Training load and ACWR: the number that says whether you are doing too much

What ACWR measures

A session's load combines its duration and intensity, read from heart rate. Acute load is the sum of the last seven days; chronic load, the average of the last four weeks. ACWR is the ratio of the two.

An ACWR of 1.0 means you are doing this week what you usually do. At 1.3, you are doing 30% more. That is where fatigue starts accumulating faster than adaptation.

The thresholds the coach applies

Between 0.8 and 1.3: normal zone, the plan continues. Above 1.3 two weeks running: assimilation week brought forward. Above 1.5: the following week is lightened automatically, no discussion. Below 0.8 for three weeks: the coach asks what is going on before reducing the plan.

These decisions are deterministic: the weekly review shows the ACWR, the decision and its reason. You can contest it, but the coach will tell you why it keeps it.

What ACWR does not say

It measures neither sleep, nor stress, nor a niggle starting. That is why the coach asks a single question every week: from 1 to 5, how did you feel? Two weeks running at 2 or less trigger the same assimilation week as a too-high ACWR.

• — 0.8 to 1.3: normal.
• — Above 1.3 two weeks: assimilation brought forward.
• — Above 1.5: week lightened automatically.

The number is a guardrail, not a goal. A well-built plan keeps ACWR between 1.0 and 1.2 in the build phase, and brings it down one week in four.

Frequently asked questions