ACWR Calculator
Calculate your acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) to keep your training ramp in a controlled range. ACWR compares this week's load to your rolling 4-week average.
How to use it
- Score each session as load = session RPE (0–10) × duration in minutes.
- Enter your daily loads for up to the last 28 days, or enter your pre-summed acute and chronic totals.
- Read your ratio and zone — a sweet spot of roughly 0.8–1.3, with caution above about 1.5.
- Optionally switch to the EWMA method, which weights recent days more heavily.
What is the acute:chronic workload ratio?
The acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) divides your acute load (the total training load of the last 7 days) by your chronic load (the average weekly load over the last 28 days). It expresses, in a single number, how this week's training compares to what your body is conditioned for.
Rapid spikes in load — doing far more this week than your recent norm — are associated with higher injury and overreaching risk in the sports-science literature (Gabbett, 2016, British Journal of Sports Medicine). Keeping the ratio in a controlled band helps you progress steadily.
What is a safe ACWR range?
Many practitioners target roughly 0.8–1.3, treating ratios above about 1.5 as a load spike worth managing and ratios below 0.8 as detraining. These thresholds are guidelines from group data, not guarantees — individual tolerance varies, so use them as a prompt to review your plan rather than a hard rule.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate ACWR?
Sum your training load (session RPE × minutes) for the last 7 days to get acute load, average your weekly load over the last 28 days to get chronic load, then divide acute by chronic. This calculator does it instantly from your daily values.
What is the ACWR sweet spot?
Roughly 0.8–1.3 is a common target range, with ratios above about 1.5 flagged as a load spike. Treat these as guidelines from group data, not individual guarantees.
What is the EWMA method?
The exponentially weighted moving average variant weights recent days more heavily than older ones, making the ratio more sensitive to sudden changes in load than a simple rolling average.
Educational, performance-oriented content for athletes — not medical advice. Thresholds and reference ranges come from group data and vary between individuals.