How would AT distinguish between a workout that is Hard or Very Hard because you are potentially reaching your current PL limits and the scenario where you are fatigued from external factors?
For example, when i have done a week of training and added an extra day for a fast outdoor group ride to my MV plan, the Achievable Sunday SS workout can feel a lot harder than it should. Once i have a rest day on Monday then i am back on song again. An honest survey response of Hard might trigger an unintended change to ramp rate of SS workouts, where in reality that is not the problem.
Thanks. I was just thinking it’s more likely I’ll use that page as a reference rather than finding this forum post again. But I’ve since decided to print it out and keep it on my training desk!
I think those guidelines basically align with that I’ve been doing anyway, but it’s nice to have a handy reference to help keep my responses consistent.
Which leads to my next suggestion (feature request), that some form of these notes find their way directly into the survey response itself.
I have more than a few “cheat sheets” of info like this, but nothing beats having it directly shown (or indirectly accessible via things like tool tips) right on the actual survey where we could benefit from that info.
Super individualized based upon that full scope of your prior training and Progression Levels, the plan you’re on along with timeline of events, the ‘Achievable Sunday SS workout’ you add beforehand, and the workouts that follow.
Those answers would require you to have some preexisting idea of how the workout “should” feel to compare against, which is the opposite of what we’re after. The goal of the 1-5 system is to allow you to simply, quickly, and honestly answer a basic question of how the workout felt— independent of any expectation or intended outcome. It’s intentionally subjective and open-ended.
But I typically do have a preexisting idea of how these workouts should feel. If I view it as too hard I do an alternate version that is lower. If it is too easy I increase it via alternates. I definitely do not do a workout that I don’t think I can complete.
I have been only using a 3 choice response of 1 2 or 3. No idea if this messes up anything…
Thanks Ivy. This provides clarity on the ratings. I am curious how this will play out with progressions which was the reason I reached out to Customer Service in the first place.
For example, today before this was posted, I was scheduled to do Wild Snow (VO2 5.5). I felt like pushing a bit, so I chose an alternative Mills +3 (5.8). I completed fine and rated as moderate (based on previous customer service advice). Going on the new standard - I probably would have rated as “hard” - had to focus but could have done another interval or 2.
However, the adaptation advice was “no change” it kept my Monday VO2 workout Haw Knob (6.0) (makes sense) and Thursday Mount Deborah +1 (5.8) (kind of surprised after rating Mills +3 as “moderate”). I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling that if I had rated it as “hard” it would have dropped one of those. I may be wrong, but this was the problem I experienced a few weeks ago.
Regardless, thanks for the clarification, and I will adjust my ratings accordingly.
I like the 1-5 rating system, and Ivy’s clarifications make it easier to apply.
The only issue I have based on my experience, it seems that the rating has a significant impact on adaptation suggestions. Based on how you describe the purpose, it should impact progressions as a supporting factor over time but not from workout to workout. Otherwise, it encourages me to try to pick based on what I want the adaptations to be. If a workout seems “very hard” on a given day but completed as prescribed, it doesn’t follow that it should lower workouts for the next week or two.
