Training2 min read
Training Load: How to Know When to Push and When to Rest
Too little and you stall, too much and you break. How to find the training load that makes you fitter.
By the inbeat team
TrainingEvery athlete eventually asks the same question on a tired morning: should I push through or back off? The answer lives in your training load, and in how your body is handling it.
What training load means
Training load is simply how much work you have been asking of your body lately. A long, hard week adds a lot; an easy week adds little.
What matters most is how your recent training compares with what you are used to. The same week can be easy for one athlete and far too much for another.
Build steadily
Fitness grows when training rises gradually over weeks. Sudden jumps, like doubling your running after a quiet month, are when injuries and illness tend to appear.
Signs you are doing too much
One sign on its own is rarely a problem. Several at once usually are:
- Resting heart rate creeping up over several mornings
- HRV staying below your normal range
- Sleep getting worse even though you are tired
- Workouts feeling harder at the same pace
- Niggles that don’t go away, or catching every cold
When to push
When your training has been steady, your mornings look normal and the session matters, that is the day to go hard. Hard days work best when the easy days around them are truly easy.
When to rest
When several signs line up, a lighter day or an easy week usually pays you back quickly. One step back now often saves several later.
How inbeat helps
inbeat shows your recent load against a range made for you and tells you in plain words whether your week is productive, too high or wearing you down, right next to your readiness each morning.
See training load in inbeatNo rule fits every morning. But a clear view of your load, and of how your body is coping with it, turns guessing into deciding.
