your races [31:30] Podcast 134: A, B, and C Race Definitions Further education: Peaking for Multiple "A" Races Not Enough Time Too Much Time! Related Training Articles: Peak on Race Day: 5 Questions to Plan Your Perfect Season

Calendar • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

The Basics of Base Training

Principles: The purpose of base training is to establish a foundation of fitness that will allow cyclists to build towards their physiological potential for a goal event. It may seem counterintuitive to revert to base training every year after reaching new heights of performance, but this strategy pays dividends come race season. Much like a pyramid, our fitness is built in a hierarchical fashion, with the initial work serving as a critical foundation that will eventually support a higher peak. This foundation is achieved through effective base training in which cyclists raise their fitness levels. During this phase there are various transformations happening on different levels, but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll just focus on the efficiency of muscles to transform energy into speed on the bike. As you focus your training on developing your aerobic capacity, amongst other useful adaptations, you train your body to become more efficient at turning fat into energy and producing energy aerobically regardless of its fuel. This transformation takes place within the mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cell ) in your muscles. So, as you spend more time stressing your aerobic energy system, your body adapts by creating more efficient mitochondria. This adaptation will benefit you throughout all portions of your power curve because mitochondria are involved in turning energy into speed at all different intensities. Takeaway: By following a Base training plan, you will establish fundamental aspects of your fitness capabilities. The primary focus is on aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, and form/speed/power capabilities. TrainerRoad Base Plans: General, Traditional, Polarized, and Masters So it's time for base, but you aren't sure what will work best for you... what do you do? You can use the guide below to decide which Base plan is right for you. General Base This take on Base training integrates a bit more variety than the Traditional approach. You will see a lot of Sweet Spot work, but the plan also contains VO2 max intervals and neuromuscular bursts in the Low and Mid-Volume Plans. The reasoning behind this is that most amateur athletes when training at a low-intensity will run out of time in their schedules before they really tax their endurance muscles to the limit. Through Sweet Spot work, and a mix of higher intensity work, you can attain sufficient training stress to initiate adaptation in your limited training time. - When choosing a Base plan, we've found General Base (GB) is the best choice for most athletes who don't have enough time (less than 10 hours/week) to complete a full Traditional Base. If that's you, we recommend trying one of our General Base plans to fit your schedule. - This plan initiates general fitness gains much faster (can expect FTP increase in 6-8 weeks) Learn more in our blog post: What is General Base Training? Traditional Base The Traditional Base approach requires long, low-intensity hours in the saddle. There are a few key demographics that this approach is best for: - Those recovering from injury will benefit from the gentle approach of Traditional Base - Athletes who have large amounts of time before their target events. By planning their season well in advance of their race days, riders afford themselves the option of cultivating a wider base of fitness. Completing Traditional Base prior to a General Base circuit is one way to build this huge, substantial base. Polarized Base Polarized Training spits your training into two intensities at specific volumes: ≈80% low intensity, 20% high intensity or 95/5%. This structure takes more time in the saddle to generate comparable adaptations to General Base, but less than Traditional Base. Polarized training is best for: - Experienced athletes with a strong aerobic base who can handle intense sessions. - Athletes who have the time and want to train with long endurance sessions and hard high-intensity efforts. Masters Base Masters Base plans are designed to prioritize recovery with no more than two days of Sweet Spot, or higher-intensity workouts each week. These plans work well for: - These plans are made for athlete's who need more recovery time. - Any athlete who needs more recovery time will find these plans extremely beneficial, not just masters athletes. - They can be used for athletes returning to interval training after extended time off, injury, or illness. Learn more about Masters Plans from this article: What are Masters Plans? Takeaway: For most applications, General or Masters Base is the way to go. Relevant Podcasts [13:45] Podcast 068: Sweet Spot vs Traditional Base discussion Can I Skip Base Training? Typically, we do not recommend athletes skip any training phases. You will get the fastest if you work through all three training phases in order and to completion before moving onto your next phase of training. However, every rider has different time constraints, as well as different levels of fitness and cycling backgrounds going into their structured training. Here are a few common reasons that athletes want to skip Base: - Riders with heavily experienced backgrounds who are familiar with the level of base training they have at that point in the season. These riders can decide to bypass or reduce the duration of the Base phase, and move straight into a Build phase if they have been doing structured Base outside of TrainerRoad. - Riders with mid-level or minimal experience, whose target event is less than 28 weeks away (the time it takes to complete Base/Build/Specialty). We’d suggest s/he complete the entire Base phase of training and move as far along through the Build and Specialty training plans as time will allow. See our article "Not Enough Time!" To further explore how you should structure your season with less than 28 weeks. - Riders who are mid-season and have already peaked for en event, but have 16 or fewer weeks until their next event. These athletes should first consider a low-intensity training block but can absolutely skip base and jump back into Build. This is what we call a 'rebuild' and you can learn more about how to structure around this in our "Peaking for Multiple 'A' Races" article. Takeaway: No, you should probably not skip Base Phase, however there are a few fringe cases where it is an acceptable decision. Base Training Q&A Q: Time constraints aside, how many hours per week would I need to spend base training in order to improve upon last season's fitness? A: The goal is to increase your annual training volume by 5% but not more than 15% over last year’s training volume in order to improve upon last year’s performance without overdoing it. Q: Do I really have to go this easy during Base I? It doesn't seem like I'm working hard enough to gain any training benefit. A: Properly performed, Aerobic Endurance rides (roughly 60-80% FTP) train your type IIb fibers - which are the most versatile muscle fiber type - to prefer fat over sugar, one of the key objectives of Base Training. This adaptation is negatively affected if you work too hard, so go slow so your body learns to metabolize fat and spare sugar at low, but eventually greater, effort levels. Q: Sometimes I don't have the time for the prescribed ride duration. How can I address these time constraints without missing out on the benefits of base training? A: Although athletes competing in events requiring long hours on the bike need to adapt to long rides with no breaks, riding twice daily is often the only way to log high daily base mileage and is also an excellent way to reduce body fat during Base Training. Simply break your longer rides into 2 segments and perform them at the beginning, middle and/or end of your day. Try to refrain from breaking your long weekend ride into halves, and avoid breaking rides less than 90 minutes into smaller parts whenever possible. Q: Are recovery weeks really necessary when the training intensity is already so low? A: Yes. Regardless of the low intensity, the body needs time to absorb new stress before additional stress is applied, even if that stress isn't due to high-intensity intervals or race efforts. Recovery weeks will simply drop the stress to roughly half the stress of your current phase's toughest week but keep you on the bike the same number of times in order to avoid any disruption of your training schedule. Also, there’s no reason (nor benefit) to exceed 50% FTP during Recovery Weeks unless you are certain that riding over 50% FTP is still regenerative and restful and allows your body to recover and prep for the next, more stressful, block of training. Q: Which drills should I be doing per session and how many do I do for the duration? A: The drills are briefly during the workouts themselves. As long as you haven't checked the "Hide text during workout" box on the Profile tab, and the onscreen directions will prompt you to add particular drills at particular times.

Understanding your Training Plans • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026