Training Load Sheet
How this week compares with your recent average — with no danger zone, on purpose.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/training-load-acwr-calculator
The arithmetic
- UNCOUPLED RATIO
- this week ÷ average of the 3 before it
- CONVENTIONAL (coupled)
- this week ÷ average of all 4 weeks
- Why they differ
- the coupled one includes this week in itself
- Effect of coupling
- pulls the result towards 1 — flatters a spike
- Week on week
- (this week − last week) ÷ last week
- Units
- any, if all four weeks use the SAME one
- ⚠ NO SAFE ZONE HERE
- the 0.8-1.3 'sweet spot' is not evidenced
- ⚠ Load is not BIOMECHANICAL load
- same score, different stress
- ⚠ Pain is not a data problem
- that is a physio or clinician question
Weekly load log
| Week | Load | 3-wk average | Ratio | Week on week % | How it felt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This week
- Athlete
- Week beginning
- Load measure used
- This week
- Last week
- Two weeks ago
- Three weeks ago
- 3-WEEK AVERAGE
- UNCOUPLED RATIO
- Coupled ratio
- Week on week %
- How it actually felt
- Anything sore?
Using load numbers honestly
- Same load measure across all four weeks
- Both ratios read — the gap between them is the coupling
- Treated as DESCRIPTIVE, not as an injury forecast
- How it felt recorded alongside the number
- Sleep, stress and illness noted — they change how load lands
- Type of training considered, not just the total
- Soreness or swelling taken to a physio rather than to a spreadsheet
- No threshold treated as a safety guarantee in either direction
Why there is no red zone on this sheet
The familiar 0.8-1.3 sweet spot and 1.5 danger threshold are widely published and have been seriously challenged — the argument being that there is no evidence supporting ACWR for training recommendations aimed at reducing injury risk, and that the ratio's statistical properties make it inaccurate and hard to interpret. Printing a threshold would repeat a claim the literature does not support.
Coupling, in your own numbers
The conventional ratio includes this week inside the average it is compared against, so the same figure sits on both sides of the division. That pulls the answer towards 1 — flattering a spike and understating a drop. Both versions are on this sheet so you can see the size of it rather than take it on trust.