What is Training Load in watchOS 11? Apple Watch fitness feature explained

Apple has revealed a new Training Load feature designed to help athletes and fitness enthusiasts monitor how hard they’re training and how their body is recovering and responding.

The headline watchOS 11 feature revealed during the WWDC 2024 keynote, will give the Apple Watch an important new tool as it looks to match rival devices like Whoop and fitness watches from the likes of Garmin and Polar.

How does Training Load work?

Training Load gives you an effort score for your workout by combining personal metrics like heart-rate, pace, weight, height and duration and taking into consideration external factors like elevation. This score can be manually adjusted if you don’t agree with the rating.

What insights does Training Load offer?

However, this is just the beginning. Apple will compare this to your previous efforts and will give you insight into whether you’re above or below your regular training load. This will help if training or tapering down for a specific event, for example.

The idea is to help you see how your training load is affecting your body over time, while it’ll take into account your Overnight Vitals to measure metrics while you slept, which can depict how well you’re recovering.

You might see insights on the companion iPhone explaining your Training Load is Steady for the last week vs the 28-day average. You’ll see a percentage increase up or down.

That summary might read something like “Your last rated workout was recorded yestrday at 8:50am. Your 7-day training load is close to your 28-day load.”

When is Training Load available on Apple Watch?

Training Load will launch as part of watchOS 18 this autumn. It’s not clear yet whether it’ll rely on specific hardware so we’re not sure which Apple Watch models it’ll be compatible with.

Other watchOS 11 health features also include a new Vitals app, offering a snapshot of your health data. watchOS 11 will also allow you to log a rest day so you aren’t badgered about filling your activity rings.