Workout analysis

With the workout analysis you dig into the data of a single completed workout, down to the second. Put power, heart rate, cadence and pace side by side, select a climb or interval to inspect exactly that part, and instantly see the zone distribution, peak values and laps of the session.

Opening the analysisCopy Anchor Link

In the calendar, click a completed workout and choose Analyse. The analysis opens full screen.

Panels and layoutsCopy Anchor Link

The analysis is a grid of panels that you pick, drag and resize yourself. Layouts are saved per sport, so you can keep a power-focused layout for cycling next to a pace-focused layout for running. See Own layouts for analyses for creating, editing and arranging layouts.

Available panels:

• Statistics: the main chart with all data streams of the workout
• Details: all key numbers of the workout or of your selection
• Laps: table with the laps from the device and your own laps
• Time in zones: separate panels for power, heart rate, speed/pace and cadence
• Peak values: separate panels for power, heart rate, speed/pace and cadence
• Map: the recorded route
• Description: the planned description and workout structure
• Reactions: comment on the workout, with AI coach feedback for coaches
• Aerobic decoupling (Pw:Hr or Pa:Hr): how much efficiency was lost in the second half
• Heart rate vs. power/speed: the ride's heart rate-output relationship as a point cloud, coloured per hour

The chartCopy Anchor Link

The main chart shows every data stream the workout contains: elevation, speed or pace, heart rate, cadence and power are visible by default. Swim workouts add swolf and strokes. Extra series such as the running dynamics, pedal smoothness, left/right balance, ambient, core and skin temperature, distance per stroke and the breathing series are hidden by default.

• Toggle series: click the series name in the legend below the chart.
• Smoothing: the slider in the panel header smooths out noise in the data (0 to 10). The elevation line is never smoothed.
• Time or distance: the buttons in the panel header switch the x-axis between elapsed time and distance.
• Tooltip: hover over the chart to see the value of every visible series at that moment; a marker on the map follows the same position.

Grade adjusted paceCopy Anchor Link

Runs and walks get a second pace line: the grade adjusted pace. That is the pace your athlete would have run on flat ground for the same effort. Uphill the line sits faster than the real pace, downhill it sits slower.

Why that helps: an 8 % climb at 6:00/km costs about as much as a flat kilometre at 3:30/km. Look at raw pace alone and that climb reads as an easy kilometre, when it was the hardest one of the session. Grade adjusted pace makes intervals on rolling terrain comparable to each other, and a training block in the mountains comparable to one on the flat.

The line is hidden by default. Switch it on by clicking Grade adjusted pace in the legend below the chart. It shares an axis with the regular pace, so you can read the two straight against each other.

The details panel shows the average as Avg. grade adjusted pace. Select part of the workout, a single climb for instance, and that figure recalculates for exactly that selection.

A few things worth knowing:

• The correction applies to running and walking only. It does not appear on rides, because the underlying model describes the energy cost of running, not of pedalling.
• Coachbox uses the model from Minetti et al. (2002), measured on treadmills between -45 % and +45 % gradient. Strava and TrainingPeaks build on the same work.
• The gradient is measured over 25 metres rather than between two consecutive data points. Without that smoothing, the elevation noise of a GPS watch turns a flat run into a string of steep little slopes.
• Workouts from before this update pick up the series once they are read in again, which happens automatically the next time you open their analysis.

Grade adjusted pace also feeds into the training load of running sessions. Climbing workouts now weigh more than they used to, which matches what they cost physiologically.

Running dynamicsCopy Anchor Link

When your athlete runs with a watch that measures running dynamics, five series are added:

• Step length (m): the distance covered by a single step.
• Vertical oscillation (cm): how much the body moves up and down with every step.
• Ground contact time (ms): how long the foot touches the ground per step.
• Vertical ratio (%): vertical oscillation relative to step length, so how much movement goes upwards instead of forwards. Lower is more efficient.
• Ground contact time balance (%): the share of contact time on the left leg. 50 % is perfectly even, a deviation points to an asymmetry.

They are hidden by default, because only runs from such a device carry them. Switch them on in the legend below the chart.

How many of the five you get depends on the device:

• Garmin with an HRM-Pro strap, Running Dynamics Pod or a watch that measures them from the wrist, writes all five into the workout file. The same goes for other brands that put running dynamics in their FIT file.
• Apple Watch, through Apple Health, provides step length, vertical oscillation and ground contact time. It does not measure vertical ratio or ground contact time balance, so those two series stay empty.

Workouts from before this update pick up the running dynamics once they are read again, which happens automatically the next time you open their analysis. For Apple Health that covers step length and vertical oscillation only: ground contact time comes through for workouts synced with an app version from after this update.

Breathing dataCopy Anchor Link

When your athlete measures their breathing during a workout, three series are added: respiration rate (breaths per minute), ventilation (air volume per minute) and tidal volume (the volume of a single breath). They are hidden by default, because most workouts do not carry them.

Where the data comes from differs per value:

• Respiration rate sits in the workout file itself. A Tymewear sensor provides it, and so does a regular Garmin heart rate strap that measures breathing.
• Ventilation and tidal volume only come through when the Tymewear Connect IQ data field is installed on the device. Without it, those two series stay empty.

The average, highest and lowest value per series appear in the details panel, alongside power and heart rate.

Workouts from before this update pick up the breathing series once they are read again, which happens automatically the next time you open their analysis.

Selecting part of the workoutCopy Anchor Link

Drag across the chart to select a segment, such as a climb or an interval. All other panels immediately follow your selection:

• Details shows the duration, distance and all averages and maxima of the selection.
• Time in zones and Peak values are recalculated over the selection.
• Map highlights the selected part of the route and zooms in on it.
• Laps highlights the laps that fall within the selection.

With a selection active, extra buttons appear in the panel header:

• Zoom: zoom in on the selection (and back out).
• Clear selection: back to the full workout. Clicking inside the chart does the same.
• Save lap: store the selection as your own lap in the laps table.
• Cut selection: remove the selected data points, for example when the device kept recording after the workout. Cuts can be undone.

Selecting also works the other way around: click a row in the laps table or a point in the peak values chart, and the chart selects exactly that part.

Time in zonesCopy Anchor Link

The zone panels show, per zone, how much time and what percentage of the workout the athlete spent in it, as a bar chart with the zone boundaries included. There is a panel per zone type: power, heart rate, speed or pace, and cadence. The distribution follows the athlete's training zones; without a zone definition for that type, the panel stays empty.

Peak valuesCopy Anchor Link

The peak values panels show the best value of this workout per effort duration: 5 and 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours. Again there is a panel per type: power, heart rate, speed/pace and cadence.

• Click a point in the chart and the main chart selects the part where that peak was set. That instantly shows where the best 5 minutes of the ride were.
• With a selection active, the peak values are recalculated live over just that part.

To follow peak values over a longer period or compare two periods, use the duration curves in the statistics.

Aerobic decouplingCopy Anchor Link

The decoupling panel compares the efficiency (power or speed per heartbeat) of the second half of the workout with the first half. When heart rate drifts up while output stays flat, the percentage rises:

• 5% or less (green): the aerobic base holds for this duration.
• 5 to 10% (orange): the base is still developing.
• More than 10% (red): the endurance session was too long or too intense for the current base, or conditions (heat, fatigue) played a part.

For pace-based sports such as running and swimming the panel uses pace (Pa:Hr), even when the workout contains power data; for other sports such as cycling it uses power (Pw:Hr) when available. When the workout carries both signals, you pick the basis yourself through the panel's options menu. The panel requires at least 20 minutes of training time with heart rate data. With a selection or zoom active, the decoupling is calculated over just that part, for example a single steady endurance block.

When decoupling stays low across several long endurance sessions, the aerobic base is ready for more intense work. To follow the evolution over weeks, check the Efficiency Factor graph in the statistics.

Heart rate vs. powerCopy Anchor Link

This panel draws the same heart rate-output relationship as decoupling, but as a picture: the whole ride as a point cloud with power (or speed) on the x-axis and heart rate on the y-axis, each hour in its own colour. In a well-sustained effort the cloud sits tightly around the trend line; drift becomes visible as the later hours shifting above the line, more heart rate for the same output.

Above the chart sit three values:

• PWC150 and PWC170 (physical working capacity): how much power or speed corresponds to a heart rate of 150 and 170 bpm according to the trend line. Think of them as two fixed reference points to compare rides: when an athlete produces 260 W at 150 bpm a month later where it used to be 240 W, the aerobic engine has grown.
• r²: how well the trend line fits the point cloud, on a scale from 0 to 1. A high value (for example 0.85) means heart rate and output moved neatly together and the PWC values are reliable. With a low value (from intervals, many stops, or heat) take them with a grain of salt.

The options menu adjusts the smoothing and the heart rate shift: heart rate responds tens of seconds after the effort, and that shift makes the relationship cleaner.

Like decoupling, this panel is most meaningful on steady rides; after intense surges the heart rate stays elevated for a while and the cloud deviates temporarily. Click an hour in the legend to hide it and compare the rest.

LapsCopy Anchor Link

The laps table shows the laps recorded by the device, plus the laps you saved from a selection. Per lap you see, among others, duration, distance, average and maximum speed or pace, heart rate, power (including normalized power) and cadence; the options menu controls which columns are visible. Click a row to select that lap in the chart. Your own laps can be renamed or deleted via the pencil icon.

MapCopy Anchor Link

Workouts with GPS data show the route on the map, with start and finish markers. In the top right you switch between a street, satellite and topographic map layer. The map moves along with the analysis: hover over the chart and a marker shows where you were on the route; make a selection and that part of the route is highlighted.

DetailsCopy Anchor Link

The details panel bundles the key numbers of the workout, or of your selection. The options menu controls which fields you see. Available, depending on the data in the workout:

• General: workout duration (moving time), elapsed time, distance
• Speed: average and maximum speed and pace, plus the average grade adjusted pace on runs and walks
• Heart rate: average and maximum heart rate
• Power: average power, average power excluding zeros, normalized power and maximum power
• Cadence: average cadence while pedalling (zeros excluded, as your bike computer calculates it), average cadence including zeros, and maximum cadence
• Cycling dynamics: pedal smoothness and left/right balance
• Elevation: elevation gain and loss, minimum and maximum altitude
• Temperature: ambient, core and skin temperature
• Swimming: swolf and strokes
• Self-evaluation: the RPE and the feeling the athlete filled in

The RPE appears as a dot on a miniature Borg scale with the number inside it, so you see at a glance where the effort sat between very light and maximal. The feeling shows as a coloured smiley with the word next to it. If the athlete filled in neither, both fields stay out. Scores from a Garmin watch are picked up automatically, see Your RPE and feeling from your watch.

Unlike the other numbers, these two belong to the whole workout, so they stay put when you select part of the chart.

The panel also contains a mini chart of the laps, for which you choose the value that sets the bar height, and the planned workout structure for comparison. The laps mini chart and the planned structure can each be collapsed via their section heading, useful when a long structure pushes the numbers out of view.

Reactions and AI coach feedbackCopy Anchor Link

In the reactions panel you comment on the workout. Coaches can also generate AI coach feedback there: a technical analysis of the session plus ready-made messages for the athlete.

Re-analyse, complete or download the fileCopy Anchor Link

Via the options menu of the chart panel you can:

• re-analyse the workout (all values are recalculated);
• upload a .fit, .tcx or .gpx file to complete or replace the workout;
• download the original file.

Good to knowCopy Anchor Link

• The zone and peak values panels require an active license.
• Without GPS data the map panel stays empty; without a data stream (power, for example) that series does not appear in the chart.
• Panels such as the map and the chart can be viewed full screen via the maximize icon.
• Escape closes the analysis.