monitoring training programs

• Why collect training data?

  • Training data can be used by an athlete and a coach to gauge the effectiveness of a training program
  • Can monitor if the athlete is coping with the training load and make adjustments to minimise injury and/or illness
• What type of data is collected?

  • Physiological information
  • Psychological information
  • Sociological information
• Physiological information

  ⭐: provide info. about the body’s physical functioning and physiological response to training

  • Examples
  • Energy level during training
  • Heart rate responses (resting, exercise and recovery)
  • Muscle soreness
  • Sleep patterns (quality and quantity)
  • Nutritional info.
  • Breathing rate
  • Perspiration levels
• Psychological information

  ⭐: provides the athlete with an understanding of their mental readiness and mental capacity to train and perform: thoughts, feelings and cognitive characteristics that affect behaviour

  • Examples
  • Emotional and motivational variables
  • Confidence levels
  • Arousal levels
  • Stress levels
  • Goal setting
• Sociological information

  ⭐: provides context about the broader social, cultural and environmental factors that contribute to an athlete’s performance

  • Examples
  • Temperature and weather conditions during training session
  • Training time and day
  • Type of training session
  • Place of training (indoors, outdoors, type of surface, venue)
  • Training partners/team mates
• How do we collect training data?

  • Training diaries
  • Digital activity trackers
  • Mobile apps
• Training diaries

  ⭐: athlete’s personal monitoring tool which can record both objective and subjective training information

  • An athlete can record objective data obtained from digital tracking
  • Subjective info. Such as emotional feelings, energy levels and environmental factors can also be recorded
• Digital activity trackers

  • Examples
  • Smart watches
  • Chest straps
  • Accelerometers
  • GPS devices
  • They can measure and track
  • Heart rate
  • Movement patterns
  • Sleep
  • Weather
  • Intensity 
  • Recovery 
• Mobile apps

  • Many digital activity tracker companion apps and stand-alone apps available to measure, monitor and track training data
  • Mobile apps are generally able to display, record and provide a greater amount of info. than a digital activity tracker on its own
  • They can allow users to log workouts and record physiological, psychological and sociological information
  • Provide access to data sharing and competition with other people, improving motivation (psychological + sociological)
  • Distance ran, speed, duration etc. (HR - intensity is physiological data)