COROS Coaches – a good idea but…

We all like a freebie. But is the service any good? Let’s temper the initial excitement with COROS’ clarification that

While we are here to help you improve as an athlete, we are not in fact your private coach. We will not input workouts or training plans on your calendar. We may recommend several official COROS workouts or training plans from our already-established library, but we will not write programs on your calendar. [COROS]

So, as dcrainmaker points out in his recent article, this is in fact a Q&A service albeit a potentially personalised service.

COROS’ marketing materials feature three coaches who are highlighted as the ones who will provide feedback. Some commenters on the aforementioned post from DCR questioned the authenticity of the images and the identity of the actual coach behind the scenes. I think this is a little unfair to COROS, but I can certainly understand that the way the information is presented creates that suspicion. However, the headline coach’s identity, Derek, is likely to be Derek Dalzell, Senior Manager of Consumer Education at COROS – a real person who is definitely wearing a real COROS T-shirt in the promo photo.

What practical use is the service?

COROS claims that these questions can be answered.

• What should my fatigue be at prior to race day?
  
• If I was sick last week, what should I do this week?
  
• What intensity should I train at given my goals?
• How do I increase my fitness?

I am in the process of asking precisely those questions to see what the answers are from COROS. However, my COROS data is incomplete so I doubt they will be able to give me the claimed level of personalised service (fair enough).

If any of you do get answers please post them below.

To put those questions into perspective, here is the level of generic advice that ANY OF US can already get from chatGPT. Note that before asking these questions it is important that you tell the AI how to act. So I used this prompt “Act in your responses if you are an elite athletic coach“, you could perhaps more usefully refine such a prompt by additionally stating your level of fitness and target race distance. It’s also useful to tell the AI that it should ask you for clarification or more information, where needed.

Q1: What should my fatigue be at prior to race day?

I would say that the answer to your question depends on the individual athlete and the specific race they are preparing for. Ideally, an athlete should be in a state of “controlled fatigue” leading up to a race, meaning that they should have trained hard and accumulated some level of fatigue in their body, but also allowed enough time for rest and recovery to ensure they are fresh and ready to perform on race day.

For endurance athletes, it’s common to have a taper period leading up to a race, during which training volume and intensity are reduced to allow for recovery and to reduce fatigue. This period can last anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the athlete and the race distance.

In general, the goal is to arrive at the starting line feeling rested, refreshed, and mentally sharp, but also with enough residual fatigue in the body to provide a performance boost. This is a delicate balance, and it often requires careful monitoring of training loads, nutrition, and recovery practices leading up to the race.

Ultimately, the ideal level of fatigue prior to race day will vary from athlete to athlete, and it’s important to work closely with a coach or sports scientist to determine the best approach for your individual needs and goals.

How to create a free AI Marathon Training Plan from Chat GPT.

Q2: If I was sick last week, what should I do this week?

Q3: What intensity should I train at given my goals?

the intensity at which you should train depends on your specific goals, fitness level, and training history. To determine the appropriate training intensity for you, it’s important to consider the following factors:

1. 1. Goal: What is your training goal? Are you training for endurance, strength, speed, or a combination of these factors? The intensity of your training should be tailored to your specific goal.
   2. Fitness Level: Your current fitness level is an important consideration when determining the appropriate training intensity. If you are new to training, it’s important to start at a lower intensity to avoid injury and gradually increase as your fitness level improves.
   3. Training History: Your training history also plays a role in determining the appropriate intensity. If you have a history of training at a high intensity, you may be able to handle more volume and higher intensity than someone who is new to training.
   4. Recovery: Recovery is a crucial aspect of training, and it’s important to consider your recovery capacity when determining your training intensity. If you are not recovering well between workouts, it may be necessary to reduce the intensity to allow for better recovery.

In general, if your goal is to build endurance, you should focus on longer, lower-intensity workouts such as aerobic training in the moderate intensity zone (60-70% of your max heart rate). For strength training, you should focus on moderate to high intensity (70-85% of your 1RM) and lower volume. For speed or power development, high-intensity intervals at near maximal intensity or even sprinting is recommended.

Ultimately, the appropriate training intensity will vary from person to person and should be tailored to your individual needs and goals. Working with a coach or personal trainer can be helpful in determining the appropriate training intensity for you.

Q4: How do I increase my fitness?

Thoughts

Q: Just how scalable is this?

A: Assuming COROS has thousands of customers, it can’t be easily scalable. At least not if you want responses from real humans who have looked meaningfully at your data

To make this scalable, I suggest that Coros could implement an AI that can provide good advice on a generic level. However, a more long-term solution for Coros and other companies is to identify key markers from users’ training history, such as age, sex, ability level, target race day, and training hours per week. These markers could then be used to train an AI programmatically on an athlete-by-athlete basis…or they could simply be inputs to Garmin-like Daily Workout Suggestions or personalised plans.