ACUTE:CHRONIC WORKLOAD RATIO

In the previous posts I was writing about the body’s amazing ability to adapt to physical load and chronic injuries as a result of training load errors. Excessive and rapid increases in training-load are the main cause of non-contact soft-tissue injuries so it is important to monitor and adequately manage the load.

If you don’t want overcomplicate things, just stick to 10% rule. It means to increase load by not more that 10% every following week.

🕵️‍♂️If you want to know a bit more in depth, carry on reading.

➡️ According to the Acute:Chronic workload ratio theory it is safe to plan the load the next week 0.8-1.30 of the average of previous 3-4 weeks.

🤔 So what is what?

▪️Acute workload is the workload performed by an athlete in 1-week (7 days)

▪️Chronic workload is typically the 4-week (28 day) average acute workload.

▪️Load variables:
– duration
– distance
– frequency
– intensity
– weight
– number of repetitions and other

▪️Example:
Week 1 = 30km
Week 2 = 35km
Week 3 = 30km
Week 4 = 25km

▪️In this case, the 4-week chronic workload value would be the average of these four workloads which is 30km (30+35+30+25 divided by 4)

▪️The ratio itself is calculated by dividing the acute workload by the chronic workload. For example, if the following week is 25km, then the ACWR is 0.83 (25/30).

⚠️There is U-Shape relationship between ACWR and injury risk.

🟡 < 0.80 Under training and higher relative injury risk

🟢 80 – 1.30 Optimal workload and lowest relative injury risk – “The Sweet Spot”

🔴 > 1.50 The “danger zone” and highest relative injury risk

There are two ways of calculating the ACWR, they both have evidence base and pros&cons.

🔎Read more in depth:
https://www.scienceforsport.com/acutechronic-workload-ratio/a