How the Plan Adapts

Steady classifies missed or underperformed sessions: fully skipped, cut short (less than 80% of planned duration), or underpowered (significantly below target intensity).

If two or more key sessions fall short in a week, Steady dials back the first quality session the following week — dropping it one intensity level (e.g., VO2max becomes threshold, threshold becomes tempo). The idea: let your body catch up before pushing again.

You can also tell the coach directly via chat: "I need to skip Thursday, work is crazy." The system marks it as rest, notes the reason, and can suggest a short re-entry ride a few days later.

Five layers, from structural to conversational:

1. 1Weekly load capping — your weekly training stress never exceeds roughly 15% above your baseline chronic load. If it would, endurance sessions get shortened first (preserving your quality sessions).
2. 2Recovery weeks are locked in — week 4 of every block is 60% volume, no intensity. The system won't let you override this.
3. 3Automatic backoff — two or more failed key sessions trigger an intensity reduction the following week.
4. 4Return-from-break rules — if you've been off for several days, the plan restricts intensity and caps load based on how long the break was. A week off means a gentle re-entry; two weeks means a more conservative rebuild.
5. 5Chat-level coaching — if you try to add intensity on a rest day, the coach pushes back: "You did VO2 today and Saturday's your biggest session. Adding intensity tomorrow means dead legs Saturday. Net loss." It only proceeds if you explicitly insist.

Your new availability shapes your next block. The current block isn't auto-reshaped mid-stream (that would be unsafe), but you can use coach chat to swap sessions between days, shorten workouts, or skip days within the current week.

The system respects your updated time limits — it won't let a modification exceed what you've said you have available.

Tell the coach via chat. It'll propose skipping the rest of the week and suggest a short re-entry ride a few days after you feel better.

If you simply stop riding for 4+ days without saying anything, the system detects the break automatically and applies conservative return rules when you come back — lower load caps, no intensity for the first few sessions, gradual rebuild over 1–3 weeks depending on how long you were off.