Frequently Asked Questions About WKO5

dFRC is based on your power duration model, which means that if your model isn't accurate (fully populated with data from a variety of durations in the last 90 days: short, medium, and long), dFRC won't be accurate either. If you notice dFRC going below zero in your workouts, do some short efforts to populate your model and consider doing a full testing protocol. Click here to watch Tim Cusick's webinar on how to maintain your model.

WKO5 is designed as a replacement/update for WKO4. You will not be able to have WKO4 and WKO5 open at the same time. However, you will not lose the ability to run WKO4; you’ll just need to close WKO5 before opening WKO4.

If you upgraded to WKO5 as a WKO4 user, WKO4 and WKO5 will use the same data folder and workout files. There are a number of things that the two apps will not share, most notably the following:

• Athlete metrics: When WKO5 is first installed, it will import all athlete information and metrics from WKO4 up to that date, but future changes to athlete information or metrics made in either WKO4 or WKO5 will not update in the other; any changes will need to be made in both places.
• Charts: When WKO5 is first installed, it will import all charts and dashboards from WKO4, but future charts created in either WKO4 or WKO5 will not save to the other. WKO4 charts can be imported individually into WKO5, but WKO5 charts cannot be used in WKO4.

WKO5 contains an improved power-duration model that may result in slight differences in your power-duration metrics, such as mFTP, VO2max, TTE, FRC, Pmax, and Stamina. The WKO5 Power Duration Model V2 provides a more accurate model than the original model, and you can read about the differences here.

The hero bar (the athlete info section at the top of the WKO window) can be resized by clicking the top of the nav bar and dragging it up or down to the preferred height. Click here for a tutorial.

WKO5 provides dashboards and charts of various zones that you can view for any athlete. There are several ways to do this:

1. Open a view that already contains the training zones dashboards, such as the WKO5 Basic Cyling View, the WKO5 Basic Run View, or the WKO5 Basic Multisport View.
2. Open a dashboard of zones, such as the Cycling Training Zones, Running Training Zones, or Training Zones Multisport dashboards provided in the WKO5 Dashboard Library.
3. Add a chart to any dashboard; just search for "zones" in the chart manager to bring up a list of available charts.

The LHE (left-hand explorer) and RHE (right-hand explorer) are set to auto hide by default in WKO5. If you prefer that they remain open, simply mouse over the edge of the explorer while it is hidden and drag to the desired width.

Many recording devices, analysis apps, and websites summarize recorded data, such as power and speed. These summaries and metadata are what are used in TrainingPeaks to display workout data, while WKO simply reports actual data recorded in the file.  For this reason, you may see variances between numbers stated in TrainingPeaks and those stated in WKO. If the device summarizes incorrectly, TrainingPeaks will summarize incorrectly, too, as it simply reads the metadata from the device.

Laps are a good example of this, usually because a device records the wrong start or end time of an interval. If a device records the wrong start and/or end time of an interval and then summarizes the data and communicates that summary to TrainingPeaks, TrainingPeaks will use the summary data and match the device.

However, when WKO downloads the workout, it pays no attention to the device summary, but instead reads the actual data in the file.

Here's how to test this:

In TrainingPeaks, do the following:

1. Open the workout and click the Analyze button.
2. Zoom in around the first interval.
3. Now manually drag that interval on the chart for the exact same time.
4. Review the power for the dragged selection; you'll likely see that it changed, even though you dragged the exact time section reported as the interval.

If a device saves the interval data summary and hands it off to TrainingPeaks, TrainingPeaks will display that summary for the laps until you actually drag the selection on the chart.

Unfortunately WKO has no way of knowing that whatever marked the lap marked it in the wrong place. If you'd like, you can create custom ranges in any workout in WKO5 following these directions.

To view all athletes in WKO, click the down arrow beside the athlete name.

To view athlete information such as name, date of birth, gender, tags, TrainingPeaks account link, associated devices, and athlete metrics, click the athlete’s name to open the Athlete Details page. 

Views are a powerful new feature in WKO5. A view is a collection of dashboards that can be saved and applied to as many athletes as you wish, enabling you to change a particular dashboard or chart and instantly update it for all athletes using that view. Views can be copied, exported, and imported just like charts and dashboards. A common use for views is to display different dashboards for athletes of different sports; for example, you may want a view for run athletes and a different view for triathlete or cycling athletes.

Views are made up of dashboards. Current WKO4 users will remember that a dashboard is a collection of individual charts; in the same way, a view is a collection of dashboards.

Charts are now stored and saved within the dashboards and views they are contained in. For this reason, you will see more than one copy of a specific chart within the WKO Chart Library if the chart occurs in more than one dashboard.

Click here to read more.

When WKO4 users upgrade to WKO5, or when new users install WKO5 and download data from TrainingPeaks athlete accounts, the software may seem a little slow initially. The typical new user loads 5+ years of training data upon installation or upgrade, and WKO needs to compile all that data as it loads. Once the data is compiled, the software will be significantly faster as it uses compiled data instead of new data.

Here are a couple tips to help WKO compile the data faster and speed up its processing:

• The simplest way to help WKO compile your data is to use it more. The more you use and explore WKO, the faster it will get, as each time you view a new chart or report, WKO5 will compile that report for future use.
• To help compile a lot of data all at once, open a data-heavy dashboard (such as the Power Duration Model Dashboard), select the All Workouts range in the RHE (right-hand explorer), and allow all charts to populate. This could take 30-90 seconds (or more), but once complete, WKO will be faster.

When you remove a dashboard from the nav bar or a chart from a dashboard, it is simply removed from the current view and moved to your Chart History or Dashboard History. All removed dashboards and charts are still available by searching the Chart History or Dashboard History folder when opening/adding a chart or dashboard.

Click here for a tutorial on opening/searching dashboards.

Click here for a tutorial on opening/searching charts.

When you upgrade from WKO4 to WKO5, your existing threshold history will be imported into WKO5. However, since WKO4 only tracks one type of threshold, you'll need to make sure to set threshold information for each sport in WKO5. Your set FTP in WKO4 will automatically be used as the FTP for all sport types in WKO5, so you'll want to adjust any threshold information for any sport if it is different from your bike threshold; click here for instructions.

All your WKO4 charts will transfer automatically to WKO5 if you upgrade from WKO4. Any WKO4 chart that uses the expression sftp will use your bike FTP by default in WKO5. If you'd like to use a different sport threshold, click here for instructions.

Click here for a full tutorial on how to fix data spikes in WKO5.

If you've noticed that your power-duration curve doesn't display, or that there are only dashes where your phenotype, Pmax, VO2max, TTE, FRC, and mFTP should be in the Hero Bar (see the image below), you probably have some bad data in a workout or two. You'll probably also be unable to calculate training levels, and your mean max power curve may display jagged drops and jumps.

Fortunately this is simple to fix. Click here for instructions on finding and fixing bad data.

If your charts and reports are blank in WKO5, there are a number of things you can check.

1. What date or time range is selected in the RHE (right-hand explorer)? If a range is selected without any data, nothing will display on your charts.
2. What sport type(s) are selected at the top of the RHE (right-hand explorer)? This affects what is displayed on charts and reports. 
3. Do you have power spikes or bad data that are preventing your power-duration charts to populate? Click here to learn how to find and fix power spikes.

If you've reviewed these three areas and find your charts are still blank, click here to learn how to get help.

If you opened WKO to find that athletes and/or workouts are gone, it is likely that your data folder was changed, moved, or corrupted. The most common cause of this is storing your data folder in the cloud with a file syncing service like Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, and similar.

Click here to learn how to move your data out of the cloud.

WKO5 downloads all workouts and athlete metrics from TrainingPeaks, but to protect data from error and duplication, WKO5 does not upload any workouts or athlete metrics to TrainingPeaks.

We recommend linking your device’s app(s) to automatically import your workouts into your TrainingPeaks account. WKO will automatically download all workout files and athlete metrics from TrainingPeaks, keeping the two up to date and in sync.

Here are some helpful resources for importing workouts into TrainingPeaks:

• Garmin
• Zwift
• Strava

If you upgrade to WKO5 from WKO4 and find your WKO5 power-duration curve looks flat or otherwise very strange compared to WKO4, we recommend you review your FTP and weight histories. Since WKO5 downloads all weight entries from TrainingPeaks, there may be a strange weight record that is throwing off your curve. Click here to learn how to review and edit weight and other metrics.

If you have created a Smart Segment but find that it is not recognized in one or more workouts, it is likely due to bad GPS data called drift or echo, which means that the GPS data is patchy, or crosses over itself. Drift/echo occurs when the GPS device or signal is faulty, and crossover occurs when the route switches back or crosses itself, such that it is difficult to tell which direction the GPS data is headed. 

WKO is able to recognize a Smart Segment with a limited number of errors per mile, so if the bad GPS data occurs only occasionally in a workout, your Smart Segment will likely still be recognized for that workout, but if there is a high number of errors, the Smart Segment will not be recognized.