Training smarter and harder

It is important to distinguish between the monitoring of athletes and the targeted load this athlete. Although both are closely linked, it is more effective to consider both aspects in order to optimal training success to achieve. Monitoring can help Avoid injuries, but alone it is not enough to make an athlete more resistant. A meaningful combination of monitoring and targeted loading is of utmost importance.

The “external load” is defined as the one of the athletes Work done. So she's giving up WAS the athlete has made (e.g.: run distance, number of sprints etc.).

The internal load is the individual response of the player to an external load. It is influenced by various stressors (training condition, age, stress, environment, etc.).

Loading is a concept for understanding and monitoring athletes of great importance is. There are three components, which must be taken into account in determining the load of an athlete: external stress, internal stress and external factors.

The external stress refers to physical work, which the athlete performs during his preparation for a competition or during an actual competition. This can be measured, for example, by the run distance, the speed, the weights that it lifts, or the frequency with which it shoots a ball.

The Internal stress In contrast, the Reaction of the body to this external stress. This can be a physiological, psychological or biomechanical reaction.

Finally affect a row External factors the loadability of a player. These include stress, lifestyle, sleep, family conditions, work-life balance and exam stress. All these factors interact to increase or reduce the load of a player and to change its loadability on a specific day.

For example, if we plan a training unit in which a player is to run 4 kilometers and run one kilometre at high speed (over 19.8 km/h), this represents a certain external load that causes a certain internal load. The player's ability to tolerate this burden depends on a variety of factors, including external load, internal load and external factors. There are factors that are not easy to measure, but still have an influence on the loadability of a player, such as family or psychological loads. It is important to consider these factors to gain a comprehensive understanding of the burden of a player.

Also read:

Acute vs. Chronic Training Load (ACWR) – Can injuries be predicted?

It is important to understand that the internal load drives the adjustment. Things like the heart rate or our perceived effort (RPE), control the adjustment, but it is the external load we change to increase or reduce internal load. So if we want to achieve a greater adjustment, a greater intensity of our training unit, we can increase the external load. If we want to reduce the internal burden, we need to reduce the external burden.

Let us take a closer look at the ratio of acute to chronic stress and the risk of injury. In general (or on average) this is Risk of injury lowif that ACWR between 0.8 and 1.3 is held. The Loading However, fast increases, this can be Increase risk of injury. Based on this knowledge, it would be easy to recommend that the training loads never increase quickly and never relieve the athletes. But that's not true!

If we train sportsmen, we always weigh the Risks and benefits of training off. Yes, there is a risk when the training load is increased. It is important to understand, however, that if I keep my athletes in this average area in the safe zone, its average risk of injury is low, but it also remains on average and cannot develop significantly. Sometimes it is importantto remember that we our Athletes demand have to to achieve greater physiological adaptation.

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As an intern we have two possibilities. We can either "safe zone" stay and maintain the average, or we can in certain cases, and get some more out of the athlete. Anyway, you do it as part of a plan. You don't just show up on the first day of the preseason and say, "We're starting with a very intensive training". The athletes must first be prepared for the stress. This means that they must Building tolerance to intensive loads. This means that the athletes, before going through an intensive training phase, first a corresponding Building chronic strains have to. This is achieved by consistent training.

Even players who re-enter after an injury should not participate in intensive training sessions.

Important to mention is that a variable not the Holy Grail will be. You cannot expect that if you only measure the ACWR, all injuries suddenly disappear. Violations are multifactory, difficult to prevent and unpredictable. A variable will not be the "mirror" that means it is not just about the ACWR.

The actual strength of the ratio in the actual sense is that training progress (intensive training phases) and relief (less intensive training phases) can be detected and assessed.

It is definitely a good way to reduce the risk of injury to our athletes. However, it is important that not only this one value is judged, but always with respect to the numerous other important parameters.

If the chronic stress of an athlete is low, the risk of injury is highest (i.e. it is in the "travel zone"). However, if the chronic stress is high, the risk of injury is the least (i.e. it is the "Sweet Spot"). So there is one "Sweet Spot" and a "Gefahrzone" for ACWRbut also one "Sweet Spot" and a "Gefahrzone" for chronic stress. (see figure above)

If the chronic stress is low, only because this has achieved the sweet spot for the Ratio, the athlete is not actually ready for an intensive training phase. Monitoring of acute and chronic stress is a good starting point. However, monitoring alone and the mere recognition of risks do not help to avoid injuries. You need to train hard and gradually increase your load to minimize the risk of injury.

Tim Gabbett - Expert in Load Management:

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Are you looking for an advanced solution to monitor and optimize the performance and load of your players? Then the Team Management System (TMS) is exactly what you need.

With the TMS you can capture, monitor and evaluate the burden of your players to ensure the best possible further development. Register now for free:
https://tms.sportsense.at/en/main/dashboard

Test the software in advance in the demo account:
https://demo.sportsense.at/en/login

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Sources

Gabbett, T., 2016. The Paradoxon Training - Prevention of injuries: Should athletes train smarter and harder? British Journal of Sports Medicine , 50 (5), p. 273–280.

http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2016/01/12/bjsports-2015-095788?

Hulin, B., Gabbett, T., Lawson, D., Caputi, P. and Sampson, J., (2015). The ratio of acute to chronic workload predicts injuries: A high chronic workload can reduce the risk of injury to elite rugby players. British Journal of Sports Medicine , 50 (4), p. 231-236. http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2015/10/28/bjsports-2015-094817.short

Gabbett T (2018). The myths about training stress, injury and performance reveal: empirical evidence, hot topics and recommendations for practitioners. British Journal of sports Medicine.http: //dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099784.