8 Reasons to Coach with TrainingPeaks

Some coaches like to merge into the crowd, and if you're one of them, TrainingPeaks is the perfect playground. Why choose a platform that works with you when you can struggle against one that actively makes your life harder? From poor performance to a lack of control over your own business, TrainingPeaks ensures that growing your coaching is as frustrating as possible. Between an overloaded platform, confused athletes drowning in data they don’t understand, and zero customization for coaches, you’re left battling unnecessary frustration at every turn. If you love following the crowd, lost opportunities, and constantly explaining data your athletes misinterpret, then TrainingPeaks is exactly what you need!

Here are eight reasons why you should stick with TrainingPeaks.

1. You Love Being "Just Another Coach" in the System

Your coaching business is unique. Your expertise, your methodology, your brand—wait, what brand? On TrainingPeaks, apart from an ugly looking header, all roads lead to their logo, their name, and their marketplace. Want to stand out? Sorry, that’s not the business model. But hey, if you enjoy blending in, this is the place to do it!

2. You Like Losing Your Athletes to the Marketplace

TrainingPeaks is a great place to coach athletes… until they start browsing the marketplace where they can either switch to another coach or grab a pre-made training plan instead. And here’s the kicker: TrainingPeaks takes a massive cut from every training plan sold, so of course they’re incentivized to push those plans in front of your athletes. Whether it’s another coach or a generic plan, the marketplace ensures your clients always have an easy way out—and TrainingPeaks always gets their share. If you enjoy competing with the very platform you rely on, then this setup is ideal!

3. You Enjoy Watching the Platform Struggle Under Its Own Weight

Coaches love Sunday evenings—the perfect time to plan the week ahead for their athletes. Unless, of course, you’re using TrainingPeaks. That’s when the platform grinds to a halt because everyone—coaches and athletes alike—are online at the same time. Why? Because TrainingPeaks serves many thousands of athletes directly with free and paid plans, which means their infrastructure gets overloaded. If you enjoy a sluggish, unusable platform when you need it most, TrainingPeaks has you covered!

4. You Prefer Someone Else Controlling Your Business Growth

TrainingPeaks isn’t in the business of helping your coaching brand grow—they’re in the business of growing their own. You’re renting space in their ecosystem, and they call the shots. But hey, if you love feeling like an employee of someone else’s empire instead of running your own, then by all means, keep going.

5. You Want to Make it Easy for Athletes to Go to Another Coach With Your IP

TrainingPeaks makes it remarkably easy for athletes to switch coaches. When they go, they can take all your hard-earned coaching intellectual property with them—the plans you’ve carefully crafted, the progress you’ve meticulously tracked, and the insights you’ve developed. If you’re comfortable with your expertise becoming portable and losing control of your work, then TrainingPeaks has you covered.

6. You Prefer Letting Athletes Control How You Run Your Coaching Business

Switching platforms is hard work—for you and your athletes. And let’s face it, some athletes might throw a hissy fit if they have to learn how to use a new system. So why not just let them dictate your business decisions? Stick with TrainingPeaks, and you can keep your athletes happy at the cost of your own business growth and freedom. After all, it’s their convenience and their fear of change that matters most, right?

7. You’re Fine with Endurance Coaching Lagging Behind Other Industries

In most coaching industries, technology platforms help raise all ships, providing tools that empower coaches and grow the profession as a whole. But not in endurance coaching! Here, TrainingPeaks dominates as the incumbent, stifling innovation and keeping the industry in the past. While other fields embrace platforms that help coaches thrive, TrainingPeaks makes sure you stay exactly where you are. If you enjoy being held back while other industries move forward, then there’s no better place to be!

8. You Enjoy Letting Athletes Drown in Data They Don’t Understand

As a coach, you know what’s best for your athletes, but TrainingPeaks makes sure you have no say in what they see, what features they use, or what data they have access to. Athletes are flooded with metrics they don’t understand, leading to confusion, unnecessary stress for them, and frustration for you as they start second-guessing your decisions. Instead of guiding their experience, you’re left reacting to their misinterpretations and justifying your expertise. If you prefer having zero control over how your athletes interact with their training while dealing with pushback, then TrainingPeaks is the perfect fit!

Or… You Could Take Control of Your Coaching Business

If you’re tired of playing the TrainingPeaks game and want a platform that actually helps you grow your coaching business (instead of just letting you exist in theirs), it might be time to explore Training Tilt. A coaching platform that puts your brand first, gives you all the tools to actually run your business, and doesn’t steer your athletes toward competitors. Plus, with Training Tilt, you have full control over what features your athletes see, ensuring they get the right insights without unnecessary confusion—so you can coach effectively without constantly putting out fires.

But if you prefer the status quo and do what all the other coaches do… well, you know where to stay.