How to Start a Structured Workout on a Garmin Edge

Before you roll out

• Wake the power meter (spin the cranks) and put the heart-rate strap on before you start, so the Edge has found both before the first target.
• Check the FTP. A % FTP target turns into watts using the FTP on the Edge; on the Edge 1040 it’s under Menu › My Stats › Training Zones › Power Zones. If the number dates from last spring, fix it now rather than halfway up the first interval.
• Make sure the workout is in the list. If it isn’t, go to troubleshooting before you leave; it won’t turn up on its own mid-ride.

Starting the workout

The same four steps on the Edge 540, 840, 1040 and 1050:

1. Select Training › Workouts.
2. Choose the workout. You can open it to check the steps first.
3. Select Ride.
4. Press the start/stop button to start the timer.

On the Edge 1050 you can add a course before you select Ride, if you want the route on screen as well. Start the workout somewhere the warm-up can be a warm-up. Starting it in the driveway and spending ten minutes of “easy” in traffic is fine; starting it at the bottom of the climb with no warm-up isn’t.

What the screen shows

Once you’re rolling, the Edge shows the current step, its target (if it has one) and your current numbers. When a step is about to end it sounds an alarm and counts down the time or distance to the next step, so the start of an interval doesn’t catch you mid-sip.

If you drift outside a target, the Edge beeps and shows a message. Garmin’s manuals use heart rate as the example. On power, that can happen a lot; why, and how to stop it nagging, is in the targets guide.

Skip, repeat, pause or end a step

How that plays out on the road:

• Red light mid-interval: stop like everyone else. Pausing the step keeps the interval from ticking away while you wait; how you finish it is up to you.
• Warm-up done early: if your legs are ready and the climb is here, press Lap and start the interval.
• Interval wrecked by a descent or traffic: use previous to run it again on a better stretch, or let it go. One lost rep rarely matters; riding the next two badly to make up for it does.
• Session isn’t happening: end the workout and ride home easy. The ride still records.

Scheduled workouts and the training calendar

Workouts scheduled in Garmin Connect and sent to the Edge also appear in its training calendar. On the Edge 1040 that’s Training › Training Plan, then the calendar icon, then the day, where you can view or start the workout. A FIT file copied over USB has no date, so it’s only in Training › Workouts. How to get a whole week onto the calendar is in the Garmin calendar guide.

When it’s done

Save the ride as usual. On the Edge 1050, workouts with power, heart-rate, speed or pace targets end with a workout execution score: how closely you rode the steps, weighted toward the hard parts, with the cool-down not counted. A low score on a windy day with three traffic lights says more about the road than about your fitness.

Other Edge models

The steps above are confirmed in Garmin’s manuals for the Edge 540, 840, 1040 and 1050. Older Edges and the Explore range lay their menus out differently, and some don’t support every target. Look up “Starting a Workout” in your model’s manual on Garmin’s site.