My initial 6 month subscription to Athletica.ai was nearing the end, and I was keen to rationalise my various virtual cycling/coaching subscriptions. At the time, I had active subscriptions to Zwift, Rouvy and to TrainerRoad. I’ve been using TrainerRoad for the longest period, and only started with Zwift in 2020 while in Covid lockdown. I also subscribe quarterly to intervals.icu for its superior data analysis capabilities. In the past I tried FulGaz (which was bought by Ironman, and now by Rouvy) for a year or so.
You can probably tell that I enjoy trying out new virtual cycling and training apps, but these aren’t particularly cheap if you have several of them, so I periodically prune some of these back.
Zwift - I’ll stay with Zwift as it’s the market leader in terms of user numbers, and it’s the app most of my friends use for group rides and races - it’s the app that my club uses for virtual club runs.
TrainerRoad - I think I’ve been using TrainerRoad longer than any of these other platforms, and in the past I have found it good for building my fitness and racing capacity. In comparison with some other apps such as Athletica.ai, the underlying science and how it adjusts one’s programme is a little opaque and one has to just trust the software. I like the AI FTP estimation, as I really dislike FTP tests - the AI FTP detections seems pretty accurate. That said, it would be good if TrainerRoad could use power profiles and CP. Maybe it does, behind the scenes - who knows?
I find the huge array of available workouts impressive and useful, and I’m less likely to find the same kinds of workouts recurring on the same days each week.
The recent integration with Zwift has enhanced TrainerRoad immensely, with a direct import of workouts to Zwift, completing them is much less hassle and more engaging. I can also export the TrainerRoad calendar to intervals.icu, and the completed workouts automatically turn up in intervals.icu. I never found the Zwift workouts represented a way of easily constructing a good training programme. But the graphics make a work
out far more engaging, especially as you see the glowing archways that mark the beginning of each workout session.
Rouvy - my original trials of Rouvy several years ago was less than impressive. I felt that the virtual avatars were clunky and looked like they were floating on to of the video. When I tried it again a couple of years ago, this was greatly improved, and Rouvy seems to be under intense development. Having said that, I only have time to use a few apps simultaneously, and I’ll probably suspend the account over this spring summer.
Athletica - This AI coaching app is thoroughly rooted in the science of sport training - very visibly so - with a particular focus on HIIT training. At first sight the web app looks a bit clunky, but its really quite sophisticated. The AI coach feedback can be pretty helpful, but of course can only work when you add properly descriptive commentary to the workout after completion. There are some downsides to Athletica, which is why I decided to stop the subscription in favour of returning to TrainerRoad.
- The available integrations are to apps I don’t use, and can’t really justify joining
- There is a frankly bizarre limitation that when you add races to the calendar you can’t add them on weekdays. Since I am engaged in a 6 week Zwift TT series on Tuesday evening, and through the racing season have a regular Wednesday evening ’10’, this is a bit of a pain. I tried entering them as workouts, but when I performed better than expected, the AI bot complained I had over-done things!
- I was finding myself in a bit of a rut, with 30s HIIT workouts, Sweetspot low cadence workouts and threshold interval workouts coming in on the same days of each week, with only minor variation.
- Devising and modifying workouts in Athletica seems a bit clunky to me.
So while I felt the app was pretty engaging - I liked the recovery charts, and the AI coach responses encouraged me to think about the completed workout and record my thoughts - I’ve decided that I’d return to the TrainerRoad fold. I may yet make a switch back to Athletica in the future…or maybe try out another of the apps out there.
And finally, none of these apps are poor: all have great features, but mostly it's a question of which is most useful to me at the present.