Managing load across a season
Balance training stress and recovery from preseason through the final stretch. The acute-to-chronic workload ratio is the one number that ties it all together.
Injuries rarely come from a single hard day. They come from how this week's load compares to what the body is used to. Managing that ratio across a season is the difference between a squad that peaks and one that breaks down.
The acute-to-chronic workload ratio
ACWR compares recent load to established load: roughly your last 7 days of strain against your last 28 days, smoothed so it responds quickly without overreacting to one day. It is one of the few sports-science metrics with solid injury data behind it.
| ACWR | Zone | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Below 0.8 | Detraining | Doing less than the body is used to; fitness may slip. |
| 0.8 to 1.3 | Sweet spot | Load is progressing safely. Stay here. |
| 1.3 to 1.5 | Caution | Ramping faster than the body has adapted to. |
| Above 1.5 | Danger | Sharp spike in load. Injury risk climbs. |
Across the phases
- Preseason: ramp chronic load steadily. Resist the urge to cram fitness; that is exactly the spike ACWR warns against.
- In season: hold the sweet spot. Use match weeks as the acute load and keep training topping up the chronic base.
- Congested or final stretch: watch HRV and RHR trends (7-day versus 30-day). When they drift the wrong way across the group, deload before the calendar forces it.
Let the body confirm the plan
ACWR tells you what the load is doing; recovery, HRV, and RHR trends tell you how the body is taking it. When the ratio is sensible but recovery keeps trending down, trust the body and back off. The plan serves the athlete, not the other way around.