Workout builder

david · 16 February 2021 18:27

The power range is only applied to workouts that are not tagged “indoor”. The assumption is that if you are indoor you are going to be controlling a smart trainer or something. Its easy to just not mark the activity as indoor if you are going to be uploading it to Garmin and want the range feature.

Gato_Felix · 16 February 2021 19:23

Hi,

Not necessarily.

I might be doing a non ERG workout using my smart trainer like i.g. the beautiful Passo do Iseran (Col de l’Iseran) (Slope mode).
or just a free indoor workout in level mode.

I believe the rational is if it is or not an workout for an ERG( fixed or percentage) mode and not if it is outdoor or indoor.
Any way for me is just a matter of never mark a workout as indoor so when I send it to Garmin through the calendar it gets the range feature and when I need to run it on Rouvy or Golden Cheetah the download does not apply the range feature.

Does any Garmin device directly control a smart trainer in a ERG mode?

Thank you,

Do you plan to control smart trainers direct from your calendar?

david · 16 February 2021 20:26

I would like to know the answer to that question.

Nope! There are apps to do that (e.g. trainerday.com).

Wojciech_Marszalkows · 16 February 2021 21:59

I guess all garmines can, 530, 830, 1030. some watches.

Gato_Felix · 16 February 2021 23:31

you are right : https://youtu.be/soXbz_BnOR8?t=238

For that one idea would be to change the indoor box to ERG because there is no range on ERG mode. If marked ranges would not be automatically created.

Tks

Gato_Felix · 16 February 2021 23:35

but if you do we could change a workout (add or extend an interval) on the fly directly at the calendar without changing / creating / downloading and uploading erg/mrc files.

Regards,

MedTechCD · 16 February 2021 23:43

Edge 530 and 830 can for sure. Done that but it’s pretty basic. Edge records power from a power meter if present but doesn’t use that power to control the trainer. If they are off (which they usualy are unless you have a very expensive trainer), it’s quite disturbing to never be at the target.
I’m using Trainerday app to control my trainer while recording on Edge 830 that runs the same workout. Gives you best of both worlds: good trainer control with Powermatch function and all the parameters you’re used to from an outdoor ride on the Edge. I’m never more than 1% off target with a pretty basic wheel-on Smart Trainer, Tacx Vortex and Assioma Duo.
Trainerday is still in early stages but growing up quickly. App runs on Android and IOS.

Max_Nelson · 22 February 2021 23:26

I use an Edge 530. The workouts I create in Intervals.icu and put on my calendar are on my Edge when I turn it on. The workout controls my smart trainer flawlessly. Marking it indoor/outdoor does not make a difference in this scenario; the Edge uses the power target I set in the Intervals.icu workout and puts a range around it nevertheless. However, the range does not mater as the smart trainer hold the power target from the workout.

Other than the fact Garmin workout API does not support slope mode, this setup is perfect. My three kids also have Edge 530s and it is sooo nice to be able to just drop a workout on their Intervals.icu calendar and they are ready to go!

Thank you for all your effort @david! Intervals.icu is phenomenal.

Tom_Brady · 23 February 2021 14:37

Hi David,
Just backing up everything Max said above regarding Garmin Edge 530. I have used it with Tacx Flux S and it does a great job.

Great program thank you.

Gato_Felix · 23 February 2021 21:49

Interesting.

@david , could you please confirm that?

thank you.

Brian_Henry · 1 March 2021 07:59

I’m new to Intervals but loving everything I’ve seen so far. I have been playing with the workout builder trying to get some workouts for my Garmin Edge 520 Plus. Everything seems to be working fine for me (creating workout, scheduling it on calendar, syncing to GC, showing up on Edge device). My issue is that I don’t see the text that I enter in the “Text to display to athlete” on my Edge. Is there something I might be missing in the syntax, or is this something not supported on Garmin devices? Example below…

Test text to display 60m 55-75% power=1s 85-95rpm

Apologies if this is answered somewhere else. I tried searching but couldn’t find anything.

david · 1 March 2021 15:43

It looks like you have it right. I just did a test on my Edge 130+ and the text for the step was not displayed. I checked and I am sending the correct data through to Garmin. I Googled a bit and it looks like this might be a Garmin limitation:

https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/edge-530/209957/display-step-notes

Brian_Henry · 1 March 2021 17:17

Thanks for taking a look. I suspected it might be a Garmin thing.

Bridget · 26 March 2021 14:15

Hi David, would it be possible to have a flag to turn off the show_avg=1 tag when exporting to Zwift. I’m personally not a fan of it when using ERG mode on a smart trainer to keep my power where it needs to be.

So far I’ve been editing it out of the workout files using a text editor, but it would be great if this could be done automatically

david · 26 March 2021 15:06

Would that be an all or nothing flag for the whole workout?

Bridget · 26 March 2021 18:43

Hmm, there are some potential edge cases in my own use such as sprints in free-ride mode and designing ones own FTP tests where having average power displayed would be useful.

SMaybe the flag could turn it off for the majority of the workout (off: show_avg = 0), while leaving it on (show_avg = 1) in free ride mode?

david · 26 March 2021 19:10

If you leave out show_avg in the .zwo file does it default to off?

This is what I have so far:

Warmup
- 20m 60% 90-100rpm
 
Main set noshowavg 4x
- 8m at 110%
- 8m recovery at 50%
 
Cooldown /noshowavg
- 10m 60%

So “noshowavg” will leave show_avg out of the .zwo file for steps from that point onwards and “/noshowavg” will put it back in again.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<workout_file>
    ...
    <workout>
        <SteadyState show_avg="1" CadenceHigh="100" CadenceLow="90" Power="0.6" Duration="1200"/>
        <SteadyState Power="1.1" Duration="480">
            <textevent message="Main set 1/4" duration="10"/>
        </SteadyState>
        <SteadyState Power="0.5" Duration="480"/>
        <SteadyState Power="1.1" Duration="480">
            <textevent message="Main set 2/4" duration="10"/>
        </SteadyState>
        <SteadyState Power="0.5" Duration="480"/>
        <SteadyState Power="1.1" Duration="480">
            <textevent message="Main set 3/4" duration="10"/>
        </SteadyState>
        <SteadyState Power="0.5" Duration="480"/>
        <SteadyState Power="1.1" Duration="480">
            <textevent message="Main set 4/4" duration="10"/>
        </SteadyState>
        <SteadyState Power="0.5" Duration="480"/>
        <SteadyState show_avg="1" Power="0.6" Duration="600"/>
    </workout>
</workout_file>

Bridget · 26 March 2021 19:51

Yes, leaving out show_avg in the .zwo also has the average display off.

Would the “noshowavg” also turn it off for free ride mode? As I said before, I think that’s the exception where I would probably find it useful

david · 27 March 2021 03:46

I have added a flag “hidepower” that you can put anywhere in the text to get rid of the show_avg in the zwo file from that point onwards. If you want show_avg to come back (e.g. on free ride sections) use “/hidepower” to disable the flag.

Timothy_M_Walsh · 27 March 2021 08:45

Thanks for this great tool. Is there a way to add a “category” tag to the workouts exported for Zwift?

I can do it manually, would be nice to capture it while I was building the workout. Here’s a couple images that shows what I’m attempting to do, essentially the category tag puts it in a folder with that name in the workouts within Zwift