Label: these numbers are operational defaults — coaching convention and tunable product choices, not literature values. We found no paper that sets 55 TSS/hour, a recovery week at 60% of load, or the start-ramp bounds, so none is cited for them.
Athlete summary
To build a multi-week plan, Koyaro needs a weekly TSS target. It takes the hours you said you can train, multiplies them by a TSS-per-hour factor to get a peak week, ramps toward that peak from where your fitness is now, makes every 4th week an easier recovery week, and — before an A-event — finishes with the Bosquet taper.
The shape — progressive overload, regular easier weeks, a volume taper — is standard periodization practice. The exact numbers on this page are Koyaro's starting defaults. They are not taken from a study, and we say so rather than dress them up. When Koyaro builds your plan from your recent rides and there are enough of them, your own intensity replaces the TSS/hour guess.
The defaults (labeled, not cited)
| Default | Value | What it does | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fallback TSS/hour | 55 (≈ IF 0.74 held for an hour) | Peak week = weekly hours × 55 when there are too few recent rides | Operational default. The square law is cited; the 0.74 average is not |
| Personalised TSS/hour | (median recent IF)² × 100, clamped 45–70 | Replaces the fallback once 3 or more usable rides exist | Allen & Coggan square law (cited); window, band and clamp are operational |
| Recovery cadence | every 4th week (3 load weeks, then 1 easier week) | That week is all easy riding | Coaching convention |
| Recovery depth | 0.6 × that week's ramped load | How much lighter the recovery week is | Operational default |
| Start ramp | 0.9 × your current weekly load (CTL × 7), kept within 0.8–0.95 of peak | Sets week 1; load then rises linearly to the peak in the last build week | Operational default |
“Usable” recent rides are rides from the last 28 days, at least 30 minutes long, with an IF between 0.50 and 1.05 (so recovery spins and all-out races don't dominate the median). Plans Koyaro builds from your training history use this personalised factor; a plan created without that history keeps the 55 fallback.
Plans without a target event have no taper, so the 3-and-1 rhythm simply runs to the end. Before an A-event, a recovery week that would fall right before the taper stays a load week, so recovery and taper do not stack into a longer unload than the Bosquet window.
Worked example (default factor)
10 h/week, CTL 50, 12-week plan with a 2-week taper:
- Peak week = 10 × 55 = 550 TSS.
- Start ramp: 0.9 × (50 × 7) / 550 ≈ 0.57 → held at the 0.8 floor, so week 1 = 440 TSS.
- Week 4 (recovery): 550 × (0.8 + 0.2 × 3/9) × 0.6 = 286 TSS, all easy.
- Week 10 (last build week) = 550 TSS; taper weeks 11–12 = 0.59 and 0.40 of that (324.5 and 220 TSS).
What is cited — and what is not
Cited. TSS from an intensity factor is Allen & Coggan's TSS = hours × IF² × 100, so one hour at IF 0.74 is 0.74² × 100 ≈ 55. The taper after the build is Bosquet 2007 — see Bosquet taper — volume −41–60%, hold intensity and frequency.
Not cited. The square law converts an IF into TSS/hour; it does not say which IF a typical training hour averages, so 0.74 → 55 is Koyaro's choice. Three load weeks then one easier week is a widespread coaching pattern, not a trial result, and no study we found sets a recovery week at 60% of load or pins the 0.8–0.95 start ramp. The personalisation window, IF band, 3-ride minimum, and 45–70 clamp are guard rails, not physiology.
We'll keep these labeled as defaults until a study supports a specific number. If one does, we'll cite it and say so here.
What this is not
- Not the Bosquet taper (volume −41–60%, intensity held) — that one is literature-locked and unchanged.
- Not Foster monotony / strain or the CTL ramp-rate guards — see Foster monotony / strain + CTL ramp-rate guards.
- Not planned session TSS — that comes from the expanded workout (whole-ride NP / FTP). See Planned session TSS/IF from workout structure.
Citations (the formula and the taper, not the defaults)
| Key | Source | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
allen-coggan-tss | Allen H, Coggan AR — Training and Racing with a Power Meter | TSS = hours × IF² × 100 turns an IF into TSS/hour. It does not set 0.74. |
bosquet-2007-taper | Bosquet L, Montpetit J, Arvisais D, Mujika I. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007;39(8):1358–1365 | Taper volume −41–60% vs the last build week. It does not set recovery-week depth or cadence. |