ATP Wizard
From Peaksware Help Center
Contents |
What is the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard?
The ATP Wizard is a 5-step software wizard that is included in all Virtual Coach Paid Subscriptions. This program will walk you through the steps to create a periodized Annual Training Plan, help you set your goals, and will provide a weekly set of customized workouts. Invest 30 minutes of your time in the ATP Wizard and you will never again have to guess what type of workouts to perform each week. Note that it provides what workouts to do and an overall number of hours to workout for the week, but is still left to you to schedule the day of the week and exact amount of time for the workout.
- It is important to note that the ATP Wizard and the Pre-Built Training Plans are two separate planning tools that are not intended to be used at the same time. The ATP Wizard is a tool that is found within all Paid Subscription accounts, and the Pre-Built Training Plans are purchased separately from Paid Subscriptions. For more information on the differences between Pre-Built Training Plans and the ATP Wizard, go to:
How to use the Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard
Log in to your Virtual Coach Paid Subscription account. Open the Training drop-down menu and select the ATP Wizard, then select Step 1.
In Step 1 of the ATP Wizard, fill out all of the information and click the 'Save and Go to Step 2' button.
In Step 2 of the ATP Wizard, fill out all the information and click the 'Save and Go to Step 3' button.
In Step 3 of the ATP Wizard, fill out your race schedule, making sure to include at least one 'A' priority race within the first 48 weeks of the plan.
Once the race schedule has been fully entered, click the 'Compute my Annual Training Plan!' button at the top of the race schedule.
In Step 4 of the ATP Wizard, you will see your Annual Training Plan that the ATP Wizard as computed. To proceed to Step 5, go to the Workout Calendar in the Training drop-down menu, or click on the date of a week you wish to assign workouts for in ATP.
Step 5 of the ATP Wizard - Once you have Steps 1-4 completed and you have computed the ATP, all you have to do to build out a week's worth of workouts is to click the stick figure in the Monday of the given week in the Workout Calendar (which you can find in the Training drop-down menu). By clicking this stick figure in the Monday of the week you want to build out workouts for, you will pull up the Step 5 of the Virtual Coach (the Weekly Planner), which gives you suggestions of what workouts to do, but allows you to tweak them to fit your life schedule. When you have things the way you want them, click Save at the bottom of the pop-up window and the workouts will be populated into the Workout Calendar.
ATP Wizard Troubleshooting and Tips
Scheduling Tips for Step 5 of the ATP Wizard
In general the point is to complete all of the listed VC workouts, but it may not always be the best thing if you are tired or have a lifestyle that has a lot of restrictions on time. The ATP Wizard allows you to customize your training to your unique lifestyle issues. We recommend-
1. Enter your recovery days first. These are the most important.
2. Add in your "anchor" workouts such as master's swim, group training, weights and long endurance days.
3. Feel free to double up workouts on certain days. For example you might add an easy bike workout after weights. This may be necessary as more than seven workouts may be suggested for the week.
4. The workouts and hours that are left are to be loaded into the remaining days.
For additional help please reference any of the "Training Bible" series of books by Joe Friel, or the Peaksware Message Boards.
How do Pre-Built Training Plans work with the ATP Wizard?
The "Training Plans" are completely separate from the ATP Wizard functionality in Virtual Coach. The ATP Wizard is a 5-step application available to members of TrainingPeaks which helps you build en entire year's worth of training and racing based on Joe Friel's Training methods as described within his "Training Bible" series of books. This is where the Annual Training Plan fits in. Once you go through the steps, the system will suggest workouts for you to do each week.
Pre-Built Training Plans, on the other hand, are designed to help you prepare for a single event and are usually between 12-18 weeks in length. When you purchase the plan, it asks you when you want your plan to start or finish and then it injects the proper workouts into your Daily Log and Calendar pages. Subscribers to the full Training Peaks service receive a discount on all of the Training Plans we offer. Conversely, people who simply purchase Training Plans must upload to the full subscription to take advantage of our advanced features like Nutrition Tracking, Uploads from training devices (like Heart Rate Monitors, GPS Systems and Power Meters), Outlook calendar synching, Message Board use, etc. This link often answers a lot of questions regarding Pre-Built Training Plans: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/trainingplans/trainingplanshowtheywork.asp
Making Changes to the ATP Wizard
When you go back and make changes in the ATP Wizard, make sure to click the save button at the bottom of each step as you run back through the Wizard. The most important step in reworking the ATP Wizard is hitting Compute ATP in step 3, as this is what activates the changes. If you run into any problems, please run back through your ATP Wizard, checking to make sure that all possible settings are filled out, clicking Save at the end of each step, then click the Compute ATP in step 3. You can go in and change the settings in the ATP Wizard as many times as you like. If you do not see a Compute ATP button in Step 3, it is most likely because you do not have an A priority race designated in the first 48 weeks of the ATP.
