Do these training hours count?

[doctorSpoc]

- - how about comparing where your fitness is year over year

** And that's what I'm questioning: the relationship between CTL and fitness. Based on my understanding of the CTL algorithm, there are an infinite number of workout combinations, over time, that could give you the same CTL. Some of these possible combinations are obviously more effective (for a given individual) in building racing fitness (and that's another problem: what kind of fitness and what kind of racing?) than others. If what I've just said is correct, the CTL is next to useless in comparing (racing) fitness levels from one period to the next, or from one person to another.

hey.. that's my argument... i.e. CTL is not fitness... CTL is training load. but when you take your training load (CTL), slope of CTL (how much your are ramping up your training load), TSB, ATL and mean max power over durations of interest... and look at that at certain points year over year, you know a lot. but i agree CTL in a vacuum is almost useless... but it is an important part of the puzzle.

between individuals forget it. for an individual... it can tell you kinda where you are endurance wise... ability to recover (suitability for stage racing) etc.. given a similar training regime.. but that's only a part of the story. in terms of your racing fitness, unless you know your other numbers, it's not going to tell you a whole lot... the mix of training you are doing needs to be right.

that's why unless you can get that mix right with your commuting.. building CTL with commuting might not be the best. better than nothing i guess, if that's what it comes down to and it does for some people who are strapped for time... but there is nothing like a dedicated, focused training rides with goals to improve your racing performance... just racking up miles raising CTL is not in and of itself going to improve your performance and might actually be detrimental as i said before in that you are using up valuable time an energy that you could be using doing other potentially more appropriate training.

 

[Pendejo]

hey.. that's my argument... i.e. CTL is not fitness...

** OK, cool.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

... If what I've just said is correct, the CTL is next to useless in comparing (racing) fitness levels from one period to the next, or from one person to another.

Very true, CTL viewed in isolation doesn't tell you much. Exactly the same as workout intensity viewed in isolation. Go do a workout at 110% of FTP for five minutes and call it quits, sure good intensity, but lousy overall training load and little to no progress on a regular diet of those.

Training, overload, and adaptation require sufficient intensity, consistency and sufficient overall training load. CTL is a measure of the latter two and viewed along with overall training mix and specific workout goals and intensities and it's a very useful metric. You're selling yourself short if you ignore CTL and just focus on intensity, that approach only represents half the equation.

I suspect you already know that at some level, if not you'd just go out and do killer ten minute workouts and call it a day. There's some blend of intensity and load that results in improvement, CTL is just a way to quantify the load aspect and IMHO it's far from useless.

-Dave

 

[daveryanwyoming]

- how about looking at CTL slope and predicting and making a correction to training load BEFORE you get overtrained
- how about predicting fitness by some date in the future
- how about comparing where your fitness is year over year....

Agreed, good examples. Here's a few of the reasons I track CTL:

• To ensure a steadily increasing training load during build periods regardless of specific training mix. The body only adapts when you continually challenge it with stress slightly above its current capabilities. Keep training at a level you've completely adapted to and you'll likely plateau. Increasing workout intensity, changing weekly blend and making sure overall load steadily increases during build periods is one way to keep raising the bar to avoid plateaus. CTL helps by quantifying overall load regardless of mix. So maybe you need some more L2+, Tempo or SST to sustain the load when you transition to preseason prep and start doing a shorter but more intense L6 day, TSS and CTL are tools to help you see the tradeoffs between intensity and overall load.
• CTL helps make sense out of tapers, instead of just backing off for a week or more before a big event you can plan your taper based on CTL in a meaningful way. Especially useful if your taper includes a move to higher intensity work and shorter workouts, without something like TSS and CTL you're just shooting in the dark. CTL, TSS, and TSB help you see the tradeoffs and helps you differentiate between big TSB tapers for short intense events or subtle tapers for longer events.
• CTL and the PMC can act as a bit of an electronic conscience. Some days training is hard to fit in around work and family obligations. But keeping an eye on the PMC and setting CTL goals can get me out on the bike and for long enough or hard enough to stay with my overall build goals. More than once this winter a glance at my PMC was enough to get me on the trainer for an afterwork session.
• CTL can help redefine hard, easy or moderate days. I used to take 2 days off each week during winter and preseason build. Now I take one full day off and take one "soft TSS day" where I just ride low to mid Tempo for long enough to rack up a TSS equal to roughly half my current CTL. By definition your CTL represents the average daily TSS you've adjusted to for the past several months, a workout that's not particularly intense and only yields half your long term average training stress isn't too taxing but provides a bit of extra load and keeps your legs fresh for a full workout the following day. This soft day strategy has really helped in terms of a bit of extra training that leaves me psyched and ready to rock the following day. Since adopting this approach I've regularly hit my best workouts on Saturday following a soft Friday ride. Rmur turned me on to this way of thinking but tracking CTL and paying attention to workout TSS makes it real easy.

There are many more reasons the WKO+ Performance Manager and CTL is worth paying attention to. No, you shouldn't view it in isolation or tailor your training to maximize your CTL, that'll generally lead to long slow rides. But as a tool to integrate your weekly, monthly and annual workout schedule and to quantify overall training load it's incredibly useful.

-Dave