Standardizing the Quantification of External Load Across Different Training Modalities: A Critical Need in Sport-Science Research

The debate around training-load management has been and will continue to be one of the most divisive topics in sport science.1 More specifically, quantifying external training load is crucial for sport and exercise science research and optimizing sport perfor mance, yet standardization across different training modalities remains a challenge.1–3 In comparing the effects of different modalities of training, it is important to assess whether the amount of work (or training load) is comparable across the different interventions. Thus, the interest is in whether the training outcome results from the exercise modality per se rather than from a sub stantial difference in the amount of exposure to exercise. However, equating training loads across different training modalities and exercise modes within these modalities constitutes a major chal lenge, as highlighted by recent research on endurance exercise.