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Help interpreting PMC graph


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Posted

post-79554-0-27738900-1454402358_thumb.pngI've just signed up with Training Peaks for a trial. I've been reading about CTL and TSS and I kind of get it but I'm not sure how to apply it to my training. I've added a few months of data to training peaks. Some of it was getting lost because it was losing my indoor sessions (long story), so I stopped uploading. But I've got from beginning of December, I can add more. 

 

I don't use power - only heart rate monitor. I'd also like to know if it's only worth using TP if you use power. I'm trying to figure out if I should sign up for TP. The graph needs to make sense.

 

So any of you that are used to looking at these graphs, what do you see in mine?

 

 

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Posted

All I see is dots, clearly above my pay-grade!!!!

Lol! You and me both! 

 

Reading more stuff - the stuff on training peaks didn't really help. Maybe i'm expecting too much... but I'll keep reading and researching

Posted

Hmmm I did a 6:58 ride on Sat 5 dec and then a 5:58 on the Sunday. I think I let it set my thereshold for me. 

 

Were you following the pink line? Is that where you saw that?

Posted

Make sure your HR threshold is correct, that first uploaded ride of 500+ HR-tss is massive, unless it was a 8-10h ride?

 

 

 

Hmmm I did a 6:58 ride on Sat 5 dec and then a 5:58 on the Sunday. I think I let it set my thereshold for me. 

 

Were you following the pink line? Is that where you saw that?

 

I agree, rather do the threshold test. TP eventually works out your threshold but by then you can become overly fatigued or train in the wrong zones before that happens.

 

link explaining the test http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones 

 

btw, pink line is fatigue. the daily TSS is the red dot

Posted

I agree, rather do the threshold test. TP eventually works out your threshold but by then you can become overly fatigued or train in the wrong zones before that happens.

 

link explaining the test http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones 

 

btw, pink line is fatigue. the daily TSS is the red dot

This link works better: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones

 

I did an FTP in September. I see my calculated threshold heart rate on TP was 146 but the LTHR from the FTP was 163. I changed this in zones but didn't see a difference in the graph... or should I change it somewhere else?

Posted

Ok, I went through the same process about a month ago, so this is how I understand it.

 

You have 5 elements on your graph, a pink line, a yellow line, a blue line, red dots and blue dots.

 

First thing to look at is your red dot, that is your TSS (training stress score), this basically indicates to you how hard your training was. A TSS of 100 in one hour is the same as doing a 20min TT (With which you determine your HrFT). So if you do 3 hours at with a TSS of 150, then you dit about a TSS of 50 per hour, which is about half the effort per hour as you would have done on a TT test.

 

Second is the blue dot, your Intensity factor (IF), this basically takes your ave Hr and divides it by your HrFT, to determine how hard your ride was in relation to a 20min TT.  So if your IF is 1, its the same as a 20 min TT, if its above, it was harder, below is easier.

 

Third is your pink line, this is basically showing you a 7 day rolling ave of your TSS, showing you how your training load is building.

 

Fourth is the Blue line, this is basically a 42 day rolling ave of your TSS and indicates your fitness. Higher = better.

 

Lastly is the yellow line, this indicates your fatigue. As soon as it goes to +, you start losing fitness, in - you are building, but don't let it go too low, because that indicates over-training. It is calculated by subtracting the pink from the blue line.

Posted

If you were doing a 6:58 ride for the first high dot, I suspect your HR threshold is set too low.

 

Indeed it was. TP was 146 and FTP was 163. I had obviously done a few more rides before that 6:58... just haven't uploaded it yet... 

Posted

Ok, I went through the same process about a month ago, so this is how I understand it.

 

You have 5 elements on your graph, a pink line, a yellow line, a blue line, red dots and blue dots.

 

First thing to look at is your red dot, that is your TSS (training stress score), this basically indicates to you how hard your training was. A TSS of 100 in one hour is the same as doing a 20min TT (With which you determine your HrFT). So if you do 3 hours at with a TSS of 150, then you dit about a TSS of 50 per hour, which is about half the effort per hour as you would have done on a TT test.

 

Second is the blue dot, your Intensity factor (IF), this basically takes your ave Hr and divides it by your HrFT, to determine how hard your ride was in relation to a 20min TT.  So if your IF is 1, its the same as a 20 min TT, if its above, it was harder, below is easier.

 

Third is your pink line, this is basically showing you a 7 day rolling ave of your TSS, showing you how your training load is building.

 

Fourth is the Blue line, this is basically a 42 day rolling ave of your TSS and indicates your fitness. Higher = better.

 

Lastly is the yellow line, this indicates your fatigue. As soon as it goes to +, you start losing fitness, in - you are building, but don't let it go too low, because that indicates over-training. It is calculated by subtracting the pink from the blue line.

 

 

Ahah! Ok, so I can see my yellow line went a little low after a big TSS week but I was tired so I cut back a bit and you can see the yellow line come up quite a bit. But maybe I've let it come up too much and I'm losing some fitness. I'm putting in a big week, I started on Sautrday and Sunday with back to back 5 hour rides. How do I use the graph to figure out how to peak? 

 

Thanks for your explanation. 

Posted

And knowing where to keep the yellow line through different phases of training, is that something that comes from experience or is there a guideline?

 

Or have I missed the point again?

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