VirtualCoach - The ATP Wizard
To watch a short video on how to use the ATP Wizard, click the image below. To watch a short video on how to use the VirtualCoach Wizard, click the image below.
THE ATP AND PRE-BUILT PLANS, HOW DO THEY WORK TOGETHER?
SUGGESTED DAILY HOURS FOR TRIATHLON
SUGGESTED DAILY HOURS FOR CYCLING
What is the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard?
The ATP Wizard is a multi-step software wizard that is included in all TrainingPeaks.com Personal Edition Premium Subscriptions accounts. This program will walk you through the steps to create a periodized Annual Training Plan, help you set your goals, and will provide a weekly set of customized workouts. The ATP Wizard provides what workouts to do and an overall number of hours to workout for the week, but is still left to you to schedule the day of the week and exact amount of time for the workout.
NOTE: The ATP Wizard and Pre-Built Training Plans are two separate planning tools that are not intended to be used at the same time, and if used at the same time, each one will not influence the planned workouts with the other. The ATP Wizard is a tool that is found within all Paid Subscription accounts, and the Pre-Built Training Plans are purchased separately from Paid Subscriptions.
How to use the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard
Log in to your TrainingPeaks.com Personal Edition Premium Subscription account.
- Click the "ATP" icon on the left side pane to open up the ATP section.
- Select "New ATP"
- Step 1 - Fill out the information. Click the "?" if you have a question on how to calculate your Annual Training Hours
- Step 2 - Enter you season goals, training objectives, level of fitness and races/events. If you have a question on your level of fitness, click the "?".
- Step 3 - Here you will see your calculated ATP. You can switch between the Grid View and the Graph View. Use the "Options" drop-down to access different options.
- You can chance the planned hours by either clicking on the hrs number in the grid view, or by clicking on the hrs. bar in the graph view.
- You can add Details for each week by clicking in the Details area and typing.
- You can also change the Strength training codes, and the focus for Swim/Bike/Run by clicking in those cells.
- To edit a week in the graph view, just click on the bar. You can drag the bar up and down to change the training hours, but to change the focus, race, or add details you need to click on the bar. This will bring up the screen to make changes.
- When you are finished, be sure to click "Save"!
- You can add ATP information to your weekly summary. For example, you can show what phase each week is. To do this, click on "My Settings", then "Calendar & Layout". Click on the "Week Summary" tab along the top. You will see a list of ATP labels available. To add them to your summary, just drag-and-drop them from the left column to the right. You can sort the labels in the right column to control the order information is shown.
- If you have been tracking your fitness in TrainingPeaks for a while, you can create an ATP for prior years. To do this, just name the ATP for the correct year, and after step #1 click "Create ATP and edit manually". This will show you your actual hours of training in the same graph/grid format.
- If you have used the ATP feature in the past, you will see your old ATPs listed under the ATP templates. You will also see an "actual" black bar in the graph view, and the actual training hours listed in the grid view.
Once you have created your ATP, you can use the Virtual Coach. The Virtual Coach gives you suggestions of what workouts to do, but allows you to tweak them to fit your life schedule.
There are three ways to access the Virtual Coach:
- From the Training Section, click the "Workout Template" drop down box and select "Virtual Coach"
- The VC icon lists in the summary column on the month view. To turn this icon on, you need to have a minimum of one ATP label added to your weekly summary. To do this, click on "my settings"..."calendar"..."8th day summary labels".
- From within your ATP. You will see a "Virtual coach" button in the upper-right corner, next to the save button. Be sure to save your ATP before you move to the VC.
The VC will open in the left-menu area. Drag and Drop the workouts from the VC list to the day you want on the calendar. You can only apply workouts from the suggested week onto that corresponding week on the calendar.
Scheduling Tips for the Virtual Coach
In general the point is to complete all of the listed VC workouts, but it may not always be the best thing if you are tired or have a lifestyle that has a lot of restrictions on time. We recommend-
- Enter your recovery days first. These are the most important.
- Add in your "anchor" workouts such as master's swim, group training, weights and long endurance days.
- Feel free to double up workouts on certain days. For example you might add an easy bike workout after weights. This may be necessary as more than seven workouts may be suggested for the week.
- The workouts that are left are to be loaded into the remaining days.
- It's recommended to have the ATP hours showing in your summery. This way you can compare the hours planned for that week against the ATP hours. This will help you know how long to plan each workout.
Be sure to look at our suggested hours for cycling and suggested hours for triathlon for guidance.
For additional help please reference any of the "Training Bible" series of books by Joe Friel, or the TrainingPeaks Forums.
How do Pre-Built Training Plans work with the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard?
The Pre-Built Training Plans are completely separate from the ATP Wizard functionality in Virtual Coach. The ATP Wizard is a 5-step application available to Premium subscribers of TrainingPeaks which helps you build en entire year's worth of training and racing based on Joe Friel's Training methods as described within his "Training Bible" series of books. This is where the Annual Training Plan fits in. Once you go through the steps, the system will suggest a list of workouts for you to do each week.
Pre-Built Training Plans, on the other hand, are designed to help you prepare for a single event and are usually between 12-18 weeks in length. When you purchase the plan, it asks you when you want your plan to start or finish and then it injects the proper workouts into your accounts Calendar, tells you exactly what to do and when to do it.
NOTE: In order to take advantage of advanced features like the ATP and Virtural Coach Wizard and Outlook calendar synching you must have a paid Premium subscription to TrainingPeaks.
Making Changes to the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard
When you go back and make changes in the ATP Wizard, make sure to click the save button at the top of the screen once you are finished. The most important step in reworking the ATP Wizard is hitting Compute ATP in step 3, as this is what activates the changes. If you run into any problems, please run back through your ATP Wizard, checking to make sure that all possible settings are filled out, clicking Save at the end of each step, then click the Compute ATP in step 3. You can go in and change the settings in the ATP Wizard as many times as you like.
NOTE: If you do not see a Compute ATP button in Step 2, it is most likely because you do not have an A priority race designated in the first 48 weeks of the ATP.
