[juskojj]

In training peaks everyone is talking about Pa:Hr and rTSS, I’ve never been able to fully grasp or understand their significance to training and what they mean and why they are important. Can someone explain them to me? Is a low number good?

an example I ran 6.34 miles one day with an average HR of 154bpm, Pa:Hr of 5.31% and rTSS of 126 but on a different day I ran 6.26 miles with an average HR of 157bpm, Pa:Hr of 9.86% and rTSS of 116. The biggest difference betweeen these runs is the 1st run I did in 58:42 (pace ~9:15) the 2nd run was done in 1:02:14 (pace ~9:57)….. what gives? any thoughts?

Topic

[Shashi]

Shashi on May 12, 2021 at 1:20 pm #53930

Here are two Training Peaks articles that will provide some good insight into these metrics –

Training Stress Score Explained

Aerobic Decoupling (Pa:Hr)

My primary use of Pa:Hr is related to the heart rate drift (AeT) test. This heart rate drift article will provide you some good information. For a given test/workout, a declining Pa:Hr would be good. e.g. When I repeat AeT test on a treadmill with fixed incline and pace, if my Pa:Hr is trending lower then it suggests an improvement in my AeT.

rTSS – as the Training Peaks article states it is a metric to estimate the training load and physiological stress created by the training session. As you progress in your training and improve your aerobic capacity, TSS will tend to go down for a given workout.

Hope this is helpful.

[AshRick]

AshRick on May 16, 2021 at 1:48 pm #54067

Key…rTSS is based on paces you enter for second threshold (AnT, or one-hour pace). It computes based on how fast you ran, not your HR. It attempts to adjust for hills, but doesn’t do a great job. It will underestimate your effort for a hilly route. Advice on here is to add 10 points for every 1000ft of vert your route had.

Say your (flat course) run was done at 80% of threshold, for one hour. Say, you ran 10:00 pace, off a threshold pace of 8:00. Your rTSS is .80^2, times one hour. Drop the decimals.

.80^2 = 0.64, or rTSS = 64. If you ran that for two hours, it’s 64×2 = 128.

That figure, 64 or 128, is a measure of total training stimulus, or fatigue. The number doesn’t mean a lot for any one workout, but is a robust measure over weeks of daily averages.

I’ve got my 6-week moving average up to 80, and am pushing to get it over 90 for a couple months prior to Leadville. That is roughly the equivalent of 10 hours a week at at least 80% of threshold.