Methodology
How the coach makes decisions
Here's how the AI coach works: it plans from the top down. The season plan sets the goal, the monthly plan distributes training volume, and the weekly plan schedules workouts by day. The daily plan is created overnight, taking into account sleep, readiness, and what you actually did the day before. Below, we explain what data it uses, how it handles missed workouts, and where its limits lie.
Why planning works from the season down to the day
Because a daily workout needs to fit into the week as a whole. The coach first establishes what you're working toward, then decides what to do tomorrow.
There are four planning levels, each building on the previous one.
- Season. Your main goal and races: what you're preparing for, the target date, and how much time you have.
- Month. The focus of the training block: building volume, developing speed, tapering, or recovery.
- Week. A day-by-day schedule that accounts for your availability, constraints, and completed workouts.
- Day. The specific workout: type, volume, pace or zone, and its purpose.
If a higher-level plan hasn't been generated, the service completes it before producing the daily plan: without that foundation, a workout is just a random choice. The daily plan is prepared overnight so it's ready for morning delivery.
What data the coach takes into account
All the data from your watch and dashboard, plus your messages. Numbers don't override how you feel: if you say "I'm struggling", that carries more weight than a readiness score.
From Garmin and Apple Watch come workouts with zone and split breakdowns, sleep, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, readiness score, and training load. From the dashboard — the season goal, available days and minutes, blocked dates, and health constraints that you specified yourself. From the chat — what you told us: fatigue, a trip, a missed session, an inconvenient time.
Below — how individual signals turn into a decision.
| Signal from watch or dashboard | What the coach does |
|---|---|
| Low readiness or HRV below usual | Reduces the day's intensity: postpones demanding workouts and keeps an easy workout or rest |
| Short or broken sleep | Removes hard intervals, keeps the volume — but at an easy pace |
| High acute training load over the past few days | Reduces training load sooner than planned to keep the week's schedule manageable |
| High readiness and a stable resting heart rate | Allows demanding workouts as planned: intervals, a tempo run, or a long run |
| Heart rate zones and lactate threshold from Garmin data | Ties intensity to your zones rather than generic tables |
| Nutrition deficit before a high-volume day | Warns about underfueling; does not prescribe specific diets |
| Blocked dates and minute limit from the dashboard | Does not schedule workouts on those days and does not exceed available time |
How training load increases and when it's reduced
Load grows in steps, not linearly: several weeks of build alternate with easier ones. The service has no rigid "three-to-one" template — the rhythm depends on how you handle volume.
The decision to reduce training load is based on the available data: accumulated training load, trends in readiness and sleep, and the quality of completed workouts. If the metrics remain steady, the block continues; if they decline for several days in a row, the easier week starts sooner than planned.
The taper before a race or a mountain trip is different: training volume is reduced in advance according to the calendar, rather than in response to how you feel. Read more in our blog articles on the first days at altitude and heat adaptation.
What happens when you miss a session, get sick, or take a flight
The plan is rebuilt, not "caught up on." Missed workouts are not piled into the remaining days — that's the fastest way to get injured.
Just explain what happened in the chat.
- You missed a day or a week. The coach revises your upcoming plans based on your current fitness, rather than the plan you couldn't complete.
- Illness. The plan is paused, with a gradual return to training. The coach makes it clear that a doctor should decide whether you're fit to train.
- Flights and time zone changes. Travel days are kept free, and demanding workouts are moved to days after you've adjusted.
- Your schedule changed. Just write "three workouts this week" or "move the long run to Sunday."
Where the AI's limits are and when the coach sends you to a doctor
AI is good at keeping training structured and calculating training load, but it can't see you or assess your health. Pain and illness are outside its scope.
The coach explicitly advises you to see a specialist for persistent pain, injuries, symptoms of illness, or any other medical concern. Medical assessment, treatment, medication, and therapeutic diets are outside its scope.
There are technical limits too: the model can get a number wrong or misunderstand a question. That's why you can always view the full plan in the dashboard and mini app and request changes in everyday language. If an answer seems strange, email support@1trainer.ru: the message timestamp helps us trace what happened.
Where the methodologies come from
From internal guidelines written and reviewed by the team. Each topic has its own document with specific figures, which is also provided to the coach as context.
We're currently working on methodology guides covering:
- heat adaptation and training in high temperatures;
- preparing for altitude and the first days at altitude;
- sleep and recovery;
- nutrition during long runs;
- choosing clothing and footwear for the weather;
- combining team sports with a running plan.
Each guide has a companion blog article, so the figures you read in the article match those in your workout instructions. You can read these articles on the blog.
Frequently asked questions
How does the AI coach work in 1trAIner?
It plans from the season down to the month, week, and day. The daily plan is created overnight based on sleep, readiness, and completed workouts, and the weekly plan is recalculated after each activity upload.
Which model answers in the chat?
The DeepSeek language model. For each request, the service adds your profile, current plan, recent workouts, and recovery metrics — without this context, the model doesn't know your history.
What happens if I miss a week?
Let the coach know in the chat. It will revise your upcoming plans based on your current fitness rather than move missed workouts into the remaining days.
Can the coach make mistakes?
Yes, like any language model. The plan is always visible in full in the dashboard and mini app, you can request any edit in words, and if you get a strange answer, write to support@1trainer.ru.
Does the service replace a doctor or an in-person coach?
No. The service is informational: it doesn't diagnose or prescribe treatment, and if you have pain or illness, it directly refers you to a specialist. It also doesn't teach movement technique in person.
From reading to workouts