WattPlan's Sports Science Agent runs silently behind every ride, analysing your cardiovascular data and tracking meaningful changes in your fitness over time.
What It Does
After every ride with power and heart rate data, the agent automatically calculates two key metrics:
- Efficiency Factor (EF) — How many watts you produce per heartbeat
- Cardiac Decoupling — How well your heart rate holds steady throughout a ride
These are tracked per training zone (endurance, sweet spot, threshold, VO2max) so you can see exactly where your fitness is improving.
How It Works
- Ride completes — You finish a workout in the player or import from Strava/Garmin/Wahoo
- Analysis runs — The agent calculates EF and decoupling for that ride
- Zone classification — The ride is categorised by intensity (based on your FTP)
- Trend tracking — Results are compared against your 30, 60, and 90-day averages for that zone
- Finding detection — If a significant improvement is detected, you get notified
When You Get Notified
The agent only notifies you when something genuinely meaningful happens:
| Finding | Trigger | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| EF Improvement | 5%+ improvement over 4+ rides in a zone | Your cardiovascular system is producing more power per heartbeat |
| Decoupling Improvement | Average drops from >7% to <5% over 4+ rides | Your aerobic system is holding steady under sustained effort |
These thresholds prevent noise from single-ride fluctuations. The agent needs consistent evidence across multiple rides before flagging a change.
AI Coach Integration
When the agent detects a finding, tapping the notification opens a conversation with your AI coach. The coach receives the full context — which metric improved, by how much, in which zone, and over how many rides — and explains what it means for your training in practical terms.
For example, if your endurance EF improved from 1.35 to 1.45 over six rides, the coach might explain that your base fitness is developing well and suggest how to maintain the improvement during your next training block.
Data Requirements
For the agent to work effectively:
- Power meter required — Either on-bike or from a smart trainer
- Heart rate monitor required — Chest strap recommended for accuracy
- 10+ minutes — Rides under 10 minutes are excluded
- Non-recovery rides — Recovery zone rides (Intensity below 0.55) are excluded from trend analysis
The agent uses Weighted Power when available for a more accurate Efficiency calculation, and falls back to average power when Weighted Power isn't recorded.
Where to See Your Data
Metrics Explorer (Stats Page)
Select "Efficiency Factor" or "Cardiac Decoupling" from the metrics dropdown to see your trends plotted over time with zone filtering.
Notifications
Significant findings appear in your notification feed on the dashboard. Tap to discuss with your AI coach.
AI Coach
Ask your coach about your efficiency trends at any time. The coach has access to your full sports science history.
Tips for Better Tracking
- Be consistent with your HR monitor — Switching between wrist and chest sensors adds noise
- Indoor rides are cleanest — No environmental variables affecting HR
- Give it time — The agent needs 4+ rides in a zone to detect trends
- Train across zones — The agent tracks each zone independently, so varied training gives more data points