Monitor Your Training Load

You’re feeling good. You’ve been logging consistent miles, your pace is getting better, and the finish goal of your next race is now in reach. But then, BAM! Your body throws a curveball: a nagging pain, fatigue that won’t quit, or a sudden drop in motivation. Does this sound familiar?

The culprit? Not managing your training load.

Think of our bodies like a high-performance engine. One can’t just slam the accelerator and expect it to run faster forever. One needs a strategic approach to build power and endurance without blowing the engine.

Go Beyond Weekly Mileage

It’s not just about the miles we run every week; it’s about the quality of your training, the intensity you push, and the recovery you allow your body. Sure, weekly mileage is a good starting point, but it’s like looking at a car’s odometer and assuming that’s all you need to know about its performance. One should consider these factors when understanding their Training Load:

• Intensity: A 10km run at an easy pace places less stress on your body than a 5km interval workout.
• Frequency: Running 6 times a day, even at easy paces, can accumulate more stress than running 3 days a week at higher intensities.
• **Density: **High-density workouts, such running hard 2 consecutive days, or running morning and evening, can place way more stress on your body than spreading them over more days.
• Recovery: Adequate rest and recovery are essential for adaptation and injury prevention.

What is Training Load and Why Does It Matter?

Training load or Exercise Load is a metric that refers to the amount of stress you put on your body during training. Different devices and apps estimate the training load differently. Hence it is important not to compare them across the devices, but use the trend.

For example, Garmin estimates the training load based on the concept of Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). EPOC reflects the metabolic cost of the activity and the energy required for recovery. Where in Strava estimates using Impulse Response Model which uses heart rate and duration. Here are different devices and apps, and the metrics they use to indicate training load estimates.

Why is it Important?

• Optimal Adaptation: By systematically increasing the stress you place on your muscles, bones, and cardiovascular system, you force your body to adapt and become stronger, faster, and more resilient.
• Injury Prevention: Managing training load effectively is crucial for injury prevention. Overdoing it can lead to overuse injuries, while under-training can hinder progress.
• Performance Enhancement: By understanding your training load, you can create training plans that are challenging but safe, allowing you to push your limits without hitting a wall.

Training Load Trend

Training Load is an estimated metric, hence an absolute value has no meaningful interpretation. What matters is the trend of this metric.

• Acute Training Load (ATL): Measures the recent training stress accumulated over the past 7 days.
• Chronic Training Load (CTL): Represents your average training stress over a longer period (typically 4 weeks).

Your training load is a delicate balance. You need to push yourself (build ATL), but also ensure your body has enough time to recover (CTL).

Manage Your Training Load using Garmin Connect

Most of the modern Garmin watches, offer “Exercise Load” for every run activity. This is primary metric that indicates the training load. Apart from it, Garmin offers 3 more trend metrics to understand the training load trend - Acute Load (AL), Chronic Load(CL) and Load Ratio. AL represents the short-term load you’ve been putting on your body over a week. CL represents the long-term load, indicating your fitness level based on the past 4 weeks. Load Ratio (LR) is the ratio of your acute (short-term) training load to your chronic (long-term) training load. It’s helpful for tracking your training load changes.

Once run data is synced, you can view training load metrics in the Garmin Connect app:

• Open Garmin Connect: Go to the “Performance” or “Training” section.
• Training Status: Select “Training Status” to see your current training load, which includes a 7-day load value and your training status (e.g., Productive, Overreaching, Recovery).

Load Ratio is a good start point to analyze your training load. Garmin shows Load Ratio and also a status to interpret the same. The following table shows the Load Ratio and its interpretation.

At the end of each week, review your AL, CL, Load Ratio scores. Identify patterns and trends in your training load and performance.

Manage Your Training Load using Strava

Strava uses a different set of metrics that indicates Training Load trends. Relative Effort is the basic strava metric that estimates Trainig Load. Apart from it, Strava calculates 3 scores - Fitness, Fatigue, and Form.

• Fitness (Red line): Represents your long-term fitness trend (over 3 weeks).
• Fatigue (Light Grey line): Represents your short-term training load.
• Form (Blue line): Shows your readiness to perform, calculated as Fitness minus Fatigue.

These features require Premium Subscription of Strava.

• Go to the “Training” section on Strava on Desktop web interface (not available on Mobile App).
• Select “Fitness & Freshness” to view the chart.

Adjusting Training Based on Strava Metrics

Remember that Training load is a valuable tool, not a rigid rule. It’s about understanding your body’s signals, respecting its needs, and building a training plan that empowers you to reach your goals.

References:

• What Is the Training Load Feature on My Garmin Device?
• Strava Fitness & Freshness

Aravind is a techie, running geek, and a marathoner. He loves all things technology and technology in running, with special interest in running form analysis. He is the co-founder of GeeksOnFeet.