It would be good if workouts could support rep ranges and also time ranges.
eg:
2-4x
- 20-25m 75-85%
- 5m 0-50%
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It, obviously, does support repeats but you have something in your example that canât be interpreted, â2-4xâ and â20-25mâ. What does that mean? You canât create workouts of variable characteristics. Time ranges canât be set this way, but you can use Press Lap to end a step.
2 to 4 times 20-25 minutes is not exactly something well defined.
Try this:
2x
- 20m 75-85%
- 5m 0-50%
- Press lap 25m 60%
Use the Workout editor to get familiar with the syntax and once you are, type the text.
My whole point is it would be nice to be able to support rep and time ranges. My coach assigns me workouts where heâll tell me to do 2-4 reps depending on how my legs and motivation is on the day. The whole point isnât to be well defined, but to be flexible.
Then design the workouts with the maximal or average goals and add the alternatives as text.
If workouts were designed with flexible goals, thereâs no way to predict a load.
(2-4) 3x
- Press lap (20-25m) 22m 75-85%
- 5m 0-50%
Supporting intervals with watt ranges is equally as ambiguous as supporting intervals with rep ranges or time ranges. The approach of taking the median seems to be good enough for calculating TSS.
Watt ranges are making sense, because you canât hold the power this exactly. Therefore you can define these ranges. But you can exactly do 4 reps.
Personally I donât see the sense of defining variable reps as a coach.
Define 4x. If you feel good, do it. If not, of course, do less than that or do nothing of this.
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I wonder if I fully understand what youâre after?
The solution with text in the workouts makes sure that the flexibility is shown on the workout details and on your device screen (at least for most devices).
What else can be expected?
If you want to skip a set, you will need to push the lap button on your device multiple times. If you want to cut an interval short, you equally push that button. I canât see anything more user-friendly then that.
Are you referring to the creation of workouts on your calendar/plan, or to the execution guidance, or�
Can you share your use case? What device/app are you using to run such a âflexibleâ structured workout? What are you still missing when using the âtextâ functionality?
One doesnât have to do the workout at exactly the power prescribed, as our physiology works on a continuum (thereâs no on/off switches when you change from one zone to another). The zones/levels were there to describe what is required.
A lot of people misunderstand structured workouts for rigid workouts, and then also misunderstand the progressive nature of applying stress to the body. âDo a little more than beforeâ.
This is the point exactly, the body isnât rigid. My coach in the past has told me something like a
4-5x
- 20m 85%
And leaves a not like do a 5th if you have good legs. Or if youâve had a stressful day at work and too mentally fatigued just go for 4, itâs still not a failed workout.
Ok, now I understand what youâre after. You want the Compliance calculation to take in account the variability.
Now that the goal is clear, Iâll do some thinking.
Not only that but when I glance at the workout I want to visually be able to see the rep range.
And the text note that is displayed on your device is not enough for that? Or the name of the workout that states 4-5x..?
You do realize that youâre the first one asking for something like this?
If you have a concept in mind for visually displaying that, please share it.
If the workout calls for 4-5 reps then the minimum reps are solid and the additional reps are translucent.
TSS can be calculated as the midpoint between the maximum and minimum tss for the workout rep ranges. So if doing 4 reps = 80tss and 5 reps = 100tss we display 90tss for the workout. Or if itâs easier just display the minimum tss.
When it gets exported as a ZWO or to garmin it should just export with the maximum number with text telling the athlete that they should be doing minimum 4 maximum 5 reps that way if they choose to do the lower range they can just skip through the last reps via the lap button or tab on Zwift.
My coach is one of the most respected in Canada and he frequently prescribes rep ranges and I think itâs unlikely heâs the only coach doing this.
Thatâs exactly what I proposed in the solution with text additions.
What is not matching your request is then:
- TSS in that case would be the max TSS, because the workout is created with the max reps
- Compliance would be low if stopped after the min of reps, and might indicate a low % in Red. That depends on how much difference a rep makes.
- The graph doesnât show it. But if the title is clear, that might be a minor annoyance.
Anyway, your request is clear now and itâs up to @david to see if this can be done.
TSS / projected load aside, I spent a bit of time today (more than Iâd like to be honest) figuring out how to write a rep-focused workout here so itâs interpreted by garmin in a useful way.
This is what I was able to come up with so some meaningful info is displayed in the Garmin Connect app, and on my watch itself as I do the activity. I think there may be a way to streamline things a bit when it comes to the process of writing non time/hr/power focused workouts, but for now, Iâll just share the fudging that got something working that didnât drop info and wasnât gibberish. This example pre-run activation âworkoutâ includes a few different types of exercises for example-providing reasons.
As written by the coach..
Band work
-10 to 20 side steps
-10 to 20 monster walk
-10 rearward walk
-10 hurdle drills (optional)
-10 glute extensions (optional)Lunge matrix
-10 forward lunges
-10 forward w/twist
-10 rear lunges
-10 side lunges
-10 side/rear lungesLeg swings
-10 front-to-back
-10 side-to-sidePartial wake-up legs
-light butt kicks
-4 x high knees
-1-2 min SLOW jog
This is how I translated it in Intervals.icu
- 15x Side Steps (banded) (10-20x) 30s press lap, Side Steps
- 15x Monster Walk (banded) (10-20x) 30s press lap, Monster Walk
- 10x Rearward Walk (banded) 30s press lap, Rearward Walk
- 10x Hurdle Drills (banded) #optional 30s press lap, Hurdle Drills
- 10x Glute Extensions (banded) #optional 30s press lap, Glute Extensions
Lunge matrix 2x
- 5x Forward Lunges 30s press lap
- 5x Forward Lunce w/ Twist 30s press lap
- 5x Rear Lunges 30s press lap
- 5x Side Lunges 30s press lap
- 5x Side/Rear Lunges #optional 30s press lap
Leg Swings 2x
- 10x Leg Swings (front to back) 20s press lap
- 10x Leg Swings (side to side) 20s press lap
Partial wake-up legs
- get ready for light butt kicks 1s press lap
- Light butt kicks 30s
High Knees 4x
- High Knees 10s
- rest 20s press lap
- Slow Jog 2m
Note the following
- âPartial wake-up legsâ doesnât display but its contents/items do.
- The first five items have a ânoteâ written after comma which arenât displayed
- How I wrote âlight butt kicksâ and âhigh kneesâ to work was focused on usability.
The key was to include the reps and exercize description together for readability, specify any amount of time, and then include press lap at the end.
And this is what it looks like in the garmin connect appâŚ
Based on the JSON that currently gets sent over to Garmin there doesnât currently seem to be a way to specify a type other than âOtherâ, nor specify a rep count, or add additional text that gets displayed to the user.
After looking at the JSON Garmin sends to its own site and mobile app, there may not be much tweaking needed to support this workout type.
I hope this is useful to someone.
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Could be caused by the dash which is interpreted as a new step. Replace it with an underscore or pipe orâŚ
But it might also be because thereâs no âgroupâ indicator like the others have 2x or 4x. Maybe try âPartial wake_up legs 1xâ here to.