What is training load?
Training load is an excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) based feature that helps you keep track of the combined strain of all your activities recorded with heart rate data. Your Edge® cycling computer, watch and the Garmin Connect_x0099_ app provide views of your training load on a per-activity (for newer devices) and 7-day basis, so you can see the immediate impact of each activity and your overall acute training load throughout the last week. Your chronic (4-week) training load is another load measure used internally in calculations for other features such as training status and training load focus.
EPOC allows us to measure the impact of physical activity on your body in terms of the amount of restorative and adaptive work your body needs to perform after an activity. This is the work your body does to restore the dynamic equilibrium known as homeostasis.
Oxygen consumed is an indirect indicator of the amount of energy your body uses to put itself back together and better prepare you for the next challenge. Measuring the amount of extra oxygen your body uses after a workout compared to normal is how physiologists and sports scientists get a clear picture of the impact of an activity.
The Firstbeat analytics engine embedded in your Edge device or watch capably predicts the accumulation of EPOC in real time by analyzing heartbeat data and applying advanced mathematical modeling and machine learning.