Do you know how many minutes it takes you to run each kilometer, or your heart rate when you are at the limit of your exercise capacity? Are you training below your capabilities or are you at risk of overtraining and injuring yourself? You can surely know these and many other data through your smart watch or electronic bracelet. Physical exercise is experiencing a small technological revolution, which makes it much easier to measure and control our progress.
The most advanced models, and perhaps the one you currently wear on your wrist, include a very interesting piece of data: the training load. Whether you are an elite athlete or a casual exerciser, understanding training load can make a significant difference to how you approach your fitness training program and help you avoid injury and recover better. But what exactly is training load and how can it help you perform better while exercising?
Training load and performance
We may love running, working out with weights or playing paddle tennis, but there are times when we do a long, gentle exercise, other times more intense and shorter. Training load refers to the amount of physical stress placed on the body during the duration of the exercise and depends on these two factors.
Training load is defined as the product of the intensity and duration of physical activity and measures the stress to which the body is subjected over a given period of time, usually over several days. Effort, tension and fatigue accumulate, and knowing the daily load helps balance the body’s demands to improve performance and avoid overtraining and injury.
Training load can be classified into two types: external load and internal load.
- External load measures the physical work performed during a training or competition session. This may include measurements such as distance traveled, power or speed.
- Internal load is the physiological and psychological response to this external workload. It can be measured by monitoring heart rate, perceived exertion and other biomarkers such as lactate levels or cortisol concentrations.
How is training load calculated?
There are several methods for calculating training load, depending on the type of sport and available resources. The two most used metrics are:
- Session-RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion): this method combines the duration of the session with the athlete’s subjective evaluation of the difficulty of the session on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 corresponds to total rest and 10 at maximum effort. . For example, if a 60 minute session is rated 7/10 in terms of effort, the training load would be 60 x 7 = 420. This simple method is widespread and used across the world in different sports.
- TRIMP (Training Impulse) Model: This is based on your heart rate, including using heart rate zones, which is a more objective measurement and does not depend on how you feel after training. Zones normally range from Zone 1 to Zone 5, but can be simplified into three zones. To know when we exceed the zone, we use the lactate threshold, the point at which we go from aerobic or anaerobic, something we can feel because we cannot speak. For example, the coefficient is 1 when you are below the aerobic threshold, 2 in the intermediate zone and 3 above the aerobic threshold. So if we ran below lactate threshold for 10 minutes, at threshold for 20 minutes and then did a two minute sprint at full speed, the total calculation would be 10 x 1 + 20 x 2 + 2 x 3 = 56.
Additionally, slightly different measurements are used for each sport. For example, GPS is commonly used in team sports like football, rugby, and basketball to measure distance traveled and speed. Wearable heart rate monitors track internal load by measuring the effort exerted by the heart. Power meters are most commonly used in cycling because they measure the amount of energy (in watts) produced by a cyclist during a ride. This allows the external load to be accurately calculated in the form of power-to-weight ratios and to determine how the load changes over different terrains and time periods.
Smart watches and fitness bracelets have algorithms to estimate training load based on heart rate and duration of physical activity. For example, Garmin’s Training Load feature uses a combination of heart rate, VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption), and session duration to estimate the load placed on your body.
How to use training load in your routines
The most important thing is to understand that the training load is not a single day of exercise, but the load accumulated in the medium term. We therefore speak of acute load as the training load accumulated over the last week, and chronic load as the average training load over the last four weeks.
What is it for? To find out how we have our “energy reservoir” to play sports. If one day we train very hard and for a long time, it is clear that the next day we will not be able to maintain the same intensity, or in other words, we will have less load available for the rest of the week.
To train using training load as a measure, it is necessary to follow these principles:
- Establish and maintain adequate training loads, neither too intense nor easy.
- Avoid (large) peaks and sudden decreases in load, i.e. very intense days and very weak days. Both overtraining and undertraining can increase the risk of injury.
- You should be aware of the latency periods that follow any increase or decrease in load. Injuries can occur up to four weeks after peak training, increasing the risk
- Minimize weekly fluctuations.
- Establish a safety floor and ceiling. Identify your minimum and maximum training loads and try to stay within these limits
- Make sure the training loads applied are appropriate for your current situation. Consider your age, bone and joint condition, and training history.
How is this put into practice in our fitness bracelet or watch? There is usually a training load indicator that tells us whether we are above average, below or in the optimal zone. It is advisable not to be below (you will not progress) and not to be above for several days, because you will have to compensate with less intensity later. Over time, training in this area produces adaptations that move us forward, with more strength and more speed.
In endurance sports, tracking training load helps athletes gradually increase their workload without overtraining. For example, marathon runners can use heart rate monitoring to stay in proper training zones during long runs.
In team sports, such as football, where athletes often undergo periods of high-intensity activity followed by recovery periods, training load management helps coaches monitor players’ readiness . For example, a first division team in Brazil calculated the appropriate training load for the team so that match performance was maximized. Additionally, studies have shown that training load management reduces the risk of soft tissue injuries, such as hamstring or ligament tears.
* Darío Pescador is editor and director of Quo Magazine and author of the book the best of yourself Published by Oberon.
