Rouvy guide

Benefits

*Zwift became a leading indoor cycling app over the years, mainly thanks to its social integration and high-end gaming experience. These are key selling points for Zwift, but you may want to consider using other training apps too and we will explain why.*

Everyone who trains indoors has his/her own preferences and ideally uses an app that fits them better than another. The goal of this article is not to diss a competitor (that doesn’t mean we shy away from sharing, with you, our app’s attributes) but to give tips to enable a rider to be discerning ie after reading our summary you may find that you fit into one of the following categories that help you make your choices:

- The app you are using is the best fit for you
- You realise that using two or more apps simultaneously is a must for you
- There is another app that will fit you better
 

Either way, it’s important to be sure that the software you are using best fits your needs. If you decide to try a new app, most often you try a short, free trial. If you’re happy with what the new app offers, you just interrupt your old monthly subscription and subscribe for the new app. But does this serve your goal i.e. are you getting the best for your bucks and most importantly, the best for your needs?


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**Real or virtual routes?**
 

All Zwift routes are set into virtual landscapes which deliver fantastic options for scenarios to explore or race in. You can ride up a fairytale volcano or you can enjoy a ride in space. Thanks to this concept there is a greater chance to ‘gamify’ the environment. In practice, that means it’s very hard to get bored while training and that is the ultimate goal of any indoor training app, right?

However, it’s horses for courses! Do you spend most of your time working on some kind of virtual product, like with marketing or finance? With the limited time you have left after work, you find yourself Zwifting in a world that is even more virtual than the one you spent the whole day in. That might be the last thing you need!

It’s best to try out apps that offer the real route experience, namely Fulgaz, Bkool and ROUVY.

All 3 options are great while ROUVY's usage of Augmented reality considerably improves the riding experience.Thanks to this, you get to see your 3D avatars on the road, as well as your mates’ while riding.

**Staying motivated**
 

You know that all indoor riding apps have one ultimate goal, which is to keep the user entertained; and there are different ways to achieve this goal. As mentioned above, Zwift bets on gaming aspects (and is pretty good at it), RGT features virtual riding on real routes, Trainer Road has an emphasis on sophisticated training plans while some other apps have their users entertained through unique events they organize.

ROUVY is a good example for partnering up with the real-world race organizers so that you can feel the atmosphere of some of the world's most famous road cycling and triathlon events. To name a few, you can find IRONMAN, La Vuelta or Tour de Suisse amongst them.

Apart from popular events akin to those mentioned above, there are also many lesser known events in ROUVY that are often graced by pro riders, which adds some more fun to your indoor training.

RGT cycling is another good example of an app offering a solid amount of events, eg. the Women’s Tour.

 
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**Training plans and their integration**

If all that matters to you is a comprehensive training plan, you should consider Trainer Road and Sufferfest. They are both five stars apps for pushing your training limits but one may wonder: is there enough fun in these numbers?

Another aspect to consider is the ‘ease’ of setting up the training plans and then connecting them to the actual routes. In this regard, there is no clear winner but in general, many cyclists prefer to train for a specific race or a difficult climb simply by trying the very same route beforehand. And the closer to reality it gets, the better, obviously.

That means you need to look for a real route app with the greatest number of routes to choose from. As of today, ROUVY is probably the number one with hundreds of AR routes and thousands of routes in total, and counting. Also, ROUVY is about to launch structured trainings before the coming winter season, so let’s wait and see whether the established training apps can keep up.

**Which one, then?**

To sum it up, there’s no such thing as the ‘best indoor riding app’ that suits all. And we hope that we helped you pick the right one that works for you!

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Why you should look for a Zwift alternative this winter

*If you have read our article about new Rouvy Ambassadors, you might know Tiago Aragao. He became a Rouvy Ambassador for being a passionate athlete, who uses Rouvy for staying fit. But, he not only follows his life quote, “Confidence comes from discipline and training," in his life of an athlete. Since 2002, Tiago is also a head coach at the Training Center & Physical Evaluation in Portugal and Brazil. He helps athletes achieve their goals by testing their performance on Rouvy every day. Read more about his experience.*

**THE EVOLUTION OF INDOOR TRAINERS**

The growth of indoor bike training technologies and cycling software allows the rider to optimize some specific workouts with marked variations in intensity, making it more reliable and efficient today, and a good solution in some cases.

 

### POWER
 

First, it is important to mention that the rollers have undergone an enormous evolution in the last few years, being enabled to perform new functionalities and solutions. We have had indoor trainers that gave us the power for a long time; however, this measurement has become much more reliable with this training equipment.  This makes them excellent tools to support training, without the risk of errors in the indicated power as high as they used to be. Often, the indicated values were up to a 10 - 15% error, which, at high intensities, compromised the efficiency and goals of the training.

 

**Ex. A reading error on the order of 15% will translate into a margin of error that will oscillate between 340 and 460 watts, considering 400 watts as the "target" training zone. That is, with a less precise training roller, it becomes completely inadvisable to train.**

**However, for the same "target zone" (400 watts), a reading error of only 2.5% gives us a margin of error that varies only between 390 and 410 watts; thus, translating into a very useful and valid training tool.**

 

Thus, today, we have some indoor bike trainers with very acceptable reliability, making this training method an increasingly used option that has excellent results in the evolution of the athletes.

 

 
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### INDOOR TRAINING
 

Indoor training is always more monotonous and stressful for an athlete:  being in an enclosed space, with limited air circulation, greater sweating and a "fixed" surrounding environment, makes this option less motivating. It is usually a resourceful situation when it is not possible to train outside due to adverse weather conditions (for example) or time limitations.

However, as we saw in the previous topic, it is a tool that is now widely used, not only as a last resort, but as a way to work with precision some more specific training zones - with the indoor trainer, we do not have external factors that can intervene and influence the execution of training blocks at high intensities.

 

**Ex. If we want to work high power zones, like blocks 8 series for a few minutes at 450 watts, with one indoor bike trainer, we can carry out this training with all the rigor, but without the terrain, traffic, mechanical problems, etc., which can interfere in the execution of the training.**

 

### MOTIVATING INDOOR TRAINING
 

There are different options that can help make training more motivating in the context of these. When there was no specific software that simulates and controls the bike trainer, it was often used to view videos and music. Today, there are applications like Rouvy, simulating real courses with all detail. In addition to that, Rouvy is also capable of reproducing pre-programmed training by the trainer, fully controlling the whole process and inducing the planned workloads. The athlete only needs to focus on the execution of tasks.

The simulation of real trajectories is often used by professional athletes, and even amateurs, to work, for example, long zones at constant intensities, both in plane and ascent. This is for athletes, who, for example, do not have trajectories with these characteristics for training in their training zone.

The option of the software to automatically control the power that the athlete has to exercise, is an exceptional way for short intervals at high intensities. The athlete can perform all tasks with great success and without interruptions.

 

### ROUVY INTEGRATION WITH TRAININGPEAKS
 

Rouvy has a connection to the TrainingPeaks platform - perhaps the world's leading reference in training, planning and prescription tools, used by coaches and athletes worldwide in cycling, but also, in triathlon, running and other sports.

In terms of training, it is the perfect solution because, when starting your workout, Rouvy will provide training personalized to the athlete. This helps the entire training by managing the intensity that the rider has to perform throughout the different tasks planned by his coach on the TrainingPeaks platform.

This solution is especially interesting and effective because it allows the athlete to simply pedal, because the workout was induced by Rouvy in direct interaction with his trainer or cycle ergometer.

In addition to the ease of use, it makes those workouts, with more intense intervals of intensity, more easily executable and with better results for those who have the opportunity to train with these tools! In our Center of Training and Physiological Assessment, we do use Rouvy every day, both for cyclists’ workouts, and to the FTP and VO2max evaluation protocols.

**Good training!**

Benefits

Why you should look for a Zwift alternative this winter

Real benefits of indoor cycling workout by triathlon coach Tiago Aragao

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