Recent Advancements in Endurance Training Technology for Cycling Coaches

There is a wonderful joy associated with being a cycling coach. Introducing and guiding others through difficult exercises, helping them push what they think is their limit, and seeing them reach a post-workout euphoria makes a fitness coach’s job worthwhile.

Of course, that is not to say — by any means — that it’s easy.

Fortunately, recent advancements in endurance training technology can help endurance coaches master the fitness classroom as they guide clients through indoor bike training. The advancements help them track progress and document goals, help guide clients through their training, and provide exercise monitoring that can help clients gain motivation.

New Training Platforms

As indoor biking has steadily increased in popularity during the past few years, so have bike training advancements. Cycling, indoor biking, and spinning are all popular among fitness enthusiasts and both amateur and professional athletes, and training equipment can be a great asset.

Trainers can have a personal, at-home studio to give personal training sessions without the hectic environment of a busy gym. Trainees can get an at-home bike for easy access, to use when they can’t get to the gym, or when they have a spare 30 minutes to get on the bike. New technology in cycling can be an opportunity for cyclers to skip expensive Peloton Spin classes and still get a great workout.

Training platforms can make a monumental difference for both trainers and trainees. Interactive sports technologies, such as wearable tech, safety tech, and data management can be of use to anyone getting active, participating in sports, and of course, indoor cycling. Smart fabric is one example and is a fabric that can be made into socks that track a cycler’s heart rate and skin temperature.

Zwift

Zwift is a monthly membership cycling training program. It is marketed as “the at-home training game connecting cyclists around the world.” With Zwift, users have access to virtual road tours, structured workouts, and social group rides. This cycling program lets you cycle in the comfort of your home while having the added benefit of social motivation.

To use this program, indoor bikers only need to have their indoor bike and a screen to view the program on. Zwift works on Windows, Mac, and iOS, making it extremely accessible to virtually everyone.

TrainerRoad

Like Zwift, TrainerRoad provides structured cycling training, and that is its main purpose. This program also provides live performance data, diverse training plans, performance analytics for all your rides, and cross-platform availability. TrainerRoad claims that by using its programs, you will make you faster on your bike. Also, like Zwift, TrainerRoad is supported on Windows, Mac, and iOS.

Technology and Coaching

Communication in the workplace can be a little different for endurance coaches. For them, communication is much more about the client —  scheduling training times, scheduling independent workouts, and tracking whether or not training sessions are completed are all important information for coaches and clients to communicate. This can be difficult to manage without the proper tools, but new technology in coaching has made this a lot easier.

For example, Garmin Connect can help coaches access more data. Garmin Connect shares information through graphs, tabs, and enriched data. This product is linked to the Training Tilt platform so athletes can get their data automatically sync'd for coaches to review and analyze.

It’s important for all coaches to constantly be on the lookout for new cycling tools and features. With new training and technology, fitness coaches and instructors can truly help their clients to reach their potential and hit their cycling goals.