WHAT IS TRAINING LOAD?

The principle behind trainingload.com is simple. The higher an athlete’s training load the higher their risk of overtraining and chance of injury. What is training load? The following equation explains training load:

Training Load (AU) = Training Intensity (RPE) x Training Volume (min)

The manipulation of these two variables is how coaches and athletes monitor their training loads. Don’t know how to evaluate your data? Don’t worry our online tutorials and specialized graphs will help you get the most out of your data.

WHAT’S THE PROCESS?    

·        GET YOUR ATHLETES’ TRAINING INTENSITY SCORES;

o       Have them answer the following question “How hard was your work out?” according to the RPE scale. Take this measure from the scale about 20 – 30 minutes after you have completed your work out. You will also find more reliable results after your athletes have practiced using this scale following several training sessions over several days.

o       The athletes should rate the session according to their overall feeling of mental and physical exertion of the total training session.

·        MULTIPLY THIS SCORE BY THE DURATION OF THE SESSION;

o       After recording the session RPE of each athlete, multiply their scores with the duration of the session. This will provide the coach with the athletes’ internal perception of total training load for that particular session.

·        ENTER YOUR DATA INTO TRAININGLOAD.COM;

o       Go to Trainingload.com, enter your username and password. This will take you to your Trainingload.com profile where you can enter data for a new session.

·        ANALYSE YOUR DATA TO GET RESULTS!;

o       You can calculate and plot training load, training strain and monotony for the whole team or individual players.  

o       You can create reports on certain groups of athletes (i.e. attackers vs. defenders) or even types of training (i.e. high intensity vs. recovery training).

o       Measure the training loads actually completed by the athletes compared to that planned to be completed by the coach.

o       Reports can also be made to see whether recovery sessions are being planned and implemented appropriately.

o       All reports are provided in graphical and tabular form and can be exported to Microsoft Excel for further specific analysis.

Before You Start!

·        TEACH YOUR ATHLETES!;

o       Make sure your athletes understand how to use the RPE scale appropriately.

·        PRINT THE SCALE AND MAKE IT VISABLE!;

o       Print the scale and post in a position where it is visible to all athletes (on a wall or on the back of a clipboard, etc).

·        PREPARE TO GATHER YOUR DATA;

o       Print out a blank copy of your Trainingload.com data sheets so that you can record athlete values. Alternatively you can input data directly into your laptop.

·        ENTER YOUR OWN TRAINING LOADS (RPE);

o       To compare what you planned to what the athletes actually rate, ensure you enter your RPE score before commencement of the session.

o       This will allow you to accurately compare planned versus actual training load and duration.

You can now determine if you are implementing your program as intended and if the athletes are responding appropriately.