For the last couple of years, I have been compensating for inactivity during the winter with an smart trainer and indoor cycling. A couple of years ago, I awarded myself with the top-notch home trainer - Wahoo Kickr. Since then, the search for the ideal application for trainer control and training plans has begun.
Last year I used Sufferfest with a lot of pleasure and success. This application, known for its very crazy humor and difficult exercises (it's not called Suffer for no reason), really pleased me. She was a great companion last winter and helped me get back in shape and slightly reduce the weight that had accumulated over the Covid months.
A new winter is coming, it is time to replace daily outdoor rides with trainings. And although I almost bought a subscription to Sufferfest, a new application appeared at the last minute that caught my attention.
TrainerDay
After ten days of testing this application, I came to the conclusion that it has (almost) everything I need. Let me introduce you to this training system.
TrainerDay is the successor to the ERG Db application. I have met ERGdb in previous years. It is a completely free database of ERG structural exercises. Anyone can download trainings, make new ones or adapt the existing ones to their needs. Therefore, it is not surprising that ERG Db has about 10,000 structural trainings in its database.
Using these trainings used to be a bit complicated. Trainings could be forwarded to Training Peaks, and from there synchronized with one of the trainer control applications such as Zwift. This usually required you to have a subscription to Training Peaks and a training application. Apart from the fact that the high price of the two applications nullified the advantages of the free exercise database, applications such as Zwift, Rouvy, Sufferfest usually have some kind of structural training, so from that point of view it was almost pointless to use ERGdb in combination with a smart trainer.
However, with the evolution of ERGdb in TrainerDay, things are changing radically. TrainerDay brings Android and IOS apps that can control smart trainers in ERG mode. This eliminates any need to transfer exercises to Training Peaks or to Zwift, Rouvy or a similar smart app.
In the free version, TrainerDay offers 20 structural exercises, which can be the basis of successful training. From free exercises there are all categories, from endurance training, VO2Max training to the much-needed Recovery sessions. The free version offers synchronization with Strava and manual sending of training to mail, Dropbox or some third location.
What the free version lacks is making training plans depending on the target, using arbitrary exercises and advanced synchronization with other applications. Here comes the best news - a paid version of the app that has no restrictions is three times cheaper than any other on the market - it costs 3.99 EUR. I literally leave more money a week as a tip to the waiters, although I rarely go out.
This is my first week of using the paid version of the TrainerDay app. I have already had very positive experiences with the application and with the support. I noticed that after syncing with the fear, this one shows a ridiculously low mileage, and I quickly fixed that problem with the settings of the application itself. My suggestion to improve some functions of the application that make my problem improved very quickly, and I expect that it will be changed in one of the versions of the application.
TrainerDay seems to be hitting the center of the target. If you are interested in something more about this application, let me know and maybe I will make a series of texts about different aspects of using the application.
In the meantime, I wish those who still enjoy riding in the open air nice weather and the wind in their backs, and we wish us who have switched to indore training good progress and successful preparations for the next season.
NOTE: I am not affiliated or contracted in any way by TrainerDay, owners or... you got the picture, I paid use of this app since I believe it is good tool for cyclists. I do not have any benefits by recomending it.
All photos are from TrainerDay and SufferFest web site and they are part of their publicity package. As far as I know, they can be used without any limitations. If I am wrong - let me know. Trainer day web site is https://trainerday.com/ and SufferFest is now Wahoo Systm at address https://systm.wahoofitness.com/home
