Getting Started with TrainerRoad Group Workouts
By Coach Anne Linton
Setting up Trainer Road
Go to TrainerRoad and sign up for an account: They offer a free 1-week trial and a 30-day money back guarantee if you are not happy with it.
You will then need to download the TRAINERROAD App to your computer. The group workouts will not work on a mobile device such as cell phone or tablet. Make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements to run the program.
Get your system all set up. Under “Account” add in your FTP (functional threshold power) and your other stats If you do not know your FTP it will estimate it. If you have not done a power test or ramp test in the past few months you can do the ramp test on TrainerRoad before you join the class or I can help you get this set up and estimate it until we do a ramp test as a group. Be sure to set the appropriate TIME ZONE under the ACCOUNT tab.
When you register for class you will get an email confirmation with the six digit code for your class. These codes are specific to the date and time of the class you registered for. That code is what you use to enter the group workout at the day and time of your class. See below for where you enter the group workout code.
Be sure to try out the app and CONNECT YOUR DEVICES (trainer, hr monitor, cadence sensor if you have one) before you join the first class so you know it works with your system. Go here to see how to pair your devices with the TrainerRoad app.
Workout Settings
Once you open the workout you will see the screen shot below. Be sure to turn on the video and audio in the upper right-hand corner. You can also go into the settings in the upper right-hand corner and check your audio and video settings to see if it is working and where the sound and video are coming from and microphone.
In the lower left corner, you will see the “devices” this is where your training/heart rate monitor and/or cadence sensor will be attached. Be sure it shows how many devices are connected. If you click on that it will show you each device and whether or not it is connected, battery status. If they are not connected you may need to turn your device (trainer, heart rate monitor) off and then on again and see if it connects. If is still doesn’t connect you may need to close the trainer road app on your computer and re open it.
Tips to support an enjoyable workout for you and everyone else:
- Try to be in a quiet room to minimize background noise for everyone. I suggest muting your microphone unless you are talking during the workout to minimixe background noise.
- Please use headphones if you are in a room with a fan to minimize fan noise for others doing the workout
- If you want to listen to your own music, I usually recommend you put in a single earpiece to listen to your music and I will be giving cues verbally throughout the workout. These will go through the speaker (or headphones if connected) of your computer.
- If you prefer not to listen to anyone and just want to do the workout with your own music and see us all there you can do that too you just need to mute the microphone.
Technical Issues to be aware of:
If you have a hard time loading the workout on your computer, you may need to close and open the app on your computer.
If you are having a hard time connecting to your devices make sure your trainer or other sensors are not connected to anything else ( like your phone or iPad or apple tv -if you did a previous workout before class your trainer may still be trying to connect to those). What I usually recommend is going into your phone/iPad and turning off the Bluetooth so as not to interfere then load the workout connect and then turn your Bluetooth on again.
If your trainer is not recording accurate readings, you need to calibrate it. I recommend calibrating it every few weeks (although the new 2020 Wahoo Kickr doesn’t need calibrated). You can calibrate it through the wahoo app on your phone or directly in the trainerroad app. If you calibrate it with the wahoo app on your phone be sure to turn off the Bluetooth connection between your phone and your Kickr after you calibrate it as it may not get picked up by the trainerroad app.
At any time during the workout if your trainer does not appear to be picking up accurate readings you can power off/on again and that usually resolves those issues.
Sometimes during a workout if your wifi is unstable you will not see the group, or the video may be in and out. Don’t worry you can still do the workout on your trainer/computer and once you have stable wifi again it should rejoin the group.
You can join a group workout late it will take you to the live workout so where folks in the group are during the workout.
If you find you are unable to join the group or the app won’t load sometimes it is best to uninstall the app then reinstall and it should take you to the group workout.
Finally the TrainerRoad support team is outstanding so if you still have problems you can contact them here: TrainerRoad Support
Enjoy the workout and you can always email me if you have any further questions.