Optimizing Chronic Training Load (CTL) for Ultra Endurance: Strategies and Targeting Methods
Hi there,
I’m considering using your system, curious, what can be a target CTL for an endurance ride like 12h, 200 km and 4500 m of elevation. I used to use TP ATP with target CTL, adjusting my workouts to meet it. Once I tried TR AT, but algorithms constantly offered me to lower the load, which would result in CTL way lower, then I expected it to be.
in general, can I set a specific CTL to meet at the end of the training plan?
Thanks much!
Hey there. CTL targets are a nice idea, however they are certainly not the be-all-end-all to reach the performance you are after. Dr Teun Van Erp from team Ineos Grenadiers talks through this nicely in the following podcast we did together. Nevertheless, the power to 'ramp' your rise of training load is fully in your control. If you go to your advanced settings you can choose up to 'aggressive' to really move the CTL needle. Of course, you'll need to be cautious as you'll be pushing normal limits and we don't usually recommend this as training consistency wins out as the most important factor leading to success. Remember that the most important session is the next session.
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Q: do I see my projected event day CTL/ATL/TSB with different ramp rates? If I miss a workout or a whole week due to being sick, will the app compensate missed workouts by increasing load down the road or it will just result in lower, than projected, CTL?
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Yes - you should see the projected daily CTL/ATL/TSB alongside your chosen ramp rates. However it is updated daily based upon what you do or don't do (note there can be a lag time between what you see in front of you and what's being processed behind the scenes in Athletica's backend brain). Because consistency of training is the key variable that leads to success over any monster session you do, the idea behind Athletica is that it will provide a training load daily that is based upon your history. So if you do happen to miss a bunch of training, which lowers CTL, it will only go back to doing its job of trying to keep you healthy and consistent moving forward. So it won't go back to providing monster sessions to allow you to catch up. Instead it will go back to slowly building your fitness so you get consistent physiological signalling that moves the needle with your ability to physically perform. This is how successful Olympians train. We have a few examples of this working in our blog, but here's our latest published today. Just check out her adaptive loading profile graph and how she only missed 4 sessions this year.
@bad-santa
Be sure! You are in very good hands! I have just finished EAGLEXMAN an extreme triathlon in Italy 13 absolute 2 age group 35-40 ... a performance never had in 5 years of training .. in just 2 months of ATHLETICA!
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in general, can I set a specific CTL to meet at the end of the training plan?
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The beauty of Athletica is that I don’t really need to think about about CTL and ramp rate, Athletica takes care of that based on the hours I can do, and principles of progressive overload.
I did a 220km ride a week last Sat with a TSS of 500, my 400km ride in May had a TSS of 1100. But no way would I hit those TSS in a training session.
Looking at the past 8 months my peak CTL was 60. But I don’t think it’s something to chase. The main thing for me is that I’ve been consistent, motivated, injury free, and seen improvement.
Here’s my form chart since late last year, showing how Athletica has kept me mostly in that green area considered optimal. The red parts are my ultra distance events.
@bad-santa Thirteen years experience of rides at or way above 500 tss says it works fine for me. Remember that CTL just measures your ramp rate / increase in training load. It does not measure what my TSS load per week is. I could have a weekly TSS
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Hey Paul, thanks for your comments and the link to the podcast, I will listen it. Nice feature for ramp rate, makes total sense, I will play with it when I start my trial.
Q: do I see my projected event day CTL/ATL/TSB with different ramp rates? If I miss a workout or a whole week due to being sick, will the app compensate missed workouts by increasing load down the road or it will just result in lower, than projected, CTL?
Thanks.
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@paul thanks much for the clarification, it all makes sense indeed. Thanks @Giuseppe85 for the feedback, too
P.S. when I had a coach, he always said - missed a workout? never try to catch up, just go oh according to the plan.
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Looking at the past 8 months my peak CTL was 60.
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Interesting. I wouldn’t even think about getting into 500 TSS ride with max CTL of 60. I have always referred to this TP article while training for a event.
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