Just signed up to trial Athletica and out the gate I have an issue/question. In short, today was the first scheduled ride and it was a recovery ride. 10 min warm up, 10 min steady state and 40 min easy. Using the trainer was suggested so I paired my Garmin to my Kicker and pulled the workout down to the Garmin. Started the workout to find it was heart rate based so I had no resistance from the trainer. Had Athletica send the workout based on power but it described the 3 sections as power ranges which obviously does not work with a smart trainer, at least not mine. I would have assumed it would have used some kind of stepping protocol.
With winter approaching I was trialing Athletica as a possible replacement for Zwift but if the workout protocols, when done on a smart trainer, are so naïve I’ll have to pass.
Full disclosure, I didn’t do any real digging to see if the forum had any suggestions. Hit me with your best suggestions!
I download the workout in ERG format and import into TrainerRoad - that produces a power-based workout. I’m not sure what I’ll do when the TrainerRoad subscription lapses! Possibly the ZWO format imports into Zwift.
I use a Garmin Edge 840 for road cycling. I’ve never tried using it to control a smart trainer (if it even has that capability).
Also; reflect on the purpose of the recovery ride. The purpose to go by heart rate in this case would be to let power be what power wants/needs to be and go purely by heart rate and Feel. This ride should feel really easy. Aim is to recover.
With smart trainer and Zwift, I would pick any flattish route and just ride the duration of prescribed workout with that 10 min “how am I feeling” effort in the middle. You don’t really need to follow a certain power target here.
I hope this helps. All the other workouts are based on power so once you have imported a few of them, then you have them in your Zwift library and can edit and tweak them as needed based on that day’s workout from athletica.
My question is not about importing workouts into Zwift. I am looking at replacing Zwift and I have narrowed it down to Athletica or Trainer Road. My questions are the following and all related to having my Garmin interface with my smart trainer.
Heart rate based workout should not be used to drive the trainer. The trainer should be put into resistance mode similar to a mag trainer. Correct?
For power driven workouts, for example HIIT, the workout sent to Garmin, contains power ranges. When the workout is linked to a smart trainer, the trainer sets the power to a steady wattage that is in the middle of the range (ERG mode). This causes issues with steps like warm up and cool down since the range maybe 123-237W for 30 minutes but the trainer pins the wattage @ 180 for 30 minutes. How do you suggest addressing this issue?