Long Term Tracking minimaxX GPS

LongTermTracking
Dr.AlecButtfield
LongtermtrackingofathleteperformanceviaGPSintrain ingandgamescanprovideinvaluableinsightintotheir physicalconditionandhowtheyarerespondingtothe physicalloadtheyareexposedto.Nomatterwhatstageof theseason,longtermtrackingprovidesthecontextthatlets youevaluatehowyourathletesareprogressing.

blockwillgiveyouvitalinformationonhowyourathletes arerespondingtothetrainingbeingsetforthem.

Aremyathletesprogressingenough?
Determiningwhetheranathleteisimprovingatanappro priaterateisaverydifficultquestiontoanswersincejust abouteveryathletewillresponddifferentlytoaphysical stimulus.ThebenefitoftrackingeverysessionwithGPSis thatyouwonthavetomakeaneducatedguessastohow anathleteperformedineachsession.Thishashugeadvan tagesoveratraditionaltestattheendofacyclemodel sinceyoucanvirtuallytesteverysession.Thatisnottosay thatthereshouldntbeascheduledtestaspartofthetrain ingprogram,itisstillnecessarytoperformarepeatabletest afterallowingadequaterecoverysothatyoucangetan indicationofhowyourathleteshaverespondedtothetrain ing.However,usingGPSwillgreatlyenhancethenormal testinginformationandallowyoutospotproblemsbefore theybecomeacrisis. Ifyourtrackingisindicatingthatperformanceisnotpro gressingwithtraining,incorporatingGPSwithothermeas urescanhelptoidentifywhatthelimitingfactoris.Ifan athleteisnotprogressingbecausetheyarenotbeingphysi callystressedenoughduringthesessions,incorporatingan athletesratingofhowhardtheythoughtthesessionwas (RPE)withtheGPSinformationontheirperformancelevels duringthesession(i.e.wasthereadropoffinperformance ordidtheymaintainaconstantlevelofexertionduringthe session)canhelpyoutoassessthephysicaldifficultyofthe trainingyouhaveset.

Areathletesprogressing?
Duringpreseasonorinageneraltrainingphase,longterm trackingletsyoucheckwhatsortofeffectyourtrainingis havingonyourathletesfitness.AnadvantageofusingGPS toprovidethelongtermtrackingdataisthatyoucanper formaveryspecificanalysis.Forinstance,ifyouareina phaseoftrainingthatisconcentratingonslower,aerobic typesofexercise,youcantrackhowanathletesperform anceisprogressinginthelowerintensityzones.If,onthe otherhand,youhaveprogrammedmoresprintingandhigh intensitymovements,thenyoucanlookatperformancein thehigherspeedzonesandthemaximumspeedsreached duringefforts.Evenifyouarefocussingonrecoverybe tweenefforts,thiscanbetrackedbyexaminingrepeat sprintperformance. Longtermtrackingoftrainingperformanceisvitallyimpor tantregardlessoftheperiodisationmodelyouareusing.If youareusingatraditionalperiodisationmodelofbuilding anaerobicbasethenaddinggamepaceintensityexercise closertocompetition,thenvariablesrelatedtoexercise intensityandoverallaerobicload(liketotaldistance)should graduallybuildthroughyourtrainingblock.If,ontheother hand,youareusingareverseperiodisationmodelwhere intensityisincludedearlyinthetrainingblock,withtheaim beingtomaintainthatintensityforlongerasthetraining progresses,thenitwillbeimportanttoexaminethemeas uresofhighintensityeffortandrecoverybetweenefforts ratherthantotaldistancecoveredinthesession.Either way,usingGPStotrackimprovementsduringatraining

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

Long Term Tracking minimaxX GPS

Anotherfactorwhichcanlimitperformanceishowwell athleteshaverecoveredbetweensessions.Recoveryisa vitallyimportantpartoftraining,asthebodyneedstimeto replenishandrepair.Identifyingwhenathletesarenot recoveringsufficientlybetweensessionscanbeaidedby addingmeasuresofperformanceduringtraining(measured viaGPS)toothermeasuresofgeneralconditionlikeresting heartrateandsleepquality.Thoughsomereductionin generalconditionandtrainingperformancewouldbeex pectedduringheavyperiodsoftraining,dramaticdiffer encesintrainingperformanceandconditioncanoftenpoint toinsufficient(orinadequate)recovery.Longtermtracking ofthesemeasurescanhelptoidentifywhenathletesare notrecoveringbetweensessions,andconsequentlyhelp youtoadjustthetrainingprogramtomaximiseitsbenefits. Thoughthemethodsdescribedabovearegoodforidentify ingstagnantperformanceordecreasesinperformance, theystilldonotanswerthequestionaremyathletespro gressingenough.Inreality,thebestwaytoidentifyhow muchisenoughisthroughexperiencewiththatathlete,and eventhenitishardtotellwhenalowerrateofimprove mentisfromfactorsotherthanthetrainingprogram(per hapstheyhavesimplyreachedtheirpeakperformance). Often,thebestwaytodeterminetheappropriatenessof yourtrainingistocombineyourassessmentsofhowstress fulasessionwaswithyourassessmentsofhowwellanath leteisrecovering.Ineffect,youareassumingthatifthe athletecanbekeptbalancedontheknifeedgeofnottrain ingsohardthattheycantrecover,butnotsoeasythatthey arentstressingtheirbodiestothemaximumextentpossi ble,thenthebestimprovementsinperformancewilloccur. MeasuringtrainingwithGPSwillgiveyouthetooltomake anaccurateassessmentoftheperformanceduringtraining, avitalpartofknowinghowcloseyouaretostrikingthat balance. Anotherkeyfactorinmaximisingimprovementsisthevari abilityoftraining.Thoughthegeneralfocusofthesessions willbedictatedbythephaseoftrainingyouarein,setting exactlythesametypeofexercisestimuluseachsessionwill notleadtothemaximumimprovement.Youneedtosubtly varytheexerciseeachsession.Thiscanbehardtodowith trainingdrillssincethereisnoguaranteethatthedrillwill runexactlyassetoutonpaper.UsingGPStomonitortrain

ingperformancewillallowyoutomoreaccuratelydeter mineandpredicttheexercisestimulusfromeachtraining drill,resultinginmoretargetedandefficienttraining.

TrackingGamePerformance:
Asthefocuschangesfromgeneralconditioningtocompeti tionandrecovery,trackingingameperformanceviaGPS canstillhelptoidentifychangesinanathletescondition. Generalmeasuresofphysicalperformancesuchasdistance runduringagameandaveragespeedwillprovideagood overview,andtrackingthesevaluesduringaseasoncan highlightproblemsastheyareoccurring.Forinstance,ifan athletehasgenerallycovered12kmeachgameforthefirst 8weeksoftheseason,butthisweektheyonlycovered 10km,therecouldbeaproblemwithhowtheyhaverecov eredfromtheaccumulatedloadoftheseason.Aoneoff differencecouldsimplybeduetotacticalfactors,butifthe poorresultisrepeatedthenthereisaverygoodcasefor changingtheroutineinbetweengames. Therearetimeswherethegeneralmeasuresdonottellthe fullstory.Sinceaveragespeedortotaldistancedoesnot discriminatebetweenshortburstsofhighintensityeffort withrestinbetweenandlongerstintsoflowintensityeffort withlessrest,anathletecanproduceasimilargeneralre sultintwoverydifferentways. Sohowshouldtrainingbealteredtogettheathletebackto theirpeakperformance?Well,beforeworkingoutwhat changesshouldbemadetotrainingandrecovery,youfirst needtoknowwhetherthereisaproblemwithfitness,ora problemwithrecovery.Iftheperformanceisreducingdur ingtheseason,itcouldbethatanathleteisgettinglessfit. Thismaysimplybebecauseanathleteisnotgettingenough physicalloadfromthegame,andthenisnotsupplementing thegameloadwithenoughtrainingload. Longtermtrackingcanhelptoidentifywhetheritisrecov eryorconditionthatiscausingadropoffinoverallper formance.Iftheintensityoftheeffortsisthesamefrom weektoweekbuttheathletecannotsustaintheeffortsfor theentiregame,itwouldsuggestthattheyarelackingin conditionandcoulddowithsomemoretrainingbetween games.If,ontheotherhand,theeffortissustainedforthe entiregamebutisatalowerintensitythanyouhaveprevi

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

Long Term Tracking minimaxX GPS

ouslyrecorded,thenthatwouldbeasignofinsufficientor inadequaterecoverybetweengames.Ifrecoveryisthe problem,youshouldreducethetrainingloadinbetween gamestolettheathletefreshenup. Youcanreducethetrainingloadeitherbykeepingtheexer cisesthesameandreducingthetimespenttraining,orby reducingtheoverallintensityoftheexerciseandkeeping thetotaltrainingtimethesame.Anargumentcouldbe madeforeithermethod,thoughIwouldsuggestthatifthe fatigueisphysicalratherthanmental,reducingtheoverall intensitybyincreasingtherestperiodsduringthesession willprovidelessofadisruptiontothenormaltrainingrou tineandwouldbemypreferredmethod.Byincreasingthe restbetweeneffortsduringthesession,youcanstilldothe exercisesanddrillsyouwanttodobuttheoverallexercise stimuluscanbeconsiderablyreduced. Thequestionofbalancingrecoveryandfitnessbecomes complicatedwhendealingwithcontactsports,asmuchof therecoveryisfromimpactdamagetothebody.When trainingisrestrictedduetogeneralsoreness,youhaveto findawaytokeepthetrainingloadhighwhileallowingthe bodytoheal.Ifyoudonothaveinformationontraining load,itcanbeveryhardtomatchwhathappensonthe trainingtracktoalternativeexerciseslikecycling.Tracking trainingduringaseasonwithGPS,thenmatchingthatin formation(combinedwithotherkeyvariablessuchasheart rate)withsimilarmeasuresfromanalternativeexercisewill helpyoutomaintainanathletesfitnesswhilelettingtheir bodyrecover.

Summary:
Longtermtrackingoftrainingandgameperformancewith GPSprovidesaninvaluableinsightintohowyourathletes arerespondingtothephysicalloadplacedontheirbodies. Subtlechangesinresultsovertimecannotonlyindicate improvementordeteriorationinperformancebuttheycan alsohelptoidentifywhataspectofanathletescondition (forinstancefatigueorfitness)hascausedthechange.

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410