Heart-rate based training is at the core of building a strong aerobic base for every endurance athlete. Correctly establishing one’s heart rate zones, and programming training load accordingly, will produce the most effective training stimulus. Wrist heart rate monitors are simply not accurate enough for training. Use of a heart rate chest strap should be considered critical in order to use any Uphill Athlete training plan or coaching. Accurate data must be accompanied by logging which will allow you to look back on training and identify trends in fitness and recovery. We log and analyze using TrainingPeaks.
This article explains how to sync your HR monitor to TrainingPeaks, so you can consolidate all of your training planning and logging in one place.
Congratulations on getting a heart rate monitor! This is a vital step in taking your fitness and training to the next level. It can be confusing to try and link your data from your watch to Training Peaks, but hopefully with these instructions you will be on your way soon.
We have written about the most common watches that we see our athletes use. However, there is a link at the bottom with a complete list of watches, and fitness apps that are compatible with Training Peaks and how to connect them seamlessly.
Coros Watches:
This article will show you how to set the Coros App to sync your activities automatically to Training Peaks.
Garmin Watches:
You can set up Garmin Connect (Garmin’s iPhone App) to Auto-sync with Training Peaks, so that any activities tracked on your watch and uploaded to Garmin Connect will also upload to Training Peaks. This link will allow you to directly connect your Garmin Connect to Training Peaks. For further information on the step-by-step set up, look at this link.
Suunto Watches:
If you are using a Suunto watch you can sync Training Peaks using the Suunto app for both IOS and Android. Follow this link for step-by-step instructions.
Polar Watches:
Polar Watches connect through Polar Sync AutoFlow. This feature uses a one-time link that will allow you to have all your workouts sync to Training Peaks. Here is a link on how to set up your two accounts. If you have already been using Polar Flow, you can transfer those workouts into Training Peaks with the link here.
Apple Watches:
You can connect your Apple Health with Training Peaks to track your training and sync your recorded workouts. Here are the step-by-step walkthrough instructions. The Wahoo TICKR heart rate monitor . This article will walk you through how to do this (skip down to the second paragraph).
Wahoo Tickr:
For a more budget-friendly option, you can purchase the Wahoo TICKR Heart Rate monitor ($50) and connect it to the Wahoo Fitness App (compatible with both IOS and Android). This does not require you to own a smartwatch. After recording an activity with the Wahoo App, with the TICKR tracking your heart rate, you can then set up Wahoo to auto-upload that activity to training peaks using this link.
Here is a complete list of compatible devices and apps that work with Training Peaks. Be advised that this is subject to change as a result of software updates.