Strength training in IntervalCoach: how gym sessions are planned and counted

IntervalCoach plans your gym and weight training alongside your riding, running or swimming. You don't need a separate strength app: the sessions are built for you and land on your calendar like any other workout.

How to add strength training to your plan

Open the Training Plan page, go to Training Volume and press Edit Schedule. Pick Strength as the sport on the days you want to go to the gym, and set how long you have. A day can hold a strength session next to a ride or run, as a second session on that day. See Set your training schedule: days, sports and durations for the details.

What a weight training session looks like

Each strength session is a complete gym workout: a list of exercises with sets, reps, rest times and a short coaching cue for each. IntervalCoach chooses the session for you:

• By training phase. In base and build weeks you get heavier, progressive work; closer to your goal event the sessions shift to lighter maintenance so your legs stay fresh.

• By your main sport. Cyclists, runners and swimmers get sessions aimed at what their sport needs, from leg strength to core stability.

• With variety. Sessions rotate, so you don't get the same workout every week.

Want a specific focus, such as core, lower body, upper body or full body? Ask Coach+ ("make Thursday's gym session upper body") and it builds that instead.

How gym work counts toward your training load

A planned strength session counts for roughly 12 TSS per hour. Once you've logged a few gym sessions, that rate is adjusted to what your own sessions actually show, so gym days don't inflate your weekly TSS target. Gym sessions you record yourself (on your watch, or synced through Intervals.icu or Apple Health) count toward your load like any other activity.

How strength training affects recovery

TSS undersells how tiring a heavy gym session can be, so strength work is treated differently in the readiness check: a hard leg session keeps its recovery time even when its TSS is low. The next morning, your readiness takes it into account before your ride or run is confirmed.