Excel Package at CTS

David_Lawton said:

Has anyone paid for the Excel Package at CTS? I would just like to know what exactly the package covers. Is it completely online? Are there certain tests to take to figure my fitness level? Those are just a few of my questions. I'd call their hotline but it's to late.

Possibly, forum user Aztec will give you some details as a current user.

In the meantime, why not check out forum sponsor RST/Cyclecoach.com. If you have any queries we'd be glad to help.

ric

David_Lawton said:

Has anyone paid for the Excel Package at CTS? I would just like to know what exactly the package covers. Is it completely online? Are there certain tests to take to figure my fitness level? Those are just a few of my questions. I'd call their hotline but it's to late.

The package is fairly basic but great for getting started! Yes, they do have you doing a fitness test to get your ability level. They assign you a coach and you do have contact with the coach as much as you want via telephone but mostly online. Just from my brief experience with CTS, so far so good. Carmichael's coach's are highly qualified with extensive experience in endurance sports backgrounds! There are alot of coach's to choose from out there, do your homework and find the right one for you! Hope this info helps, also check this link out.....😉

trainright.compage.aspOpen ↗

David_Lawton said:

Has anyone paid for the Excel Package at CTS? I would just like to know what exactly the package covers. Is it completely online? Are there certain tests to take to figure my fitness level? Those are just a few of my questions. I'd call their hotline but it's to late.

With the Excel package, you will be assigned a coach (you do not get to pick which one). At CTS, the more experienced coaches are dedicated to the more expensive packages. As Excel is the cheapest package, you will probably be assigned someone fairly young (i.e. right out of college) who probably will not have a cycling background. Your contact with the coach is very limited. The more expensive the pachage you choose, the more "tailored" the workout schedule is. While some people find the Excel program helpful (especially if they're just getting started), bear in mind that your workout schedule will be selected from a library of pre-made schedules based on your fitness level and time available for training. It is not a "customized" training plan.

kennf said:

With the Excel package, you will be assigned a coach (you do not get to pick which one). At CTS, the more experienced coaches are dedicated to the more expensive packages. As Excel is the cheapest package, you will probably be assigned someone fairly young (i.e. right out of college) who probably will not have a cycling background. Your contact with the coach is very limited. The more expensive the pachage you choose, the more "tailored" the workout schedule is. While some people find the Excel program helpful (especially if they're just getting started), bear in mind that your workout schedule will be selected from a library of pre-made schedules based on your fitness level and time available for training. It is not a "customized" training plan.

Everyone above pretty much describe it accurately. I started back on the back after an extremely long layoff and needed some form of structure, so I signed up. At $30-something/month, I got about what I paid for. I'm done with them when my current 4-month stint runs out.

My primary complaint is that the coaches at this level really aren't paying much attention. For example, I haven't updated my page on their website in 2 weeks, testing to see when I hear from my coach. Nothing so far. I also disagree with some things they prescribe, including what I believe to be a huge hole in the intensities they suggest. I've listened to Ric and others here and know I fairly radically undertrained (intensity-wise, not volume) for the last year using CTS' program. Since going it on my own and only loosely using CTS, I think I'm starting to progress a bit better.

Oh, I should add that I think their fitness test is fine, but very poor for establishing heart rate zones (they use two 3 mile TTs to determine average HR and then build zones from that avg HR). It's highly flawed. For example, I can cruise at 186bpm for a long time, but because of the ramp up time in a PACED TT, my average was lower, and skewed all my zones down as well. I argued many times, but they didn't cave.

Wow, I'm negative! So here's some positive stuff. Nice people. They don't complain if you take a little more of their time than you're supposed to. They answer questions (YMMV on the quality of the answers). And best of all, it's cheap and a great intro into a coached program (which you can learn from and then self-coach or get a higher quality/higher touch program later).

David_Lawton said:

Has anyone paid for the Excel Package at CTS? I would just like to know what exactly the package covers. Is it completely online? Are there certain tests to take to figure my fitness level? Those are just a few of my questions. I'd call their hotline but it's to late.

I was considering signing up with CTS primarily because it was so inexpensive for the lower end packages. However, (and now a shameless plug for RST!) decided to go with a more custom designed plan - especially since this is my first foray into structured cycling training. I'm actually working with one of Ric's associates - and my experiences to date have been fantastic. Not only the training programme itself, but also the regular communications, and prompt replies to my very basic, (I'm sure annoying) ignorant questions!! (Plug Over🙂 )

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I would be interested in hearing what Ric is prescribing for your BT workouts, and also would like to know what volume you are putting in on the bike every week.

To be honest, I wonder if there is a plateau we all reach; I went out yesterday and rode my standard test bed – a 1.6mile 5.5% hill – which I did in 6’30” and kept an average wattage of 300, HR 157 (83%). Is there really any room for improvement? Bearing in mind I am 66KG. Would a coach really be able to get more out of me?

tomUK said:

I would be interested in hearing what Ric is prescribing for your BT workouts, and also would like to know what volume you are putting in on the bike every week.

To be honest, I wonder if there is a plateau we all reach; I went out yesterday and rode my standard test bed – a 1.6mile 5.5% hill – which I did in 6’30” and kept an average wattage of 300, HR 157 (83%). Is there really any room for improvement? Bearing in mind I am 66KG. Would a coach really be able to get more out of me?

it's unlikely that anyone reaches their maximum potential -- there's always room to improve somewhere. even elite pros will improve year to year with good training

ric