I searched online but found a pretty big range (-10 to -30). I had an injury and divorce that killed my training from November to January. February 1 I came out swinging. From Feb 1 to today, my CTL has increased 141% and my ATL has increased by 338% with a -40 TSB based on all three disciplines. Should I look at each discipline individually? I feel pretty good right now. I listen to my body. If it needs rest, I take a break. I don’t want to burn myself out. It just feels so good to be training again. Just wondering how low is too low, if that’s a possibility. I know it’s probable very individual.
TSB doesn’t matter that much when you’re coming off a break and ramping up. It’s when you’ve had a sustained training load for a while longer and have a higher overall CTL that it warrants backing off a bit more before the hole gets too deep.
Some actual numbers would be helpful. If your 141% increase in CTL was to go from 10 to 24 then I wouldn’t be worrying too much yet. When you’re coming off a break and your CTL (and probably ATL) is relatively low, you don’t have to follow “the rules” so much, just listen to your body.
Having said that, I’ve read a number of different opinions on the topic. The wide ranges are usually to encompass the different loads in a training cycle, from rest weeks to heavy build weeks, but you should always be at negative TSB until you taper.
I seem to recall Joe Friel’s blog advocating TSB ranges of -10 to -30 for single sport athletes or -20 to -50 for multisport (although I’d be wary of recording swim TSS). I’ve also heard of using ATL:CTL ratio instead of TSB and an acceptable range being 1.1 to 1.3 (and as far as 0.8 when tapering). All of these seem about right to me, but only really applicable when CTL >60 or so. Even then, other metrics such as Total TSS and CTL ramp rate can be more informative.
If you’re a solid 6 weeks into a training block from a low base, I’d say it’s time to take some threshold tests and get your training levels/zones nailed down before worrying about this, because that will affect all of your TSS values.