Good Coach Knowledge

How has it been so far?

So far, the training load was calculated on the basis of how the athlete determined the intensity of training in training completion (perceived effort - RPE). The training effort can get from 0 to 10 intensity points. The training load was calculated by multiplying the duration of training in minutes by the intensity points (RPE).

For example, if the workout was described as Easy (2) and lasted 60 minutes, the training load was 120. We used an AU unit, which came from here.

The majority of runs were usually between 2 and 6. It is important to note that the intensity of a workout should be determined in a unit of time. So the intensity of the training was not influenced by whether the training lasted five minutes or two hours. The duration only affects the training load.

New ways to calculate your training load

In the new version of the application there are three methods for calculating training load:

• Accurate calculations
• General calculations
• Simple calculations

"Accurate calculations" and "General calculations" are based on a new algorithm that uses the athletes's heart rate during training. The "Simple calculation" is an existing method based on the RPE determined by the athlete.

To use the "Accurate Calculations" or "General Calculations" it is necessary to enter the athlete's Maximum Heart Rate and Resting Heart Rate in his Performance Data. The algorithm takes into account the so-called heart rate reserve and therefore the resting heart rate is important for the calculation. 

Accurate calculations

This most accurate training load calculation method uses the details of the workout data imported from Garmin Connect or Strava. If your workout completion is added manually or your workout has no heart rate record, this method will not be available.

How the calculations work? A workout is divided into 60-second segments and for each such segment a partial training load is calculated that can be assigned to that segment based on the average heart rate of that segment. 

The training load does not increase linearly as your heart rate increases. Taking into account the fact that more intensive workouts require more time of the recovery (not only because of the load on the circulatory system, but also because of the fatigue of the muscles and other systems of our body), we have adopted an exponential function for the calculation. Thus, the closer we are to the maximum heart rate, the higher the rate of intensity increase.

Example:

An athlete's heart rate is minimum 45, maximum 190.

Training 60 minutes, average heart rate 140 - training load 92

Training 15 minutes, average heart rate 170 - training load 105

As you can see, regeneration after an hour of easy running will be faster than after 15 minutes of very intensive running.

In the "Accurate Calculations" and "General Calculation" method we also took into account the duration of your training. This means that as the length of the training unit increases, with the same intensity of the entire training, the training load increases gently exponentially and not linearly.

Example:

Our above mentioned athlete, training 180 minutes, average heart rate 140 - training load 311

With two separate workouts (e.g. morning and evening), 90 minutes each, with the same heart rate, the workout load will be 145 for each workout - it means that it will be 290 for whole day.

So the workout load of a three-hour training session will not be the usual sum of the workout loads of two separate one and a half hours of workouts of the same intensity.

The "Accurate Calculation" method gives the most advantages and precision in calculating the load of training units in which there is a high variation in heart rate during training (e.g. intervals). As there are rest periods between the intervals where your heart rate drops significantly, this can affect your average heart rate of your entire workout which, despite the high intensity of the intervals, will have a low Average Heart Rate, which again can underestimate your training load.

General calculations

If a workout completion downloaded from Garmin Connect or Strava is not available for that workout, you can calculate your training load using the "General Calculation" method. In addition to the athletes's maximum and resting heart rate data in the Performance Data, it requires the athlete to determine his average heart rate when adding a workout completion.

This method makes a simplified calculation based on the average heart rate of the entire training. It does not divide a workout into small units. This may result in an underestimation of the training load of training units in which there is a high variability of intensity (e.g. intervals).

This method takes into account the length of your training, which was mentioned when discussing the "Accurate calculation" method.

Simple calculations

This training method is an existing way of calculating the training load based on the perceived effort of the training determined by the athlete (RPE) and the duration of workout time.

Choice of method in applications

The application allows you to choose the method used. By default, the best available method is used depending on the data available:

• if HR max and resting HR are specified and the workout is imported from Garmin Connect or Strava - Accurate calculations,
• if HR max and resting HR are specified and the average heart rate is entered in the training - General calculation,
• in other cases - Simple calculations

However, you can switch to another available method at any time. If, for example, you know that during a workout the heart rate records are not correct (e.g. as a result of a watch failure), you can switch to the "General Calculation" method and enter the average heart rate manually for the workout. Or you can switch to Simple Calculations at all.

Switching the method is available in the mobile and web application workout completion view. Next to the training load you have an icon that displays the methods to choose from.

Switching to another method works only for the selected workout. Both the coach and the player can change.

Training load in the charts

In the Reports section of the web application we can choose to view the training load statistics for selected period, both on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

You can also choose a graph showing training load according to the old RPE method.

Training intensity

We also calculate the intensity of trainings from the training load values calculated using the new algorithm. You can see it on the charts.

When determining the intensity of a workout using the "Accurate Calculation" method it is specific that those sections of the workout whose heart rate is lower than the average heart rate of the entire workout are not included. This ensures that the intensity of your workout (but only the intensity) is not affected by interval training, warm-up or cool down periods.

Example:

The athlete did an interval workout of 6 x 400 metres, the warm-up was easy and was 20 minutes. The average heart rate of the whole training was 145. The average warm-up heart rate was 138. The average cooling down heart rate was 140. The average heart rate of the fast intervals was 165. The average slow intervals heart rate was 144.

In this example only fast intervals affect the intensity of the workout because only fast ones are above the average heart rate of the entire workout. Thanks to this we will see the intensity of the training, which athlete had during his intensive workout, not the rest.

It is important to remember that the intensity is a value independent of time (similar to RPE). 

You can see the intensity of trainings in the Reports section of the web application.