Press Room

›Training Load calculation introduced in polarpersonaltrainer.com

01/06/2010

Kempele, Finland – 1. June, 2010 – Polar, the market leader and pioneer in heart rate training technology, has introduced a new Training load feature in its online training diary at polarpersonaltrainer.com. It tells the user conveniently at a glance on the calendar view the cumulative training load for every day and indicates when the user will have recovered enough for the next session. Already familiar in team sports, the Training load feature is now available for all polarpersonaltrainer.com users. The training load feature takes out the guesswork, helping the user find the perfect balance between rest and training. With this new feature users can control their total training load, optimize their training by adjusting the intensity and duration of the session, and monitor their performance development. Continuous monitoring of training load and recovery will help individuals recognize their personal limits, avoid over or under training, and adapt their training program according to daily and weekly targets. The web service shows the cumulative effect of all training sessions over the past few days. The cumulative training load is highlighted with different colors in the weekday header for each day. A green color shows that the user has recovered from their previous training sessions and is ready to continue training. Yellow signals that the cumulative training load is at a high level and the user is not fully recovered from their previous training sessions. When the training load is on the yellow level, the user can train but should avoid high intensity sessions. The red header color indicates that the cumulative training load is very high and the user needs recovery training or rest. The training load feature helps users plan their training and ensure that they are ready for the next session. In general, for optimal training, every week should show all three colors. Intensive training sessions and races should be done when the user is well-recovered and the header color is green. However, improvements in performance also require strenuous sessions within the training program. A continuous green color indicates that the user should increase their training volume by adding more sessions to their weekly plan or by making their training sessions more intensive. On the other hand, if the user is constantly on the red level, their rest time between training sessions is focused on recovery only and they are not allowing sufficient time for improvement. A continuous yellow training load level suggests that the user should plan their training better to include some high intensity training and rest for optimal training results. Training load thresholds are based on the user’s personal training data and training history, giving an individual color indication for each weekday. As the user increases or decreases their amount of training, the thresholds will adapt to this. The training load calculation takes into consideration different factors which can affect the user’s training load and recovery time, including training intensity, duration, and of course individual features, such as age, gender, weight, maximum heart rate, resting heart rate and maximal oxygen uptake. Also, manually added exercises are taken into calculation, not only the ones transferred via WebLink or WebSync. For further information contact: Marko Möttönen, Accessories Segment Manager, Polar Electro Oy Tel: +358 (0) 8 5202 100 Email: marko.mottonen@polar.fi