How to Teach AI Your Coaching Methodology

Ask an AI assistant for a threshold session and you will get a threshold session. It will be reasonable, and it will not be yours. The difference between generic AI training and something a coach would put their name on is almost entirely in the instructions.

The fix is a single document: your methodology, written down so an assistant can follow it. It takes an hour to write, and you use it every time you draft.

What to Put in Your Methodology Document

You do not need to write a book. Write what you would tell a new assistant coach on their first day.

• Your principles. How you think about polarization, volume, and progression.
• Your zones. The names you use and what each one means.
• Your session library. The workouts you rely on, and when each one appears.
• Your weekly shape. Where hard days go, and what never sits next to what.
• Your recovery rules. What makes you back off, and by how much.
• Your style. How you name workouts and write descriptions, so athletes hear your voice.

A Template You Can Copy

You are my assistant coach. You draft. I decide.

PRINCIPLES
- Most volume stays easy. Two key sessions a week for most athletes.
- Progress one variable at a time.
- Every fourth week is a recovery week at about 65% of normal volume.

ZONES
- Z2 Endurance: 60-75% FTP
- Z3 Controlled Threshold: 88-94% FTP
- Z4 Threshold: 95-105% FTP

WEEKLY SHAPE
- Never put two key sessions on back-to-back days.
- Long ride on Saturday unless the athlete says otherwise.
- The day after a key session is easy or off.

BACK OFF WHEN
- Sleep is under 6 hours two nights running.
- HRV is well below the athlete's normal for several days.
- The athlete reports pain. Never prescribe through pain. Flag it for me.

STYLE
- Titles look like: "Z3 Controlled Threshold 4 x 10"
- Descriptions are short, and say why the session matters.

ALWAYS
- Use each athlete's current zones. Never invent an FTP.
- Show me a draft before anything is published.
- Publish with hidden_from_athlete: true unless I say otherwise.
- If you are unsure, ask me. Do not guess.

This is an example, not advice. Replace every line with how you actually coach.

Where to Keep It

Put it where your assistant reads it every time, so you never paste it twice.

• In Claude, create a Project for your coaching and add the document to the project instructions or knowledge. Start your coaching conversations from that project.
• In ChatGPT, create a project, or add it to your custom instructions if you only use ChatGPT for coaching.
• For scheduled tasks, paste the rules that matter into the task itself, so every run has them.

Test It on One Athlete

Do not roll this out to your whole roster at once. Pick an athlete you know well, and draft a week you could have written yourself.

Using my methodology, draft next week for Maya.

Read Maya's last two weeks and upcoming calendar first. Show me the
week as a table, with a one-line reason for each key session. Do not
publish anything yet.

Read the draft the way you would read an assistant coach’s work. When something is wrong, do not just fix the workout. Ask why, and fix the rule.

You put threshold the day after the long ride. Add a rule to my
methodology that prevents that, and show me the new wording.

Each correction makes the next draft better. After a few weeks, you will be editing less and thinking more.

When the Draft Is Right

Ask your assistant to publish it hidden. You can then review the week on the real TrainingPeaks calendar, and reveal it when you are ready.

Publish that week to Maya with hidden_from_athlete: true. Tell me
when it's done, and don't reveal anything until I say so.

Your methodology stays yours. It lives in your document and your AI account, and you can change it any time.

Next, see how to use it across a whole squad, or go back to the full coach guide. Or have a weekly review waiting for you every Monday.