Understanding TSS: A Beginner's Guide

Training Stress Score, or TSS, is a powerful tool for measuring workout intensity.TSS provides a numerical value that combines both the intensity and duration of your workout to measure total training load.TSS takes into account two key factors: workout intensity and duration.The duration of your workout is tracked precisely, as longer workouts naturally accumulate more training stress.A score of 100 TSS represents the training stress of riding for one hour at your Functional Threshold Power, or FTP.Different types of workouts generate different TSS values. Let's look at some examples.By tracking TSS consistently, athletes and coaches can better monitor training intensity and prevent overtraining.Now that we understand what TSS is, let's look at how it's calculated.TSS calculation combines your power output relative to FTP and the duration of your workout.The key component is the Intensity Factor, which measures how hard you're working compared to your FTP.Different intensity zones produce different TSS values. Let's look at the common training zones and their Intensity Factors.Let's work through a practical example to understand how TSS is calculated.First, we calculate the Intensity Factor by dividing Normalized Power by FTP.Then we square the Intensity Factor, multiply by the duration in hours, and multiply by 100.This gives us a TSS of 98, which is close to our benchmark of 100 TSS for a one-hour ride at FTP.This example shows a steady effort at 70% of FTP for two hours. The consistent power output makes the TSS calculation straightforward.Weekly TSS totals vary significantly between recreational and professional cyclists.Let's look at different TSS ranges for various training phases.When increasing your training load, it's crucial to progress gradually to avoid injury and burnout.Different TSS levels require different recovery periods. Let's look at some guidelines.