Planned Workout Load
Planned load estimates the authored structure. It does not run the completed-activity sensor formulas in advance.
Expand the prescription
Repeat groups are expanded into execution steps. Duration is the sum of their seconds, including every repetition. For power or pace plans:
Planned PSS = sum(100 × step seconds / 3600 × intensity²)A power % FTP target uses intensity = target percentage / 100. Other power targets, including absolute watts, use the authored zone factor rather than dividing those watts by an FTP inside this summary calculation. The power factors for zones 1–7 are 0.50, 0.65, 0.80, 0.95, 1.08, 1.20 and 1.40; higher supported power zones use the final factor. Pace zones 1–5 use 0.55, 0.70, 0.84, 1.00 and 1.12.
Planned heart-rate load
Planned HR load = sum(step minutes × target zone number)This Edwards-style zone-minute proxy is displayed in the planned TRIMP field. It does not use resting HR, maximum HR or an observed HR response and is not the Banister completed TRIMP calculation. RPE structures do not acquire a power or HR load estimate from their duration alone.
Verified examples
Thirty minutes at 80% FTP gives planned PSS 32.0. Thirty minutes in power zone 3 also gives 32.0 because that zone’s factor is 0.80. Thirty minutes in pace zone 3 gives 35.3 from 0.84² × 50. Twenty minutes in HR zone 3 gives planned HR load 60.0. A repeat group of three five-minute steps contributes fifteen minutes, not five.
Totals are rounded half-up to one decimal. Zone totals reconcile their rounding remainder to the final used zone so their sum matches the saved planned total. Editing targets or repetitions changes the estimate. Scheduled plans retain snapshots; later library edits do not silently rewrite them.
These estimates support Workout Planner and Week Planner. Actual execution can differ, and planned estimates do not enter the completed daily CTL/ATL series as recorded work.
Sources and implementation scope
Bourdon and colleagues (2017), monitoring athlete training loads provides background, not a specification of every EffortSignal rule. The formulas, windows, quality gates and examples above describe EffortSignal 0.1.13, checked September 10, 2026. Product-specific thresholds and rounding should not be attributed to the background source.
Content checked September 10, 2026 · EffortSignal release 0.1.13