Hi,
I was using SYSTM for cycling training over the winter, and found it tired me out.
Since then I’ve got out and about on the bike and know I can do 100km whilst averaging 165W and 1000m of climbing.
Went back onto SYSTM and struggle to do 100W after about an hour and a quarter and 30km of virtual distance.
Is there a way I can dial it down so it’s more accurate, please?
I won’t be looking to keep up the subscription if not, because TBH, it’s demoralising.
Thanks in advance,
BLS
Please do not compare real vs. virtual distance. Only watts matters. What power meters do you use indoors and outdoors (are they comparable?)? Did you compare your power curve for indoor vs. outdoor? Do you struggle to keep the power physically or it is about (mental) motivation to keep pedaling indoors? And … welcome to the forum!
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Just to make sure you have a large fan for indoor riding as overheating could drop your power by a lot? Outdoors especially on longer rides is alot easier compared to indoors as there is no coasting inside so it can be alot more exhausting.also mental can be a huge aspect. if your using power meter outside and a trainer’s power inside there can be a difference. It may not even just be one of these things but a combination.
On a side note If your not using a power meter outside and using strava esitmated watts they can be taken with a grain of salt
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Welcome to the forums @BobbyLeeSchwartz! You can always dial down any of the workouts you do in SYSTM. A fair number (but not all) of the workouts in SYSTM would be considered HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and as such they are sorta designed to “tire you out”. But in saying that, most of them are also designed that you should be able to complete them feeling tired but not demoralized.
A lot of this will depend on your level of fitness, the types of workouts you choose to do, and, perhaps most importantly the equipment you are using (whether all the firmware and software is up to date) and whether you have completed any of the fitness tests that are in there to do exactly what you are looking for, i.e. make sure that the efforts being asked of you in ALL of the workouts are accurate and tailored to your unique strengths (and weaknesses).
As others have noted, if you could provide a little more info about your setup (both indoors and outdoors) we might be able to steer you in the right direction. I should say, if you are able to average 165 watts over 1000 metres of climbing and 100km it seems like you certainly have the fitness needed to really get a lot of bang for your buck from SYSTM. Adding in Strength and Yoga will likely help as well as giving some consideration to doing some of the Mental Training modules (the focus exercise, Positive Self talk and Overcoming Obstacles if you do nothing else).
So, what type of trainer are you using? Are you sure that the firmware for that trainer is up to date? Is it a smart trainer or are you using “virtual watts” (which are a rough estimation of effort required - based on a particular trainer’s known power curve - but still only a rough estimate)
Have you done either the Half Monty or Full Frontal Fitness tests?
You said you were training over the winter, did you use one of the training plans?
Do you have power meters on both your indoor and outdoor setups?
As others have noted, indoor speed and distance are at best just rough estimates in SYSTM as it was never designed (like RGT or Zwift or others) to be a simulation of the real world (though some of the On Location rides have gotten very close to that as have some of the Pro Rides)
Let us know a little more info and perhaps we can help get you feeling more comfortable with being ummm, uncomfortable 
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Also—make sure you use Virtual Speed (you select it in devices). While that won’t give you distances exactly the same as outdoor, it will be on the ballpark. If you don’t use virtual speed, distance in ERG mode is random: it will be small if you do the workout on a low gear and high if you do it in a big gear.
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Thank you so much for the replies.
The indoor kit is all Wahoo:
HRM, KickR Snap, Cadence.
Firmware is up to date👍
Outdoor kit is mixed:
Garmin speed sensor, Assioma power pedals (includes cadence), ELEMNT Bolt, Wahoo HRM👍
All seem to function fine…
If there’s a way to dial it down for a mere mortal, that would be worth trying😁
Thank you
BLS
Just to add to what some of the others have said, if the nature of your outdoor riding differs from the workouts you do in SYSTM, they could be difficult.
If you are doing Zone 2 endurance rides outside, and you try to do, say 9 Hammers or the Omnium, you might find that you are extremely tired. You might need more recovery time than you are giving yourself.
What SYSTM workouts are you doing?
So, I had a Kickr Snap and by following a certain protocol I was able to get it to within a small handful of watts of 2 separate power meters. Have you compared the two? That is, have you seen if the Assioma pedals match the Kickr Snap in terms of power output?
For the Snap, I would ALWAYS do the following prior to each and every ride:
Inflate the rear tire to exactly the same PSI (I used a 23mm trainer tire and inflated to 100 PSI).
Tighten the drum to the tire the precise same number of turns.
Do a warm up spin of 10 minutes.
Do a spin down calibration using the wahoo fitness app.
Also, fwiw, I’d also make sure my PM firmware was up to date prior to every ride as well. Not sure if the Assioma need to be Zeroed out each time or if they’re one and done.
So, given all the above, if you wattage is pretty close between the Snap and the Pedals, what about doing the testing within SYSTM? You didn’s say whether you’d done the Half Monty or Full Frontal fitness tests? If you haven’t you really REALLY need to do at least one of them. Half Monty is an extended Ramp Test that for many riders provides very accurate results in FTP, MAP and cycling Lactate Threshold Heart Rate. The gold standard is Full Frontal but it’s not a very pleasant experience if done properly and there is a bit of a learning curve.
If ALL you want to do is dial things down (and you are not do the tests above) you are doing yourself a disservice and you’ll not be getting the most out of the app. That said, dialing things down is pretty easy. On desktop there’s a keyboard shortcut (the up and down arrows) that will decrease all metrics (or increase them) by 1% increments. On mobile you’ll need to go to the gear icon (top right) once you’ve started a workout and click Settings and you can do the same. You can also leave the recovery sections alone or have those adjust downward too.
Back to you BLS!
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Thank you all so much,
After a brief pause I’m back on it.
Yep, I had previously done the half monty and full test which, were tough.
I performed a spindown just as you advised and it’s different already.
Much easier.
Whether it’s accurate or not…I’ll be looking to compare Watts with the power pedals Watts.
Really appreciate the help. Thank you so much!
BLS
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If you have the same tire pressure and the same number of turns of the tightening crank, what’s the point of doing a calibration every time you do a session?
I do the same re tire pressure and crank turns, but I only do a calibration when I do a test. All the other times, because everything else is the same (temp might vary slightly but not much over a few weeks), I would expect to get the same calibration results, so no point.
I’m a creature of habit I suppose but I did it because Wahoo recommended it prior to each ride and I found that was the best way to ensure accurate results when tested against independent power meters.
There is some variation in resistance even when setting the tire pressure the same and trying to get roller pressure the same, but I agree that for doing workouts, it’s not terribly critical except you might be working a little harder or easier than what the workout calls for. For me, it’s just part of the routine of getting going, kinda like a little pre-warmup, and it reduces uncertainly, like was that really hard/easy because of me or because the calibration was off.