Is TSS calculated the same way for every rider—whether (1) male or female or (2) rider type (climber, sprinter, long hauler, etc.)?
When I finish a particularly sprinty ride (that usually has a higher TSS), I am not tired at all and am somewhat energized. On the other hand, by the end of a “productive” ride with a relatively low TSS, my soul steps out of my body to drag it to the shower.
The TSS and levels of difficulty (above recovery) seem to be inverted for me. It would be great to be able to specify rider type for a different TSS algorithm.
It is also entirely possible that this is already built in and that I am just a fledgling noobie.
(Novice, female, probable sprinter-type)
Hey @anjeluc,
Great questions here!
What you’re describing isn’t super uncommon. Some athletes perform better in specific types of efforts than others, and the RPE/feeling of fatigue doesn’t always align with the calculated TSS for the effort.
One good thing to remember here is that TSS is calculated in a very subjective way ( TSS = (# of seconds of the workout x Normalized Power x Intensity Factor) / (FTP x 3600) x 100) so it’s very much the same for each athlete.
The link that @ivegotabike has a ton of really great info on TSS and how it can at times be misleading and needs to be considered with some context.
Not all TSS is created equal. I’d look to TSS as more of a measure of the weight of the work being done rather than how the work felt. A great example from that article is this:
“Consider two workouts within a sweet spot training plan. A workout with 2x 20-minute intervals can result in the same TSS as a workout with a single 40-minute effort. Anyone who’s ever ridden at sweet spot knows it gets dramatically harder as efforts get longer. In this case, the TSS calculation of time and intensity doesn’t tell the entire picture. It ignores the context of how it is generated.”
Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions! 
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