Training Load on Apple Watch compares the intensity and duration of your workouts over the last 7 days with what you did over the previous 28 days. It then labels the result on a five-step scale, from Well Below to Well Above, so you can see whether you are doing more or less than your body is used to.
How does Apple Watch calculate it?
Each workout gets an effort rating from 1 (easy) to 10 (all out). For popular cardio workouts the watch estimates the rating for you, and you can change it. For other workouts you rate the effort yourself. Effort multiplied by duration is that workout’s load, and your week is the sum.
This means the number is only as good as the ratings. If you skip them or always pick the same value, Training Load has little to work with.
What do the five labels mean?
| Label | Your last 7 days, compared with your previous 28 | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Well Below | Much lower | A rest week, a taper, a break or an illness. Fitness fades if it lasts. |
| Below | Lower | Recovery, or the start of losing fitness if it continues. |
| Steady | About the same | You are maintaining what you have. |
| Above | Higher | You are building. This is where fitness grows. |
| Well Above | Much higher | A big jump. Fine for a planned big week, risky if it lasts. |
My Training Load is Well Above. Should I rest?
Not necessarily today, but soon. Well Above means you are doing much more than you are used to. A race, a training camp or one big week will put you there, and that is fine. Staying there for weeks is how runners end up tired or hurt.
A sensible response is to follow it with easier days and see whether you drop back to Above or Steady. If your legs feel heavy, your resting heart rate is up, or easy pace feels hard, take the rest day now. See How can I tell if I’m overtraining?.
Why does it say it needs more data?
Training Load needs about four weeks of workouts before it has a baseline to compare against. Until then it cannot label your week.
Where do I find it?
On Apple Watch, open the Activity app and tap the Workload button. On iPhone it is in the Fitness app. It requires watchOS 11 or later.
What Training Load does not tell you
- It compares you with your last four weeks only. It does not show how your fitness has developed over months.
- It depends on effort ratings, which are partly a judgement.
- It is one label. It does not say how the load was made up, for example whether your easy runs were easy.
Training load in Kiiro
Kiiro reads the same workouts from Apple Health and calculates training load from your measured heart rate, so it works without effort ratings. It compares your acute load with your fitness level over about six weeks, and gives you a status from Undertrained to Overtrained with your load balance as a percentage. The two are built differently, so they will not always agree, and you can use both. See training load in Kiiro.
Related questions
- How can I tell if I'm overtraining?: No single number tells you. Look for several signs together: training load well above what you are used to, a raised resting heart rate, a lower HRV, and runs that feel harder than they should.
- Does Apple Watch have a training status like Garmin?: Not under that name. Apple Watch has Training Load, which tells you whether your last week was more or less than usual, but no label such as Productive or Detraining. Here is what it offers and how to get a status.
- Why is my VO2 max not updating on Apple Watch?: Apple Watch only estimates VO2 max during outdoor walks, runs and hikes on fairly flat ground, with good GPS and heart-rate signal and enough effort. Here is what to check.
