Training Load

Training load is a sport and exercise science concept used to describe the demands placed on a person during training or competition. It is a multidimensional construct rather than a single physical quantity, and different measurements can represent different aspects of the training stimulus and the body's response to it .¹

Training load is commonly divided into external load and internal load. External load describes the work performed independently of the individual's response, using measures such as distance, speed, power output, accelerations, duration, or weight lifted. Internal load describes the physiological and psychological response to that work and can be assessed using measures such as heart rate, blood lactate, oxygen consumption, or rating of perceived exertion .^1,2

This distinction means that the same external training load can produce different internal loads in different people, or in the same person under different conditions. Training load is therefore broader than training volume or exercise intensity alone. Those variables can contribute to training load, but neither by itself captures every dimension of the training stimulus or response .^1,2

There is no single measurement that represents training load appropriately in every activity or sport. The useful measure depends on the type of exercise and the aspect of load being examined, and monitoring systems may combine external and internal measures to characterize both the work performed and the response it produces .^1,2