Cross training for runners is more than a recovery trick. It’s a proven way to build endurance, prevent injuries, and keep training consistent. With Trenara’s new cross training feature, you can now log alternative workouts like cycling, swimming, or elliptical sessions directly in the app. Every effort counts toward your adaptive running plan, helping you train smarter and run stronger.
And you know it’s a big update when it deserves its own blog post! We’re very happy to introduce cross training in Trenara.
What is alternative or cross training?
It’s a way of training where you combine other sports with your main sport to improve your overall fitness. By finding the right balance between specific training (your main sport) and alternative training, you can optimise your performance and become a more durable athlete.
The goal is to load your body in a different way so that your muscles, tendons, and joints don’t get the same repetitive stress over and over again. Especially in running, where impact forces are high, alternative training can be the key to success. The variation also keeps your training fresh and engaging.
No matter how well-structured your running plan is, our beloved sport remains injury-prone. Because we want to optimise your performance both now and in the long run, introducing the ‘cross training’ feature was a logical next step in our development.
Why cross training works
We start from the scientific fact that alternative training can make you a better runner. We’ve already been able to prove this statistically through our strength training feature, where we saw that runners who include strength work can handle higher training loads. Cross training for runners isn’t about doing less, it’s about training smarter.
At the same time, we also know that only doing alternative or cross training won’t make you a better runner. There’s a symbiosis between general fitness and specific running fitness. You won’t set your fastest 10k after a training block spent entirely on the bike.
How Trenara approaches it
When developing a feature like this, it’s important to make clear choices. What science tells us needs to be translated into something practical, without abandoning our core training principles.
We always start from a planned running session
Coach Christophe’s training plans are always built on training science, balancing the right physiological stimuli at the right time, with enough variation to keep both your body and mind engaged.
Our alternative training feature always starts from your original running plan. You can turn a scheduled running workout into another sport, and we’ll suggest the corresponding duration and intensity.
As you’re used to, we’ll compare what was planned with what you actually did. That planned-versus-completed comparison remains the basis for analysis. Any deviations, just like with your running sessions, can result in an adjusted training plan. Adaptivity remains fully guaranteed. We see your alternative training as a valid running equivalent.
Even better: after each alternative session, you can tell us how it compared to the planned run. Using a simple slider, you can adjust the training load we use as a baseline for calculations.
Let's explain this with two practical examples:
you replaced a recovery jog with a swim. We asked for 45 minutes, which you completed perfectly: that’s a score of 100%. But because the lane was crowded, your effort felt higher. You can then adjust your load to, say, 110%. Consider it an extra layer of information you provide us. After all, heart rate isn’t a reliable metric in the pool, as we’ll explain in the app.
you replaced an endurance run with a cycling session. We asked for 100 minutes, you completed 120. Also in that case you still can slide and adjust. Because that 120 minutes and thus 120% might have come with a lot of drafting, so they only felt like 105%.
Not every run can be replaced by an alternative session
Specificity is one of the absolute laws of training theory, and we don’t deviate from that. That’s why we decided to make only unstructured runs replaceable by alternative sessions. This way, we maintain control over your running dynamics during interval and tempo workouts. For healthy athletes, this is the most responsible approach.
We’re also thinking about expanding the pause button with more information around injuries. In that context, structured sessions could eventually be converted too, allowing us to continue providing the right physiological stimuli even when you can’t run.
How to switch from running to an alternative in the app?
In the training calendar, and only for the eligible training sessions, you'll see a new button 'Choose an alternative sport'. Tapping on that button will open a list with the current alternative sports, being cycling, mtb, swimming, cross trainer and elliptical bike. These alternatives are chosen because of the specifics in mechanical and/or cardiovascular load, with a lot of transfer to running. While rock climbing is a great sport, there's little transfer to running.
Once you opt for one of the alternatives, your running session will be replaced. Icon, session duration and training description will change. Pay attention to that description from coach Christophe, as each alternative sport has its own characteristics you need to pay attention to.
Running is also listed, so you can always switch back to the original planned session.
There you have it: our app just became even more complete. And yes, another big update is coming soon! The teaser for alternative training raised questions about the integration of other sports. But Trenara remains a running app; this new feature doesn’t suddenly make us a multisport or triathlon platform. The feature is, of course, part of our Peak Pro package.
