Training Load Management
Training load discussions have changed a lot over the years so we constantly have to revisit the conversation. The major changes have definitely come from technology. Using GPS watches, power meters on the bike and better and easier to use heart rate monitors we are now able to measure training loads much more accurately.
Lets look at the basics…
What is a training load?
Training load has two factors - Duration and Intensity. Training Peaks measures this based off a formula that has 1 hour at Functional Threshold = 100 TSS. TSS denotes Training Stress Score.
How do we use this TSS?
We use TSS to come up with two key factors. Chronic Training Load (CTL) and Acute Training Load (ATL). Chronic load is a rolling average of what TSS you have averaged per day for the last 6 weeks. This denotes your current fitness. Acute load is a rolling average of your TSS per day over the last 7 days.
Overload and Adaptation
The key point to remember is using the overload and adaptation process, if your Acute load is a bit more than your Chronic load, then you are putting just enough load on it that it will become stronger. In Training Peaks, this slight overload process will show up in the yellow number TSB or Training Stress Balance. Having a negative TSB is the goal in a build phase.
How much can we increase load each week?
This one is very specific to the athlete and their behind the scenes one-percenters. Things like sleep, nutrition, hydration and external life lots have a massive effect on the ability to absorb increasing load. This point brings about ramp rates
Ramp Rates
This is the amount of CTL increase you wish to have. As per above - depends on the athlete but a rough guide is 3-8 per week increase in CTL. This equates to a weekly TSS increase of 20-50 for each of the 3 weeks in your build block.
What is your “Load Language”?
Back to the point of this discussion, over the years athletes have very much measured training load by the number of kilometres swim, bike and run. Ask any athlete what their current load is and they might say “oh. I am doing 300km on the bike per week” . But we can see the immediate danger in this. Especially in triathlon which has 3 sports. We aren’t actually saying what load we placed on our body with one number.
The evolution of this has lead me to the Weekly TSS number. For instance, an advanced level triathlete is looking at a weekly load of approximately 800 TSS. One number that signifies the load that the athlete is carrying per week.
What is the right load?
The right load is the load that allows your body enough time to recover between sessions without accumulating excessive fatigue. The right load is also heavily influenced by the amount of time you have to dedicate to training.
Is more load better?
Generally speaking, more load does help you become fitter. The more load you are carrying the stronger you will become. But it has to be managed properly. Just because you have enough time to do 1000 TSS per week doesn’t mean your body is able to handle it. Using the weekly TSS as a guide you would incrementally increase the load, allowing your body to adjust and get stronger along the way.
What happens when I max out my load?
This is a very common issue. The athlete likes a certain amount of training in their life and they “flat line”. What happens when. You get to this point is you look deeper and start to play with the intensities of the sessions and develop a gradual overload via changing the amount and type of high intensity training in your mix. For example, at the start of you achieving your maxed out weekly load you may only be able to handle 2% of that load as high intensity. What you can then do is gradually move towards slightly more high intensity duration and slightly higher paces in that hard work.
When do I drop load and why ?
The 3 main times you drop load are …
Tapering into and recovering out of a race
In your recovery week at the end of each training block.
At the end of the season where you give yourself a chance to give your body a good chance to recover over a longer period of time
Conclusion :
Training load is a number that we can use and can relate to when developing an athlete. We can use it to prescribe weekly training, specific race build preparations over 3-4 months. We can also use it to add specificity to the taper process and measuring the overload and adaptation cycle. Once you get a feel for training load you can start to think more about how you approach the prescription of your training sessions to achieve more specific training outcomes.