Load balance compares your current training load with your long-term fitness. In the optimal zone you are training smart and recovering well. Go too high and you may be overreaching. Too low and you risk detraining.
How to read it
Kiiro shows load balance as a percentage with your status beside it, such as +12% Balanced. The status is the one-word answer to “am I doing too much?”. The percentage is how far your acute load sits above or below your fitness level. +12% means you are doing 12% more than your body is used to.
| Status | Load balance | The same as an ACWR of |
|---|---|---|
| Undertrained | below −50% | below 0.5 |
| Detraining | −50% to −20% | 0.5 to 0.8 |
| Fresh | −20% to −5% | 0.8 to 0.95 |
| Balanced | −5% to +15% | 0.95 to 1.15 |
| Building | +15% to +30% | 1.15 to 1.3 |
| Fatigued | +30% to +50% | 1.3 to 1.5 |
| Overtrained | above +50% | above 1.5 |
Keeping your load balance steady in the optimal zone is how you get fitter while staying healthy. A few days above it are fine if recovery follows. Weeks above it are not.
See training load in Kiiro for what each status means for your next few days.
You may know it as ACWR
If you have used other training tools you may have seen this called ACWR, the acute:chronic workload ratio: your recent load divided by your long-term load. It is the same comparison. A ratio of 1.12 is a load balance of +12%, and roughly 0.8 to 1.3, the range most coaches aim for, is Fresh, Balanced and Building in Kiiro.
The idea comes from research in team sports by Tim Gabbett and others, which linked sudden spikes in load to more injuries. Later studies have questioned how well it predicts injury for an individual. Treat it as a guide to how fast you are ramping up, not as a guarantee either way.
The original version compares a 7-day average with a 28-day average. Kiiro uses the newer, exponentially weighted version over 7 and 42 days, where recent days count more than older ones. It reacts faster to what you did this week and does not jump when an old workout drops out of the window.
More: How can I tell if I’m overtraining? · How much can I run next week?
Related terms
- Acute load: Acute load reflects your recent training effort, mostly from the past week. It tracks short-term fatigue.
- Fitness level: Fitness level looks at your longer-term training, roughly the past six weeks. It represents your training base.
- Training load: Training load is how much strain your workouts put on your body. It combines how long and how hard you trained into one number.
