What Does TSS Actually Mean?

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[@jordywilliams]

I think TSS is like diet. The only way you can properly understand and use it, is pay attention to it over years of training. You can then figure out what works and what doesn’t on a personal level.

[@eltribun]

I don't worry about TSS anymore that much.... been having a similar FTP this year compared to my best year but with way less TSS points (arround 20~) but more short and hart workouts instead of lots of +100km rides... thus a good video of you, thumbs up

[@rallyboy101]

I agree...... get fatigued, mix up how you get fatigued, ........... RECOVER/ REST, and repeat the process. Intensity x Duration = stress/fatigue

[@EricMichaelManuel]

So I just signed up, after watching the show for a while, great show, excellent app so far, of course life immediately threw a curve ball at me, but I'm getting started. I'm intrigued by this excerpt in combination with something from a video game (pro cycling manager) which breaks down the cycling efforts in the game into endurance, vo2max and sprint power. In that context with your data set would it be interesting to measure a few zones (3 like the game?) and use some form of tss and 'zone' to measure each part of the power curve and reflect it in a graph over time. In a way it's a bit of leading the witness since I assume the training plan is intended to mix things up, those graphs should reflect your intentions pretty well. It would be interesting to see how skipping workouts, adding in ad hoc workouts, mapping races vs training etc would affect those charts. Of course you may already have all this. :D One more thing, I'm always curious why most of the training apps don't integrate heart rate data more deeply. Specifically heart rate variability, recovery rate, etc. When combined with variable strain it might provide insight into when a specific class of work has become too much. Cheers and thanks for the great product, and great show.

[@TrainerRoad]

Hey Eric! While an interesting concept, we are choosing to avoid what we call "gamification" of our software. The reality is that while some will really like that style, many of our users appreciate the simple, straightforward nature of our application. In addition to that point, developing a training game would require a lot of resources that we feel could be better spent elsewhere. As for our thoughts on Heart Rate variability and recovery rate, we want to make sure that any data we collect and present has a proven scientific track record. Many of the heart rate based metrics show a lot of merit, but we want to make sure that they will truly make you faster, rather than simply make things more complicated. Cheers!

[@EricMichaelManuel]

@@TrainerRoad Oh. I wasn't intending to make it a game. I was putting forth that on a typical power curve you have phosphate, anaerobic and aerobic efforts. (or thereabouts) and that based upon this podcast excerpt you could overtrain a specific area but leave another untrained. A chart which allows you to filter your efforts based upon race specific efforts would allow you to see the stress you are accumulating at those efforts... The HR data while in specific instances might be anomalous shows long term trends of mean time to recovery, max and lactate threshold hr. These do change significantly in response to training. I'm sure you've been on a ride when tired where you simply can't get your hr above threshold... anyway. :D .

[@liambertuzzi]

Is TSS calculated the same on TR as Garmin connect?

[@TrainerRoad]

It is! It is important to remember that TSS is calculated based on your FTP, so be sure that your FTP is set the same in both Garmin and TrainerRoad.

[@alfonso2501]

@@TrainerRoad thank you! I always wondered about that

[@liambertuzzi]

Thanks legends