PCM 08 is arriving shortly. Still, I’m releasing a tool for PCM 07. Go figure…
A fitness calculator was released for PCM 06 by Cfmos, this is just a restyled version of that. So, credit for all research and formulas goes to Cfmos.
However, that excel sheet was not very user friendly. This updated fitness calculator intends to solve that issue.
A quick glance at the excel spreadsheet, column by column.
The first column, date, is pretty obvious. It’s just included in order to keep track of the date. It’s possible to select other starting dates, just type what ever date you’re starting at in A4.
Column B is the training level that you have set for the specific date (You need to have manually training turned on in order for the fitness calculator to work). At this stage, the possible levels are 0,50,60,70,80,90,100. Anything else will be interpreted as 50. This is due to a limitation in excel. However, I believe that those are the only levels you need. Column C has been hidden, since its only use is to assist column D.
Column D is the calculated training fitness. You need to specify a starting value in D4. Remember that this is only training fitness as oppose to total fitness.
Column E. This column is used to calculate the Race Fitness. If your rider participated in a race, put “Yes” at the corresponding date. It’s very important that you put “Yes” (case sensitive), since all other input are interpreted as “No”. Thus, there is no need to put “No”, if your rider did not race that particular day, just don’t put anything at all. The total race day calculator is the cumulated number of “Yes”.
Column F and G have been hidden since they provide no useful information. They are just there to assist the race fitness and total race day calculators.
Column H is the calculated race fitness value.
Column I, the total fitness, is just the sum of training fitness(D) and race fitness(H).
Column J has been hidden since its only use is to provide column K with information.
Column K holds the Fatigue value for your rider.
So, basically that’s it. I think that it is a very neat and intuitive tool. You need to specify a starting level for training fitness and race fitness along with the daily training level and weather or not your rider has participated in a race.
Heads up
The calculator may be of by a unit, due to rounding. The implementation of the fatigue calculator is not well tested, so it could be off by more (hard to evaluate due to the presentation of fatigue). Decrease in maximum training and race fitness is not implemented. Also not implemented is the generation of fatigue when training at high intensity level compared to fitness level. Rule of thumb; if it possible to train just as fast at a lower intensity level – do so. Specifically, up to 40 do not train at intensity level higher than 60. Between 40 and 50, switch to 70. Fatigue due to high fitness level starts at training fitness 64 (a bit earlier for intensity level 100), between fitness level 50 and 64 you will not generate fatigue, regardless of intensity level.
Usage
I created an optimal training strategy for a rider (figures below). Using the fitness calculator I was able to get him to a total fitness above 90 four times and just below 90 two times, all in one season and without exceeding the ‘limit’ of 2500 fatigue. He did not peak for very long times, so I’m not saying that it’s possible to get above 90 for all three grand tours.
Is it possible to insert training level at a certain point? E.g. If Im at the 1st February - can I put the riders current training level in the cell for February 1st, I35 and the calculator will still work?
SportingNonsense wrote:
Is it possible to insert training level at a certain point? E.g. If Im at the 1st February - can I put the riders current training level in the cell for February 1st, I35 and the calculator will still work?
Yes, you can specify the fitness level at any date.
