TrainerRoad's TSS vs. TrainingPeaks's TSS

Training
1

Hi everyone,

I am new to TR and I use TSS to manage my training load, very happy with this platform. However, in the few workouts I have finished already, I might be wrong but I have the feeling TR’s TSS calculation is above reality, in fact, TrainingPeaks’ TSS stimation is usually 20 points less for the same TR workout (syncronised). This is serious thing and misleading, overtraining and fatigue may acculate without noticing at the beginning. Being the data (time, power, hr, intensity) and the TSS formula the same, why is that? Can anyone tell me? which app should I trust?

thank you and regards from Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Luis

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Do you have the same FTP value in TR and TP?

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Yes I see the same issue.

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4

Welcome to the forum, Luis :slight_smile:

Since TSS = (duration x NP x IF) / (FTP x 3600) x 100, the only real variable is FTP (consider that IF = NP/FTP and NP is a power weighted average)

If you see a different TSS and data is the same, then it has to be a different FTP

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5

You can get a different TSS if you use moving time vs total time for calculation both TSS and normalized power.

TSS gets inflated by doing nothing either during or at the end of a ride.

Mike

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Ha! Good point. Yes, that would change “time”, hence both NP and the overall calc… but why would someone use total time to calculate TSS? :thinking:

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Well, that’s a can of worms, as they say.

Is sitting in a cafe any different to coasting down a 20km decent? The formula can’t tell the difference, but one we would keep in (even although it adds training load when you’re not pedaling) but the other we would want to exclude…

Anyway, in this case, where it’s a workout, unless there were pauses it’s unlikely there was any unaccounted time.

Mike

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Hi GiacomoRZ,

Good point! thank you so much for your quick reply, you are absolutely right, I had the TR ramp test last monday and forgot to update my new FTP on TP :woozy_face: (I miss Xert for this) It should match now. My next workout is tomorrow outdoors. I will let you know.

Best regards

Luis

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Right! not yet. thank you very much Jarsson :+1:

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:+1:impossible to explain it better, thank you very much.

11

Just one more thing, you’re using power from a power meter for both?

Can be a difference when TSS is heart rate based or even worse TR uses virtual power.

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Hi Schmit,

I just do the TR workouts either with Tacx Neo or outside using favero assioma, which are sync with my TrainingPeaks account, so same powermeter source.

The problem was forgetting to update my latest FTP obtained from TR, manually on TP. It has to be the same for all my apps: Garmin Connect, TrainerRoad, and TrainingPeaks. Intensity score was much less on TP because former ftp input was 39w higher (just starting the season now, base 1 training)

Cheers,

Luis