Metrics to manage training load

Why Power? Metrics to manage training load

Your training should be based on:

✅ What you’re capable of – so that you don’t attempt too much and end up injured, or attempt too little and miss out on the physiological adaptations needed to get faster or run longer

✅ What you’ve already completed – each completed run adds to your cumulative training load, both in the short-term (fatigue, muscle soreness) and in the long-term (the physiological adaptations needed to get faster or run longer).

Power has metrics to manage both of these, metrics calculated from your completed workouts.

How does power use completed workouts to achieve this?

Power offers the following metrics:

🎯 Threshold Power – based on completed maximum effort runs, used to set challenging but achievable targets based on your current running fitness.

📊 Training Load Scores – calculated from your workout volume and intensity, producing a per-workout score relative to your Threshold Power.

⚖️ Training Load Balance – calculated from Training Load Scores, showing the balance between the shorter-term and longer-term impacts of your training.

📈 Ramp Rate – calculated from Training Load Scores, showing changes in the cumulative longer-term impacts of your training.

Threshold Power and Training Load Scores form the foundation; Training Load Balance monitors the shorter-term vs. longer-term impact of your workouts; Ramp Rate shows how quickly you’re progressing your training.

Why is it important to manage both balance and progression?

Training loads your body, prompting it to adapt and become fitter, improving performance.

But it’s a balance.

Load your body too little, and it won’t adapt.

Load it too much or progress too quickly, and it’ll break down instead of adapting.

Load your body correctly, managing both balance and progression, and sustained long-term improvements are possible.

Power provides the metrics you need to achieve sustained improvements.