Training Stress Balance Assessment Builder

The Training Stress Balance Assessment Builder calculates the relationship between an athlete's acute load and chronic load using a single workload field.

Unlike the RPE Training Stress Balance Assessment, which first calculates load using RPE × Duration, this assessment uses an existing load metric that has already been calculated or collected within the platform.

Examples of load fields commonly used include:

• Session Load
• Training Load
• PlayerLoad
• Total Distance
• High-Speed Distance
• External Load
• Arbitrary Units (AU)
• Any custom workload metric

The assessment compares short-term workload accumulation against longer-term workload accumulation to help monitor workload progression and athlete readiness.

What is Training Stress Balance?

Training Stress Balance evaluates whether an athlete's recent workload is aligned with their longer-term training history.

The assessment uses two workload periods:

• Acute Load = Recent workload
• Chronic Load = Longer-term workload

The resulting balance value provides context around whether an athlete's current training demand is lower, similar to, or higher than their established workload profile.

Assessment Name

Enter a unique name for the assessment.

This name is used internally when editing, assigning, and managing layouts.

Examples:

• Training Stress Balance
• Workload Balance
• Load Ratio
• Acute vs Chronic Load

Display Name

The column header displayed within dashboards and reports.

This can be a shortened version of the assessment name.

Examples:

• TSB
• Balance
• Load Ratio
• ACWR

Load Field

Select the workload metric that will be used to calculate acute and chronic load.

Examples include:

• Session Load
• Training Load
• PlayerLoad
• Total Distance
• High-Speed Distance
• External Load
• Any custom workload field

This assessment assumes the selected field already represents workload and does not perform additional calculations.

Acute Period

Defines the short-term workload window.

The most common setting is:

7 Days

Example

If Acute Period = 7:

The assessment sums all workload values from the previous seven days.

This represents the athlete's recent workload exposure.

Chronic Period

Defines the long-term workload window.

The most common setting is:

28 Days

Example

If Chronic Period = 28:

The assessment sums all workload values from the previous twenty-eight days.

This represents the athlete's established workload history.

Include Current Day in Acute & Chronic

Determines whether today's workload data is included in the calculations.

Enabled

Today's workload contributes to both acute and chronic periods.

This is the most common setting for ongoing monitoring.

Disabled

Only completed historical days are considered.

This may be useful when reviewing previous training periods or generating retrospective reports.

Value to Display

Determines which metric is displayed within dashboards and reports.

Today's Load

Displays workload accumulated on the current day.

Example:

Today's Total Distance = 5,400 meters

Acute Load

Displays workload accumulated during the acute period.

Example:

7-Day Load = 32,500 AU

Chronic Load

Displays workload accumulated during the chronic period.

Example:

28-Day Load = 118,000 AU

Stress Balance Value

Displays the calculated relationship between acute and chronic workloads.

This is the most commonly selected option.

Icon

Allows an icon to be displayed alongside the workload value.

Icons are commonly used to indicate:

• Balanced workload
• Elevated workload
• Reduced workload
• Monitoring alerts
• Readiness categories

Thresholds and Color Coding

Thresholds can be applied to any selected workload metric.

Example: Stress Balance Monitoring

Example: Acute Load Monitoring

Example: Chronic Load Monitoring

Value to Apply Thresholds To

Determines which metric is evaluated against your thresholds.

Available options typically include:

• Stress Balance Value
• Today's Load
• Acute Load
• Chronic Load

This allows users to display one metric while monitoring another.

Example

Display:

Stress Balance Value

Apply Thresholds To:

Acute Load

This configuration displays workload balance while still highlighting athletes who exceed predefined acute workload limits.

Common Use Cases

Acute vs Chronic Workload Monitoring

Compare recent workload against longer-term workload trends.

GPS Workload Monitoring

Evaluate recent distance accumulation relative to historical distance exposure.

PlayerLoad Monitoring

Track changes in PlayerLoad accumulation over time.

Return-to-Play Progression

Monitor workload progression using a rehabilitation-specific load metric.

Example Setup

Goal: Monitor Training Stress Balance using a pre-calculated Training Load field.

Sample Workloads

The assessment evaluates how the athlete's recent workload compares to their longer-term workload profile and displays the resulting Training Stress Balance value, allowing coaches and practitioners to identify meaningful workload changes and monitor training progression over time.