Understanding a workout or session

The header shows the numbers you’ll use first. Typical fields include:

• Date, start time and total duration — useful for pacing and how the ride fits your day.
• Distance and elevation gain — helps classify a ride (recovery spin vs long endurance).
• Average power (W) and Normalized Power (NP) — NP estimates the physiological cost for variable efforts; compare NP to average power to see how bursty the ride was.
• Intensity Factor (IF) — NP divided by your FTP; a good immediate read of how hard the session was relative to your threshold.
• Training Stress Score (TSS) — a single number that combines intensity and duration into a training load estimate for the session.
• Average and max heart rate — check for drift, abrupt spikes, or low HR suggesting incomplete data.
• Average cadence — indicates pedaling tempo; very low cadence during high power can suggest gearing or fatigue issues.

How to read them together:

• Short, very high IF with a high VI (variability index) usually means intervals or sprints. Expect higher fatigue per minute.
• Long rides with moderate IF and low VI are aerobic endurance rides — durable fitness gains with lower acute fatigue.
• If TSS is much higher than expected for the time you rode, check for recording errors (e.g., miscalibrated power meter) or unscheduled hard efforts.

Intervals and structure

When interval data is available the page will list the workout structure: warm-up, blocks, repeats, and cool-down. N+One will show:

• Named intervals with start/end time and target zone or watt range (if present in the original plan).
• Actual NP / avg power and duration for each interval so you can compare intended vs completed effort.
• Completion status or notes if an interval was abandoned or truncated.

Use interval details to answer practical questions:

• Did I hit the target power for the interval? Compare planned watt ranges to actual average or NP for that interval.
• Did I rest enough between efforts? Check the recovery intervals’ power and duration.
• Did pacing drift across sets? Look for rising or falling NP across repeated intervals.

If a session came from a planned workout that was uploaded to a device, the detail page will show the planned set and the actual values side-by-side when the activity was matched.

Streams and the timeline

The main chart(s) show time-series streams: power, heart rate, cadence, and occasionally other available metrics. Streams let you:

• See where the hard efforts are and match them to the map or to interval markers.
• Spot heart‑rate drift (same power, higher HR later in the ride) which signals accumulating fatigue or hydration/heat effects.
• Confirm cadence patterns (e.g., low cadence in long climbs) and how they map to power output.

Tip: zoom into the timeline to inspect a single interval’s NP and cadence. If you see impossible values (e.g., flatlined HR or zero power during apparent effort), check your device sync or sensor calibration.

Map and GPS data

If GPS was recorded you’ll see the route and can correlate steep sections or technical parts with power/HR spikes. Use the map to:

• Verify that hard intervals happened on the planned climb or segment.
• Check whether pauses in power were stops or sensor dropout.

Not all sessions include GPS. Previously viewed pages may be available offline, but new analysis and the AI Coach require a network connection; see /offline for details about offline behavior.

How the session updates your plan

N+One uses your ride file to update training load, readiness, and weekly eFTP trends. A few practical notes:

• Completed rides feed the calendar and the performance charts (roughly the last ~90 days are used in analytics).
• If a planned workout was matched to a completed ride, the calendar and session detail will avoid duplicates and present the completed activity with the planned context.
• Commute rides can be excluded from training volume when the profile preference “exclude commute activities” is enabled (that preference defaults to exclude commutes in typical code paths). If commuting inflates your TSS, enable that preference in your profile.

Common checks after a session

• Sensor sanity: Compare average power and NP; if NP is far higher than avg power on a short ride, confirm power spikes aren’t from sensor glitches.
• Interval completion: Review interval list to confirm you completed the key sets that matter for your plan.
• Recovery signal: Check heart rate, HRV inputs (if you use integrations that supply them), and subjective notes. These feed readiness and adaptive adjustments.

When data is missing or looks wrong

• Missing streams: confirm the device sync and integration in Device Integrations (/settings/integrations). OAuth return messages may show success or errors if a sync failed.
• Flatlined HR or cadence: battery or pairing issues are the usual cause. Re-sync and check device logs where available.

Next steps from a session page

• Return to your calendar to review surrounding weeks: open /training to see how this session fits with past and planned workouts.
• If you want an explanation of how the ride was analyzed, read Automatic Workout Analysis: /knowledge-base/automatic-workout-analysis-ai-insights.
• Ask the AI Coach for a short debrief: open /coach and paste a question (requires network).

Keep learning

For background on metrics and training load concepts used on the session page see:

• Cycling data metrics explained: /knowledge-base/cycling-data-metrics-explained
• Understanding training load (CTL/ATL/TSB): /knowledge-base/understanding-training-load-ctl-atl-tsb

If you rely on a device for structured workouts, check Device Integrations (/settings/integrations) to confirm your connections and upload options.