normZurawski said:
Is the idea in any - say 4 week - cycle to have your TSS increase for 3 weeks, then tail off the 4th week? Are there rough guidelines for how to use TSS? Is this a question for the power forum?
Yes, you'll probably get more input in the power forum. As Solar mentioned, there are different approaches regarding the training buildup profile, and there's not really a clearly 'best' choice. Some people use the 4th week as rest to prevent overtraining, which is fine as a precaution when you're training blind, but unnecessary if you're using TSS to manage your overall training load within a consistently tolerable level. Others, like Solar, advocate using the 3 weeks to intentionally overload on training, and the 4th week for recovery and supercompensation. Personally, my training schedule is vulnerable to outside events, which never seem to fall during my planned rest week, so I choose a steady training load and know that unexpected rest periods will impose themselves on my schedule anyway. I don't use 4-wk mesocycles.
How to use TSS? Primarily, it's a tool to quantify overall training 'load' (as opposed to 'effect'). It measures the stress that the body is being subjected to, and is a good way to assess whether enough training is being done for optimal performance, or if too much is being done. It's helpful to monitor load separately from intensity, and the separate buildup of each is what many coaching programs suggest.
normZurawski said:
I made some rough guesses of my TSS numbers over the last 4 weeks and they probably show the wrong trend, overall. When I estimate my 2x20 days I get something like 84, which is pathetic in the Coggan system of 150 or less being a generally light workout which you can recover by the next day.
One of the first things that most people learn when they start using TSS is that they're just not training *enough* for optimal performance. Conventional wisdom would suggest that a threshold intensity workout (like yours, above) be followed by a rest day, or at least a hard day - easy day routine to allow sufficient recovery. OTOH, the TSS value of that ride suggests that 1 day's recovery is sufficient for that workout. By quantifying the training load, you don't have to take an overly conservative approach, because it's possible to experiment with different values to find out exactly what TSS can be tolerated on a day-in-day-out basis.
normZurawski said:
I see greater than 450 in there, which boggles my mind. My biggest number estimate for the last 7 weeks was 204 for any single workout. Should I be afraid that when people drive by me and see my low TSS numbers under my shirt they'll think I'm gay?
LOL. I've never done a 450 TSS ride. Andy probably only put that in there for Dave Harris' benefit.
The daily values you strive for depend on how often you ride. For someone who likes to ride every day, there's really no reason to go above ~150 on any ride. OTOH, if someone's limited to 3 rides per week, then they'd want to pack a lot more into those rides to get the most benefit. Again, TSS lets you manage your training load in constructive ways. Last winter I rode 5 days/wk. I tried for ~125 TSS on Tu/W/Th, and ~200 on Sat/Sun. Mon & Fri were days off.
