Adaptive cycling coaching · iOS
Training that adapts to real life.
Tell SmarterTraining how you’re feeling and how much time you have. You get one workout for today, and you can see why.
Workouts are free. Adaptive coaching is a subscription with a 7-day free trial. A smart trainer is optional.
Why plans break
Your training plan doesn’t know what kind of week you’re having.
A plan you wrote three weeks ago doesn’t know that work ran long, that you’re flying on Thursday, or that Sunday’s tennis is still in your legs. It asks for the same session either way. So you ride it badly, or you skip it.
That isn’t a discipline problem. How you slept, what else you’ve done and how much time you have all change what today’s ride should be. SmarterTraining asks about them first.
The plan wasn’t wrong. It just had no way of knowing how your week went.
What SmarterTraining asks about
- Sleep
- If you slept badly, you’ll get an easier ride.
- Work
- A long week at work leaves you tired too.
- Travel
- Away for three days? You pick up from wherever your fitness is now.
- Other exercise
- Tennis, the gym, a long walk. All of it tires your legs, so all of it counts.
- Sore legs
- If Saturday’s ride is still in your legs, you won’t get intervals today.
- A workout you missed
- Miss a session? You don’t have to make it up later.
- Time
- If you only have 45 minutes, you get a 45-minute workout.
So SmarterTraining asks three things first.
Try it in the browser
How you feel
Your legs, your energy, and anything else going on: bad sleep, a stressful week, a cold coming on.
What else you’ve done
Tennis, lifting, a run. When you did it, and how hard it felt.
How much time you have
Thirty minutes or ninety. That decides how long the workout is.
Today’s workout.
One workout, plus the reason you’re doing it.
The check-in
A few taps, then your workout.
The check-in is short on purpose. You should be able to do it before a 6am ride.
Real screens from the app.
The screens on either side are why this workout is a 60-minute endurance ride.
After the ride you tap easy, right, hard or too much, and that feedback shapes the next recommendation. Add a trip or an event to your calendar and the workouts beforehand adjust too.
Examples
Three check-ins, three different workouts.
These are real answers put through the same model the app uses. The workouts below aren’t written by us. They are what comes back.
- 01
You slept four hours and you’re on the trainer at six.
- How is your overall energy today?
- Poor
- How do your legs feel?
- Normal
- What was your last real training day?
- Rest or very easy
- How much time do you have today?
- 60 minutes
Why this
Low overall energy is a reason to take the intensity out of today rather than push through it. An easy spin still counts as a day on the bike, and it leaves tomorrow open instead of borrowing from it. The job today is circulation, not fitness.
Recommended
60-minute recovery ride
Easy spinning to move blood, not to build fitness
- 5 minWarm-upEasy spin
- 50 minMainUnder 60% FTP — easy enough that your legs feel better afterwards
- 5 minCool downFade down gradually
The goal today is circulation and recovery, not fitness gain. Keep the effort easy enough that your legs gradually feel better, not heavier.
- 02
You played tennis yesterday and it was hard.
- How is your overall energy today?
- Good
- How do your legs feel?
- Normal
- What was your last real training day?
- Strength or other hard training
- How much time do you have today?
- 75–90 minutes
Why this
Hard strength or off-bike work loads the legs in a way that usually shows up a day or two later. Another hard session on top of it competes with the adaptation you have already paid for. Steady aerobic riding adds useful volume without that conflict.
Recommended
75-minute Zone 2 endurance ride
Steady aerobic base work
- 5 minWarm-upEasy spin building to 60% FTP
- 65 minMainZone 2 / 70–80% FTP, conversational
- 5 minCool down60% fading to 40% FTP
Keep the effort conversational and relaxed. Finishing fresher than you expected is often a sign you paced this correctly.
- 03
A meeting ran over, so you have 45 minutes instead of 90.
- How is your overall energy today?
- Good
- How do your legs feel?
- Normal
- What was your last real training day?
- Rest or very easy
- How much time do you have today?
- 45 minutes
Why this
Your energy is good and your legs are in a normal place — ready to work, not fully fresh. Sub-threshold blocks suit that well: hard enough to drive adaptation, controlled enough that tomorrow is not written off. For riders on limited hours this is the workhorse session.
Recommended
45-minute sweet-spot session
Sustained sub-threshold blocks
- 8 minWarm-upBuild from easy to steady
- 3 × 9 min, 3 min easy betweenMain set88–95% FTP — sustained pressure, breathing controlled
- 4 minCool downEasy spin
The goal today is sustained pressure, not explosive power. Your legs should gradually fatigue while your breathing stays relatively controlled.
Changing the workout
You can always pick something else.
SmarterTraining recommends a workout so you don’t have to plan one. You can change that workout, pick a different one, or ignore the recommendation completely.
- 01
Change the length
Most workouts come in 45, 60 and 75-minute versions. Pick the one you have time for.
- 02
Browse the library
Recovery, endurance, tempo, threshold, over/unders, VO₂ max and muscular endurance. Pick any of them.
- 03
Edit the workout
Adjust the session before you start, or ride something completely different.
- 04
See why it was recommended
Every workout comes with a short explanation, so you can decide whether you agree.
Choosing something else isn’t cheating. Tomorrow’s recommendation is based on whatever you actually rode.
Four things worth knowing
The short version.
- You don’t plan the week
- Check in each day and you get a workout to ride.
- Other exercise counts
- If you played tennis or lifted yesterday, that gets factored in.
- Missed workouts aren’t debt
- Skip a day and you don’t have to make it up. The next workout starts from where you are.
- You can always change it
- Change the length, edit the workout, or pick a different one.
Guides & tools
The rest of what we have published.
Free reference work on training, FTP and power-to-weight. No app required to read any of it.
Read the blogGuides
- Indoor Cycling AppWhat SmarterTraining is, how daily recommendations work, and smart-trainer compatibility.
- AI Cycling Coach AppAI-assisted coaching that trains around work, family, travel, and fatigue.
- Adaptive Cycling TrainingWhat adaptive training means and why static plans fall apart in real weeks.
- Zwift Training PlanA complete adaptive training app that runs your workouts on its own — and can sit alongside Zwift when you want virtual riding.
- TrainerRoad AlternativeA respectful comparison for riders who want coaching that adapts to real life.
- TrainerRoad vs ZwiftWorkouts vs virtual riding — what each platform is for, and where SmarterTraining fits.
- Best Indoor Cycling AppsAn honest 2026 overview of Zwift, TrainerRoad, TrainingPeaks, Wahoo SYSTM, and more.
- 01You check in.
- 02You get a workout, and the reason for it.
- 03You ride it, change it, or skip it.
- 04Tomorrow’s workout is based on what you did.
Available on iPhone
Ride what makes sense today.
SmarterTraining is on the App Store.
Workouts are free. Adaptive coaching has a 7-day free trial, then it’s a subscription.
