Cycling training plan: season, FTP tests, load

App microcycle view: a training week with one day's sessions on the calendar

Season planning

Your cycling training plan on three levels

In the macrocycle you set up the phases of the season, each with planned weekly volume in hours and planned intensity in percent as a curve, plus focus, objectives and strategic notes. Races and tests appear as points on the calendar, and main competitions carry a star. You can save the finished macrocycle as a template for next season.

The mesocycle summarizes a phase, and the microcycle shows the training week as a calendar, turning the season plan into day-by-day training planning. On a computer you drag sessions to move them, and week copy carries a whole week forward, even into another rider's calendar.

Races with priority: main, important or build-up competition
Training camps and travel days as their own calendar entries
Calendar subscription for Google, Apple or Outlook
Export of macrocycle, mesocycle and microcycle as PDF and CSV

Athlete holding a barbell in front of his shoulders, close-up in the gym

Sessions and strength

Plan rides, intervals and strength training

You add a ride to a program as its own sport row. It brings its required fields with it, usually duration and RPE, often distance as well. For structured sessions there are block types such as Interval, with work time, rest time and rounds. The catalog of about 40 parameters also includes power, heart rate and speed.

Strength work complements time on the bike. From over 1,600 exercises you build sessions with sets, reps, load or %1RM, and Tletify converts percentages into kilograms. In the app's workout mode the athlete works through the session set by set, with planned values already filled in. For cycling and triathlon there is also a methodology for FTP power zones.

Sport row with duration, RPE and distance
Interval, circuit, EMOM and AMRAP blocks with a timer in the app
Load suggestion and last performance in workout mode
No transfer of workouts to bike computers or smart trainers

App analysis view with team readiness over 30 days and the athletes with the largest changes

Tests and recordings

FTP test, performance profile and FIT files from your bike computer

The test catalog holds about 150 tests. For cycling it includes the 20-minute FTP test and the Wingate test, plus VO₂max (lab) and lactate threshold. Catalog tests have fixed setup and result parameters, so results stay comparable across the season. The FTP from the test goes straight into the rider's performance profile.

You upload recorded rides as FIT or GPX files on a computer, on the Analysis page (Pro). Tletify shows the route, heart rate, power and elevation gain and links the ride to the program scheduled at the same time (±90 minutes). From the data it calculates time in heart rate zones and TRIMP, and with a power meter and FTP also power-based metrics such as the load of each ride.

There is no automatic sync with Garmin Connect, Wahoo or Strava. Through the app, Apple Health or Health Connect provide daily values such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability and sleep, but not your rides.

App overview for coaches with average readiness, ACWR, sessions and the next competition

Load management

Track training load, form curve and daily check

For training load management Tletify calculates daily load as session RPE: duration in minutes times RPE on a scale of 0 to 10. From that, you as the coach get the acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR), monotony and strain, plus the Banister form curve with fitness, fatigue and form. Strength work runs separately as tonnage and is never mixed with sRPE.

With thin data Tletify stays honest: below 8 completed sessions in 28 days it shows “Not enough data” instead of a value. In the daily check your riders answer four questions on a scale of 1 to 5 about sleep quality, energy level, muscle soreness and mood, and you only see it with their permission. Athletes never see ACWR, monotony, strain or the form curve.

Taper analysis for the 14 days before a race
Season view of weekly load with races marked
Create competition preparation: weekly volume reduced in stages
Compare several riders or a whole group in one analysis

Questions and answers

Can I send workouts to my bike computer or smart trainer?

No. Tletify does not export structured workouts, neither as FIT nor as ZWO files, and it has no direct connection to Garmin, Wahoo or Strava. Riders see the targets in the app, and afterwards you upload the recorded ride as a FIT or GPX file on a computer.

How does FTP get into the performance profile?

Through the 20-minute FTP test from the test catalog: Tletify writes the result into the rider's performance profile. With that FTP, the analysis calculates power-based metrics such as the load of each ride for rides recorded with a power meter.

Do my riders see ACWR and the form curve?

No. The acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR), monotony, strain and the form curve are visible only to coaches with a Pro or Team plan, and only for athletes who have granted them access to their analysis. Riders see readiness, daily check values, sleep and HRV on their dashboard. More on the page for coaches.

Is Basic enough for a rider without a coach?

With Basic you plan your own macrocycle, mesocycle and microcycle and use tests, competitions and the daily check. FIT upload and the analysis with load metrics are part of Pro. What you get as an athlete is on the page for athletes.