Workout Instructions

The single greatest thing you can do to improve your cycling is to follow a custom training plan designed for you, for your goals and time frame. 

The second greatest thing you can do is to follow that plan consistently over time for month & years.  Knowing how to follow your plan day to day is the secret sauce and these are your workout instructions to do so. 

You may perform your rides and workouts inside or outside, with or without your bike computer. You may also do your rides on Zwift, Rouvy with our seamless integration or any other virtual training platform, manually. 

To follow your workouts on Zwift, open your workout and send to Zwift seamlessly

Then Follow these instructions (we expect to have the auto-sync complete in the next few weeks as of Nov 15th)

To do your workouts manually (indoors or outdoors):

Because all you really need is a timer and the real-time power or heart rate readout.  

Therefore to do your workouts, hop on and start pedaling!  Using the timer, after your warmup, when the intervals begin, pedal harder and use the power readout to know if you are in the 'right zone'. Hold that power in-between your zones for the length of the interval.  

When the interval is over let your power go back do to Zone 1 or 2.  Watch the timer for the length of the recovery interval and repeat! 

Use the timer to know how long to sustain the interval based on the workout and its as simple as that!

Here's a 4 step process to follow your workout manually by using time and power (or heart rate readouts)

Step 1: Know your day's workout & power zones (or heart rate) 

In CoachCat, your day's workout is laid out by time in different zones. Sometimes the whole workout is in zone 2. Sometimes it's simply doing a group ride with no prescribed zones. And sometimes it is an interval day.

Commit the basic day's plan to memory before you head out the door or hop on the trainer. Here is how to perform a sweet spot 3 x 10 minute interval workout:

For interval workouts, look at the number and duration of the intervals — and which zone they are in.  In the workout above it is Sweet Spot for 10 minutes.  Three reps with 5 minutes of recovery in-between each sweet spot interval.  

From your training zones, you see that sweet spot = 240 - 276 watts.  Therefore, to do your sweet spot intervals begin pedaling harder and hold in-between 240 and 276 watts. Pedal harder if you are below 240 and pedal easier if you are above 276. Use the real time power readout to know that you are in-between 240 - 276 watts. 

Step 2: Know your zones

Power-based workouts are all about power zones. At FasCat, we use the standard 7-zone methodology, plus Sweet Spot, which overlaps the top end of zone 3 (tempo) and the bottom end of zone 4 (lactate threshold). 

CoachCat calculates your power zones for you. The first time you use it, go to Profile, then Training Zones, and enter your functional threshold power (FTP) and threshold heart rate at the top of the chart, and the chart calculates the zones from there.

Don't know your THRESHOLD ? No problem; our training plans begin with a field test to determine. (Warm up, ride steadily as hard as you can for 20 minutes; 92.5% of your best 20 min average power is your threshold power)

• Related: How to test for your Thresholds

Training with heart rate and not power? No problem. Just take your average heart rate for that 20-minute all-out test for your threshold heart rate.

Step 3: Use your computer for time and power

Ride in Zone 2 (reference above) to where you are going to 'do' your interval work.  It doesn't matter if your power bounces all over the place or if there are stops and starts - this is your warm up time. 

• When it is time for you to begin your interval, start on a multiple of 1 minute, for example 30 minutes total time.  In the workout above the interval is 10 minutes.  Pedal harder between 240w and 276w per your 'sweet spot zone'
• Use your real time power or heart rate readout (3sec or 10sec smoothing is fine too) to know if you should pedal harder or easier in order to keep your power above 240w yet below 276w. 
• One trick we recommend is to round my zones to make them easier to remember in the moment - 240 becomes 250 and 276 becomes 275.   Hold the 10 minute power between 250- 275 watts - easier to remember.
• Since you began your interval at 30 minutes, your 10 minute interval will be done at 40 minutes.  You can also hit the Lap button but it is not necessary. 
• Rest by pedaling easy in Zone 1 & 2 for 5 minutes, from 40 to 45 minutes like the workout above and then begin the second interval.
• During this rest is where you may turn around for hill repeats or re-position yourself on the road.
• Repeat the 2nd interval just like the first and then same for the 3rd interval!

The biggest point we'd like to convey is to know your zones and pedal harder or easier to keep your wattage or heart rate inbetween those ranges for the duration of the interval.

Step 4: Don't sweat the non-interval details

In our workouts, we prescribe warm-up and cool-down durations as well as the work interval durations. Worry about the work interval details; don't sweat the exact minutes of the warm-up and cool-down. Whether it takes you 16 minutes or 21 minutes to get to a safe place to do your intervals is not important.  

If you want to warm up for a shorter period of time because you are indoors, go for it.  Concentrate on the structure of the interval workout rather than the exact details from sending your workout to for example, Zwift. 

You may even ride longer in Zone 2 after your intervals if you have the time and are feeling good.  As long as the extra riding does not impact your recovery and power output for the next day and week's training, think of it as extra credit training. 

If you have a zone 2 ride or a group ride on the schedule, shoot for the prescribed time, but don't fret if it's a few minutes shorter or longer. Same for OTS - you do not need to hit the exact number, a range is fine like +/- 5 or 10%.

Focus on daily consistency - make it turn green on your training calendar 💪 Focus on your intervals. Know your zones, and know the basics of the day's workout.

Would you rather do your workouts in an automated way on your bike computer?

You may 'export' also known as 'send' your workout to you Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead bike computer.  Turn on your bike computer and poof, your bike computer will display real time power + prompt your through your workout based on the timer. 

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