Wahoo has released new Fitness Metrics to provide a more complete picture of the impact of your training on the various dimensions of your cycling and running fitness, your capacity to train, and your overall fitness when compared to simple FTP, existing cycling metrics and traditional running analysis.
Leveraging our multidimensional analysis model, Four-Dimensional Power® (4DP®) and Three-Dimensional Pace® (3DP®) and new algorithms developed by our sports and data science team, the Wahoo Cloud will analyze all cycling and running activities uploaded to your paid Wahoo subscription account that contain power and cadence data or pace data (expressed as grade adjusted pace ((GAP)).
This allows us to measure the impact of every workout that contains power and cadence data for cycling, or pace for running, on the different components of your overall fitness (threshold pace/power, max aerobic pace/power, repeatability, etc) and, using an updated model that accounts for the importance of rest, more accurately predict your capacity for continued training (or competition) and estimate your overall fitness.
In order to ensure you are receiving the full benefits of the new metrics, there are a few steps you can take to set up your Wahoo subscription account properly. First, the short list, and then in-depth how-tos for each farther down.
For a summary explanation of all the new metrics together, see Wahoo cycling Fitness Metrics explained.
Requirements
Wahoo Fitness Metrics are a paid Wahoo subscription feature. The Training Progress panel on the Today tab and Dimensional Training Load summary panel will be available to non-subscribers, but further data analysis and the full suite of metrics and data visualizations require a paid Wahoo subscription or active trial.
For access to the full suite of metrics and visualizations, the following are required:
A paid Wahoo subscription (or active trial)
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Cycling activities with power and cadence data in your Wahoo account*
These activities could be...recorded on an ELEMNT GPS computer OR
recorded in the SYSTM app for MacOS, Windows, iOS, or Android OR
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completed in a third party app or device and synced via Strava to your Wahoo account
*As described above, any activity will generate a total DTL score, but in order to get dimensional training analysis, cycling activities have to possess power and cadence data.
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Running activities with elevation and pace data in your Wahoo account*
recorded in the SYSTM app for MacOS, Windows, iOS, or Android OR
recorded using a Coros watch with the Coros app synced to your Wahoo account OR
completed in a third party app or device and synced via Strava to your Wahoo account
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A 4DP® OR 3DP®Athlete Profile established in the Wahoo app
generated by completing a Full Frontal [best] or Half Monty [better] fitness assessment in the SYSTM app using the same Wahoo subscription account (cycling only) OR
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completing the Athlete Profile questionnaire [ok*] in the Wahoo app
*The questionnaire is a great start if you are just eager to get started on your training journey, but the results of a fitness assessment (completed after a few introductory training sessions to prepare you) will always be more accurate than the estimate generated from the questionnaire.
For the best experience
Update your Preferred cadence value in the Athlete Profile in the Wahoo app (cycling only).
(Today tab > Account > Athlete Profile > Update manually > Preferred cadence). Select a cadence that you are comfortable with when engaging in a moderate effort. Taking a look at your average cadence (with zeroes excluded) from a few longer rides of at least moderate effort should give you a good starting point.Provide accurate Post Session Rating values for all recent activities that you complete that are not cycling activities with power and cadence data or running activities, and for all non-power-based cycling activities going forward.
Backfill your fitness data, if prompted, as the Wahoo Cloud needs at least 90 days of data for optimal performance, but having a longer time horizon provides even better context.
Complete a Mental Capacity assessment daily
Understand the limitations of the system to account for activities that are not cycling activities with power and cadence data or running activities.. The system does calculate a DTL value for all activities from your post session rating and the duration of the activity, but because there is no dimensional analysis possible for these activities, their dimensional impact is applied as Threshold Pace/Power (TP) DTL values and may over or underestimate their overall impact to your training load and other metrics.
Step-by-step How to
1. Read this blog post.
If you're not familiar with the 4DP® training load analysis concept, or the Athlete Profile that goes with it, take a look at this blog post: Wahoo Athlete Profile: Why 4DP is the Best Cycling Training Power Methodology for a quick explainer on what they are, and why we believe these metrics will be useful to you.
2. Read this support article.
If you haven't already read all about the new Fitness Metrics, take a look at this support article that explains the metrics, how they're calculated, and why we believe they are valuable in a world with so many existing metrics.
3. Check your Wahoo account subscription status
To check your subscription status, or check to see if a trial is available
- Navigate to the Today tab in the Wahoo app.
- Select your Account icon in the top left corner.
- Look for Wahoo membership just below your name.
- If you're already a subscriber, skip to the next step.
- If you have a trial available, you can select the button and start a trial for a subscription that will be managed through the Apple App Store or Google Play, depending on your phone OR
navigate to wahoofitness.com/wahoo-app-subscription to start a trial for a subscription that would be managed independently through wahoofitness.com. - If you don't have trial available, you can start a subscription immediately managed via Apple or Google's stores or navigate to wahoofitness.com/wahoo-app-subscription
- Once you've established a trial or subscription...
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4. Make sure your Wahoo ecosystem accounts are using the same credentials.
Sometimes we find that users may have multiple Wahoo accounts across our ecosystem (Wahoo app, ELEMNT app for generation 1/2 ELEMNT, BOLT, and ROAM computers, and/or the SYSTM structured indoor training app.
The best thing to do is to check to make sure the email address you've logged into each app with is the same. You can check this at
- Wahoo app > Today tab > Account button (top left corner) > your name > email address
- ELEMNT app > Profile tab > email address
- SYSTM > Profile icon (top) > your name > email address
If one of them doesn't match, you will want to decide which email address you want all of your account data under, and then look into transferring your activity history from one account to another. This is permanent, can only be done in one direction. If the 'different' account is a SYSTM account and this is not the account you want to keep, we suggest reaching out to our support team for some guidance, as there are implications for your historical athlete profiles from fitness assessments. Describe your situation, and the email addresses linked to each account.
5. Make sure all of your available fitness activity data streams are flowing into your Wahoo account history.
In addition to being able to record rides and other activities in the Wahoo app for iOS or Android, the SYSTM app for MacOS, Windows, iOS, or Android, or on a Wahoo ELEMNT computer, you can also have activities from some third party apps synced into your Wahoo account history.
- You can link your Wahoo app account in Zwift, and sync your completed Zwift rides for inclusion in the Wahoo cycling Fitness Metric analysis.
- You can link your Strava account in the Wahoo app or SYSTM, and by default, all activities that are uploaded to Strava (including from third parties like Apple Watch, Coros, Garmin, Rouvy, and TrainerRoad) are uploaded into your Wahoo account history for inclusion in the metrics.
6. Ensure you have a 4DP® and 3DP® Athlete Profile set up in the Wahoo app and that it's current/accurate.
The Fitness Metrics depend on a recent / accurate 4DP®/3DP® Athlete Profile in order to correctly calculate your training efforts against your dimensional capacities to do those efforts.
- Establish an Athlete Profile in the Wahoo app:
- The best way to do this is to complete a Full Frontal fitness assessment in the SYSTM app with a power trainer, which will calculate reference data values for all 4DP® categories (TP, MAP, AC, and NM) after a week's training plan in preparation for the assessment.
- The next best option is the Half Monty ramp test in the SYSTM app using a power trainer, which will calculate FTP and MAP values, and estimate AC and NM values.
- The best way to do this for running is to complete the Athlete Profile Questionnaire for 3DP®.
- If you lack a power trainer, or just can't wait to get to the metrics, you will need to honestly respond to the Athlete Profile Questionnaire in the Wahoo app to produce an estimated profile. If you pressed random buttons to speed through the questionnaire when we first released it, you will want to go back and amend your answers to be as accurate as possible. Just know that, eventually, you will want to complete a fitness assessment for the most accurate data analysis and that re-testing is the only way to calibrate the metrics as your training progresses.
- Regardless of when/how you completed your Athlete Profile, you will want to ensure that a new component of that profile, Preferred Cadence, is reasonably accurate. If you've completed Full Frontal, the system will have pulled your value from the constrained heart rate section of the assessment. If you haven't, the system will have defaulted to 85 RPM. If you don't know what your preferred cadence is, look at the average cadence from a few moderate to long rides when you weren't completely dead.
The value needs to be reasonably accurate because the new metrics key off of cadence data as a modifier of power data to determine how you were generating that power. - To access your Athlete Profile, navigate in the Wahoo app to:
- The Today tab
- The Account icon in the top left corner.
- The Athlete Profile line under your name and the Wahoo Membership status.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page to access the questionnaire, the fitness assessment, or update the Preferred Cadence value manually.
7. Provide an accurate Post Session Rating for all recent activities
Currently for all activities other than cycling and running, or cycling activities that do not contain power and cadence data, the Wahoo Cloud estimates a training load value based on the workout type, the activity’s duration, and the post session rating (PSR) you provide for that activity. Each workout type has an intensity value and, in the absence of a post session rating, a default median PSR value is applied.
To set the metrics up for the most accurate data, add a post session rating to all activities you've completed over the last two weeks (that aren't cycling with power or running), or maybe a few more if you're only recording a few activities a week. If you don't feel you can accurately rate them from memory, don't worry, the data will improve as you move forward. Just be sure to rate new, non-cycling or running activities after you complete them to keep the metrics as accurate as possible.
You can find this option on the Activity Details page of all activities in your History.
8. Backfill your fitness data
Once (1) your Wahoo subscription/trial status are confirmed and (2) you have an Athlete Profile, if you have at least 5 recorded activities across at least 60 days of activity history, you will be prompted to backfill your fitness data, which will process up to the last two years of activity data in your Wahoo account with the full suite of Fitness Metrics, to provide a more accurate starting point for analyzing your present and future training.
The backfill process will be completed in the background and can take a few minutes to a few hours depending on the volume of activities in your account history. You will receive an email and/or push notification (depending on your notification settings) once the backfill process is complete. The backfill can only be completed once for each user account, with the Athlete Profile and activity history data that is present when you press the 'Request backfill' button. For these reasons, we suggest it as the LAST step in the process of setting up your account for the cycling Fitness Metrics.
9. Understand the current limitations of the Fitness Metrics
Understand the limitations of the system to account for activities that are not cycling activities with power and cadence data or runs. The Wahoo Cloud does calculate an estimated DTL value for all activities from your post session rating and the workout type and duration of the activity, but because there is no dimensional analysis currently possible for these activities, their dimensional impact is applied as Threshold Pace/Power (TP) DTL values and may over or underestimate their impact to your training load and other metrics.
As always, we are working to expand and innovate. If you have specific questions, please reach out to our support team and we will do our best to answer.