The objective, externally measured work a person does, independent of their internal response.
External training load refers to the physical work performed during exercise as measured from outside the body—e.g., distance, speed, power output, GPS-derived metrics, barbell load, or accelerometer-based 'load' units. It is contrasted with internal training load, which captures the physiological/psychological response to that work (e.g., heart rate, RPE). Construct validity is genuinely contested here: many commercial ETL metrics (such as composite 'load' scores) are proprietary or loosely theorized, so what they purport to measure is not always well-established against a clear criterion.
This guide was auto-drafted and is pending editorial review.