New Feature Release: Structured Treadmill Workout Mode
Every Stryd user has just got the ability to execute a treadmill workout on the Stryd app, there are 12 free ones already there. Subscribers can now also create treadmill workouts with Stryd’s great workout builder.
Must Read: Stryd Detailed Review
Heads Up: the press release today is all about the smartphone app, however, I’m on the various betas for the Apple Watch 7 and Garmin Fenix 7 and I’m not entirely sure if some of the features I show in the images are widely available yet.
Stryd’s smartphone app can create, execute and calendarize treadmill workouts or you can simply execute one of the treadmill workouts that Stryd has already created. Once a workout is in your calendar then you can easily sync it to your Apple Watch or Garmin and then record/follow the workout on your wrist. After you’ve finished you can check on compliance ie how well you compare to the targets.
It’s all good stuff although there are some caveats.
- Stryd cannot sense the treadmill incline nor can it control the incline on a smart treadmill.
- The incline is a key input to the power calculation and so your power will be wrong if the treadmill incline is above 1%
- However, if you manually set the incline to Stryd’s workout instructions then this problem goes away as Stryd recalculates power based on the assumed incline in the workout. There might be some small inaccuracies here but I wouldn’t worry about it. (You can set the incline on Stryd’s Apple Watch but it’s a bit fiddly to do that repeatedly for every new workout segment)
Starting a Workout
Start the workout and then match your power and incline to the target.
Are You On Track?
Simply look at the gauge on the app and stay in the green zone
A Hard Bit’s Coming…
There is a countdown to the next workout segment
Yay !
Were You As Good As It Seemed?
A pretty, post-workout graphic show actual vs. Target. The following image shows you were pretty good.
12 Free Treadmill Workouts
Stryd has several workout collections and the latest collection is for Treadmill workouts. This comes packed with 12 free workouts which anyone can use from Day 1.
Stryd Members can create new treadmill workouts with precise power boundaries and inclines by using the Stryd workout builder.
Thoughts
Stryd already has a near-complete training environment for running with power. Treadmill workout capability is the latest addition.
Clearly, Stryd could increase the ‘correctness’ of what they offer by introducing functionality to control smart treadmills and by introducing some means of detecting treadmill incline – such as linking to the excellent NPE RUNN. Mabe Stryd could develop and sell its own incline sensor? Well, those are all nice ideas but I suspect the commercial reality is that they would be unprofitable to implement for the relatively small number of people that might be interested.
Once again this now comes back to standards. You can see in the images above that I’m using the top-end Garmin Fenix 7 which you can pretty much assume will be compatible with anything Garmin releases for the next two years. Thus if we see NATIVE Running Power introduced alongside FE-C/FTMS Treadmill control then Stryd’s job of integrating with all that would be a whole lot easier in the medium-term.
Yet, Stryd has already invested so much into its ecosystem. It really is good and that investment really is a significant barrier to entry for any potential competitor. As a result, Maybe Stryd doesn’t want to see a Running Power Standard anytime soon?…even if we might.
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Thanks for the coverage of this. I asked this question on the Stryd forum to complete dead silence…but it occurs to me you probably already know: Can you not connect an HRM to the Stryd smartphone app? I normally use the Garmin CIQ app but it doesn’t include all this newfangled functionality (automated elevation changes) but it seems odd I would have to lose HR as a metric?
it’s not possible, you even can not execute a outdoor structured workout from the app, it’s pretty limited IMO. but I guess most people use a watch for that.
Thanks, that makes it utterly useless to me. With the iphone App I lose all HR metrics, which feed TRIMP, etc in my training software. I don’t understand how other apps like Wahoo or heck even iFit can connect to my HRM but the Stryd one can’t.
yes i agree with you for the same reasons. I like my HR-based TRIMP metrics
as much as i love the stryd product, i think they are too power-focussed as a company (a power meter company 😉 ). sometimes we need hr, sometimes we need pace. even tho we might ourselves be focused heavily on power.
it obviously is more work (and cost) to add HR but it’s not THAT much in the grand scheme of things.
really depends on how many people are using this app for recording runs, I personally don’t expect many, the only reason I used it for a while is that my watch was broken. Not sure if there are any 3rd party app that supports such functionality
It’s a neat app…I really do like the fact that it auto-sets the incline%, and I can live with having to manually export a .fit file from Powercenter into Garmin Connect to feed all my other API once finished…but without HR it’s useless. And seriously, the half-baked, borderline AWFUL “iFit” app that came free with my cheapo spin bike will connect to my Bluetooth HRM. It doesn’t make sense.
NOW what would be KILLER is if the Stryd CIQ workout app did this auto-incline setting itself. Then all of the above becomes moot. Unfortunately the CIQ app is a bit of a pain to change the incline on the fly (lots of button mashing).
I did my first workout on a treadmill following a guided workout using an Epix Gen 2.
There was no guidance shown via the Stryd app to advise of upcoming incline changes so I had to look at my phone while running- which was quite poor.
In addition, even though I manually set the incline at each step via the app on my watch, none of that was reflected on Garmin Connect or Strava. I don’t even know if power was being adjusted to reflect the fact I was running with inclicne set at 1%.