The Intensity Feedback is a continuous scale, which is used for the assessment of the stress level of each training session. In addition to the information and the results of the Athlete Assessment at the beginning, as well as the performance and the performance increase in the course of the Coach Journey, the Intensity Feedback is one of the most important parameters for generating individual training sessions. The Intensity Feedback captures the individual perception of stress and the desired intensity level aspired to by the athlete, so that the Coach can better adapt to the needs of each athlete.
The Intensity Feedback is an exclusive Coach feature which only appears after workouts assigned by your Coach. Trainings completed that are not assigned by your coach are not part of the personalization of the Coach algorithm and therefore do not include it.
What is the idea behind the Intensity Feedback?
The development of the Intensity Feedback follows the idea of the so-called RPE-Scales (Ratings of Perceived Exertion), which are an integral part of performance diagnostics in competitive sports, but are also used for clinical purposes. The purpose of these scales is to include – apart from clearly measurable factors – an often neglected component: the athlete and his or her perception.
What does this have to do with Freeletics and my training?
With the Intensity Feedback, the athlete’s perception flows directly into the generation of training sessions by the Coach. The information is collected over the course of a training week, evaluated and then taken into account when planning the next Coach Week. The scale includes the 5 main training zones in which an athlete can train. They are recognizable on the gradient from green to orange and on the endpoints ‘Easy’ (no effort at all) and ‘Maximum’ (nothing works any more).
The Freeletics Intensity Feedback, however, exhibits only a superficial similarity with a RPE-Scale, but is a feedback system that is adapted to the Freeletics training system. It is both practically applicable and yet sufficiently accurate to take the human sensory system into account.
How does the Intensity Feedback work?
The Intensity Feedback includes two parts: In the first part, the athlete is asked about his subjectively perceived level of stress. What is the intensity range the athlete trained in? Did he or she give everything he or she could? Was the intensity of the training session adequate for the performance level of the athlete? Or is it possible that the training session may even have been too easy? Without emotions coming into play, an athlete should evaluate how strenuous he or she perceived the completed training session to have been.
The second part refers to how individual athletes perceive and interpret similar levels of stress differently. While some athletes strive to perform over the limit, this is unusual for others (especially in the beginning) and may have a daunting effect.
What else do I need to know about the Intensity Feedback?
Both parts do not relate to individual exercise types, but only to the level of stress. It is therefore not possible to exclude certain exercises or workouts just by specifying that the completed training session was perceived as unpleasant. Also, Freeletics training is not necessarily getting “softer”. The purpose of Freeletics is to train within the high intensity range and, with every workout, to challenge each athlete physically and mentally – but within the range of what is possible and appropriate in the context of his or her experience.
