My Plan BETA, training load and recovery.

go-out

Hi all,

I wanted to share my first impressions of using “My Plan BETA”. Feel free to add your own experiences or stories in the comments — this isn’t a how to guide, just a space to exchange insights.

My reason for starting with My Plan was the iPhone widget that displays training progress metrics (CTL, ATL, and TSB). To be honest, I hadn’t really paid attention to those values before, but after doing some research, I realized the potential benefits of tracking Training Stress Score (TSS) and recovery. That’s what initially sparked my interest.

Reference: Understand and manage your training load with Suunto

A bit about my background: I typically train 4 times per week — two gym sessions with a group (CrossFit or HYROX-style) and at least two runs (trail or road). At 45 years old with a VO2max of 48.7, my main goal is building greater endurance.

So, I started My Plan “Elevate Endurance”. What can possibly go wrong in a 10-week trial, when doing my favorite activities along the way.

The plan is created. The recovery days are respected by the AI agent. Now, my training days in the gym are Monday and Thursday, but the plan decided to plan it on other days.

My initial thought was to register a feature request. To be able to plan some activities on fixed days. So that I’m able to train with my buddies at the gym.

Later I realized that the plan is created by AI and it breaks the plan into 10 separate week plans. Goals are set per week. So, if I make sure my TSS is good, I think it will be good overall.
One of the week goals is “week abidance” (hope the translation is correct), this suggests the above. That we must manage our weekly goals apart from delivering at the exact planned days.

Side note: I’m still in week 1 to be honest, so I will share more details in a few months if it’s worth mentioning. I imagine that changing workout days will have impact on recovery and by that the plan AI created for me.
This makes me think: Is the plan dynamic? Does it change the plan along the way during the 10 weeks, when I don’t meet the weekly goals? Anyway, I will see…

My OCD likes to match the plan with reality. Therefore, I still consider the feature request.

Since I want to get a clearer picture of my training load and recovery, I’ve started paying closer attention to the TSS and PTE values for each activity. I’m also reviewing my weekly goals in My Plan, where the total TSS for the week is shown — that’s my current focus.

How do you approach progress and recovery tracking? Do you use a similar method, or do you have other metrics or focus points you rely on? I’d love to hear about your approach and any insights you can share.

Happy training,
Yuri

go-out

Update: Nearing the End of My 10 Week Training Plan

After almost ten weeks of focused training, I’m closing in on the end of my current program. The goal was to improve my VO₂max and build better endurance fitness — but so far, the results haven’t matched expectations. To be fair, I didn’t fully stick to the schedule. In most weeks, I trained more than scheduled.

Now in week 9, my VO₂max has actually dropped compared to eight weeks ago. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

I couldn’t stay fully aligned with the “My Plan” schedule due to my daily routine and lifestyle.
The planned training load often felt lower than what I’m used to, so I naturally added extra workouts.
Social activities also affected compliance — when friends invited me for an outdoor session, I couldn’t say no.

For the coming weeks, I’ll shift my focus more toward fitness-level metrics like TSB and staying in the productive training form of TSS. This will keep me fit.

Two ideas for improvement on the Suunto App would be:

AI-based plan adjustments
It would be great if AI could evaluate training metrics weekly and automatically adjust the plan. Right now, the 10 week program feels static — once it starts, it runs its course without adapting to changes in load or recovery, which leads to inconsistent compliance.
Better visibility of TSS
It would help to see TSS directly in the activity overview, next to Distance, Duration, and Avg. Pace. It’s a small change, but it would save an extra click and make tracking much easier.

Just wanted to share these reflections as I wrap up the program. Curious to hear how others deal with similar challenges — have you made adaptive training plans work better in practice?

Happy training,
Yuri

VoiGAS

Tried the Ultra trail Mastery Program. Training distribution and total TSS are looking good, BUT: only 3 of 6 trainings are Trailrunning, then 2 times biking(!) and 1 day strength training.
I took the option for strength training, so thats ok once a week. But two times biking every week? And no way to change it to running? That makes no sense to me

VoiGAS

Found a workaround: As additional trainings choose “Trailrunning”. Sounds stupid for a Trailrunning plan, but biking is gone now

Stavrogin

@VoiGAS To your point I have had to generate and regenerate plans in the past to get it right. The questionnaire in the beginning is super important. Initially I thought that it would use indoor cycling for recovery and not much else, but in the end had to take out the option because I was also given the option to cycle more than I needed. Time of feet is important and I wasn’t sure that I would get it with 2 days cycling or one day hiking.

Curious to see how your plan goes. The Go-To review seems to maybe misunderstand the time questions (I could be totally wrong) but I have also had to move that bar up and down to get the right rise in TSS over time that was necessary to create the growth I was looking for. I have had it spit out a flat TSS graph when I was not putting in enough time to the plan. (Same happens in TP to be honest.)