Some customers tell us they struggle with the idea of adapting training each morning, preferring instead to have a set plan in mind and sticking to it. Others often relay that time is the biggest restraint on their training and they can’t simply drop things to train for longer if ithlete gives them the green light. So how can you cope with the flexible training plan?
We recommend that you prepare a broad training plan for the week and then adapt this based on the ithlete training indication. Minor adjustments to training plans can optimise sessions no end and make significantly more of your training over the week. Broadly speaking here’s what we do on any given ithlete colour recommendation…
Green: You have recovered well so you can consider increasing training load from your planned activity – this might be an increase of volume or intensity depending on your schedule or current training goals.
White: Train as planned, or adopt sessions that you had to modify on another day.
Amber: Reduce the intensity of training today to better allow your body to recover. It is strongly recommended that you keep the workouts in the aerobic zone and avoid HIIT. (If you aren’t using a HRM during workouts a simple guide is that you can keep up a conversation at this level!).
Red: Okay, we admit, it’s a rest day – but its guilt free! Your body is benefiting far more from the rest than it would be pushing through an unproductive session.
This just goes to show you can still use that time more effectively with ithlete! Once you have taken your morning HRV measurement you will know how able and ready for a workout your body is. So on a green day step up the intensity to get the most out of the session, or on an amber day tone down the intensity to keep it aerobic. You can still fit either of these alterations in to the hour slot you marked out to train!
Alternatively if it better suits your way of training you can always adjust the volume/duration instead of intensity, but keep in mind that its primarily intensity that governs the stress your body is put under, as we summarised in this article.
We’d love to hear from any of our users about how you adjust training according to your ithlete reading too!