Understanding how Stride calculates training stress from your workouts
Training Score (TS) is Stride’s measure of how much training stress a single workout creates. It combines:
Think of Training Score as the “cost” of a workout - higher scores mean more stress on your body (and more adaptation potential).
For rides with power data:
Where:
A 2-hour ride with:
When power isn’t available:
| Workout Type | Typical TS Range | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery Ride | 20-40 | 1 hour easy spin |
| Endurance Ride | 50-80 | 2-3 hour zone 2 |
| Tempo Workout | 80-120 | 90 min with tempo intervals |
| Threshold Session | 100-150 | 1 hour with FTP intervals |
| Long Endurance | 150-250 | 4-5 hour steady ride |
| Epic/Race | 250+ | Century or hard race |
Same workout, different Training Scores:
| Rider | FTP | 1hr @ 200W | Training Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 150W | Very hard | 178 |
| Intermediate | 200W | Threshold | 100 |
| Advanced | 250W | Tempo | 64 |
| Pro | 300W | Endurance | 44 |
This shows why you can’t compare Training Scores between riders - it’s relative to YOUR fitness.
Average power doesn’t capture the true physiological cost:
Steady Ride:
Variable Ride:
Normalized Power:
This better represents metabolic cost of variable efforts.
Based on your goals and fitness:
| Day Type | Target TS | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 0-40 | Active recovery |
| Easy | 40-70 | Aerobic maintenance |
| Moderate | 70-120 | Building fitness |
| Hard | 120-180 | Key workouts |
| Epic | 180+ | Special occasions |
Build Week Example (Load ~70):
Safe TS progression:
Wrong! Quality matters more than quantity:
Not true! These could all be 100 TS:
Different adaptations despite same score!
False! Consistency beats big days:
Sometimes perceived effort doesn’t match TS:
Remember: Training Score is a guide. How you feel matters too. High fatigue with “normal” TS? Rest anyway.
Watch for these patterns:
See how Training Score builds fitness over time
Ensure accurate Training Score calculation
Understanding how Stride calculates training stress from your workouts
Training Score (TS) is Stride’s measure of how much training stress a single workout creates. It combines:
Think of Training Score as the “cost” of a workout - higher scores mean more stress on your body (and more adaptation potential).
For rides with power data:
Where:
A 2-hour ride with:
When power isn’t available:
| Workout Type | Typical TS Range | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery Ride | 20-40 | 1 hour easy spin |
| Endurance Ride | 50-80 | 2-3 hour zone 2 |
| Tempo Workout | 80-120 | 90 min with tempo intervals |
| Threshold Session | 100-150 | 1 hour with FTP intervals |
| Long Endurance | 150-250 | 4-5 hour steady ride |
| Epic/Race | 250+ | Century or hard race |
Same workout, different Training Scores:
| Rider | FTP | 1hr @ 200W | Training Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 150W | Very hard | 178 |
| Intermediate | 200W | Threshold | 100 |
| Advanced | 250W | Tempo | 64 |
| Pro | 300W | Endurance | 44 |
This shows why you can’t compare Training Scores between riders - it’s relative to YOUR fitness.
Average power doesn’t capture the true physiological cost:
Steady Ride:
Variable Ride:
Normalized Power:
This better represents metabolic cost of variable efforts.
Based on your goals and fitness:
| Day Type | Target TS | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 0-40 | Active recovery |
| Easy | 40-70 | Aerobic maintenance |
| Moderate | 70-120 | Building fitness |
| Hard | 120-180 | Key workouts |
| Epic | 180+ | Special occasions |
Build Week Example (Load ~70):
Safe TS progression:
Wrong! Quality matters more than quantity:
Not true! These could all be 100 TS:
Different adaptations despite same score!
False! Consistency beats big days:
Sometimes perceived effort doesn’t match TS:
Remember: Training Score is a guide. How you feel matters too. High fatigue with “normal” TS? Rest anyway.
Watch for these patterns:
See how Training Score builds fitness over time
Ensure accurate Training Score calculation