poe training
TRANSCRIPT
Parceled Out EffortEncouraging Athletes to Seek Their Best
Will Kirousis BS, CSCS, CISSN | @willkirousis | [email protected]
Ground Rules• “It Depends”• Know that there are multiple correct answers• Unlearning – always be ready for some good
unlearning• Study science, but don’t confuse science and
coaching• Athlete centered• Perception is huge
What lead me here?• First shot, end of 90’s early 00’s• About the total work accomplished/workout and coaching simplicity… • Not enough teaching
• Last few years, returned to the POE idea.• Better understanding of how this idea relates to the whole athlete.• Believe it helps from the fundamental realities of performance – to
the complex nuances.
What lead me here?• We all use a system which may (no, it is) be rooted in a coach/s who’s
programing has lasted the decades. • Within that system you seek feedback, because the athlete “can feel
but not see, and the coach can see but not feel”.• My system was getting stuck!• I wanted a more holistic approach.
What lead me here?Being stuck lead me to questioning my approach over the years: • Zones/physiology?• Athlete readiness on the day?• Basic needs theory?• Becoming robots, or creative beings?• How to I teach them to apply work best?
Thinking about those questions…• Athletes need:• Ability to read themselves• Adaptability/creativity• Meeting their basic needs
• Physiology is associated with but not the only thing needed to be developed for athletes to perform best. • We have to coach the whole athlete.
Through this process, I realized that I wanted:• A simple approach, easy to implement, full performance benefits.• Not focused internally, rather focused externally.• Athlete centered workout execution!
“It is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ, it’s the brain”
-- Sir Roger Bannister 1956
Pacing, it starts with a feeling…• RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion)
• helps us regulate pacing by combining physiologic & psychologic stress• Simultaneously estimates how those assessments fit into the estimated time remaining in
the effort.• Key factor in Anticipatory Regulation
• In a clinical setting this has limits since creating a repeatable definition is challenging… But in a coaching setting it’s perfect – clinic = small world, coaching = large world!• You can fool RPE (and physiology) by not knowing the distance/time correctly. • Don’t drop other tools (power/HR), instead, triangulate all of them to help target
work so you LEARN how to perform, rather than how to work at specific rates.
Pacing determination… Complex and uncertain!
• Determination of pacing strategy = large world scenario• We chunk what we know/expect based on past experiences to create what we
perceive to be the best case scenario.
• The heuristic/analogy based approach to decision making in endurance sport is complimentary with similarly complex decision making in non sport settings.• Experience and group dynamics can – or + impact this process.• Likewise, your + and - expectations for your actions will impact your
choices.• Framing situations based on knowns, and experiences is vital!
Pacing and POE style intervals• Every interval workout = a chance to learn, & can broaden the
template we draw upon to anticipate and thus regulate our pacing during future workouts and races.
View Workouts as Learning Opportunities• What is the organization of that workout?• Athletes readiness• Workout specific needs (tasks and equipment)• Environmental conditions (topography, temp, precip, surface etc)
• Performance occurs based on the “physical constraints relative to the task I’m being asked to perform in terms of the environment I’m being asked to perform it in.” (Nick Winkleman)
Variable v Efficient• Learning a new/different skill = inherent variability.• Efficient = minimal learning• Contextual interference • Purposeful variability, the nature of the sport.• Increased attentional focus due to challenges.• Thus, greater learning occurs due to purposeful variability of sport.
Workouts can inspire learning• Start with known structures. With fewer degrees of freedom.• Progress over training year/lifespan towards more variability (IE. POE)• “Build context, then interfere with it!”– Nick Winkleman
• Describe workout directions with sensory rich terminology:• “Flatten out the hill a little more with each interval”• “View each interval like the next step in a stair case”
Learning workouts result in adaptable athletes:Our goal as coaches: Get out of the athletes way!
Empower the athlete to make decisions – they need autonomy support to be their best!
Stay super fluid – teach them how to adjust training. Highly variable daily programing is ok, as described by the late Mel Siff: “cyber-kinetic periodization”
Encourage feedback, and give them the knowledge to help steer the ship.
Workout learning in a nut shell:• Workouts provide a chance to improve physiology via execution of
performance tasks.• Welcome “unlearning” (via context interference) opportunities within
workouts!
Teach the Workout
• Warm up well• Define work set goal• RPE will gradually increase – even with the same workload – over the
course of a workout.• Make sure athletes have a good first effort target so they don’t blow
the workout (or week) with an over done start.• Make sure athletes realize each workout is not the end all be all.
Workout Keys
• Warm up – 15-30’, gradually building to intensity focus of the workouts intervals. Finishing warm up at a comfortable aerobic (MI/Z2/Aerobic etc. intensity)• Workout – dependent on the athlete and needs. An example would
be 30” x 8, 3’ Rest Intervals or 20’ X 2, 10’ Rest intervals.• Cool down, 10-15’ fading aerobic effort to walking effort.
Visual example of a POE workout
A Real POE Workout: Not as dramatic as the example when done well…
My challenge to you:
• Challenge athletes to learn during workouts• Teach athletes about pacing and how RPE is as important as watts or HR
when it comes to improving.• Structure interval workouts in a way which challenges more than
physiology.• Use games during workouts, for example: exceed the last point you
reached by 10 meters with each interval.• Be creative – hit the needed physiology by smartly structuring the
duration and spacing of work and rest intervals.• Have fun coaching, and training!
References / Suggested ReadingsDe Morree, H. M., Klein, C., & Marcora, S. M. (2012). Perception of effort reflects central motor command during movement execution . Psychophysiology, 49(9), 1242-1253.
Dyson, S. (2015) Paradox of Deeper Learning: The Unlearning Curve. Education Week, Learning Deeply Blog. Retrieved from: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning_deeply/2015/04/the_paradox_of_deeper_learning_the_unlearning_curve.html
Gambetta, V., Personal Conversation (May, 6, 2016).
Jones, H. S, Williams, E. L, & Bridge, C. A (2013). Physiological and psychological effects of deception on pacing strategy and performance: a review. Sports Medicine. 43(12), 1243−1257.
Knicker, A. J, Renshaw, I., Oldham, A. R, & Cairns, S. P. (2011). Interactive processes link the multiple symptoms of fatigue in sport competition. Sports Medicine, 41(4):307−328.
Mauger, A. (2014). Factors affecting the regulation of pacing: current perspectives. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 5, 209-2014.
Noakes, T. D. (2013). Fatigue is a brain-derived emotion that regulates the exercise behavior to ensure the protection of whole body homeostasis. Frontiers of Physiology, 3(82), 1-13.
Rauch, H. G., Schönbächler, G., Noakes, T. D. (2013). Neural correlates of motor vigor and motor urgency during exercise. Sports Medicine, 43(4), 227−241.
Renfree, A., Martin, L., Micklewright, D., & St Clair Gibson, A. (2014). Application of decision-making theory to the regulation of muscular work rate during self- paced competitive endurance activity. Sports Medicine, 44(2), 147−158.
Roelands, B., de Koning, J., Foster, C., Hettinga, F., & Meeusen, R. (2013). Neurophysiological determinants of theoretical concepts and mechanisms involved in pacing. Sports Medicine, 43(5), 301−311.
Smits, B. L., Pepping, G. J., & Hettinga, F. J. (2014). Pacing and decision making in sport and exercise: the roles of perception and action in the regulation of exercise intensity. Sports Medicine, 44(6), 763−775.
St Clair Gibson, A., De Koning, J. J., & Thompson, K. G. (2013). Crawling to the finish line: why do endurance runners collapse? Implications for understanding of mechanisms underlying pacing and fatigue. Sports Medicine, 43(6), 413−424.
Tucker, R. (2009). The anticipatory regulation of performance: the physiological basis for pacing strategies and the development of a perception based model for exercise performance. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43 (6), 392-400.
Swart, J., Lindsay, T. R., Lambert, M. I., Brown, J. C. & Noakes, T. D. (2012). Perceptual cues in the regulation of exercise performance – physical sensations of exercise and awareness of effort interact as separate cues. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 46(1), 42-48.
Winkleman, N. (May 9, 2016), Cuing for Better Coaching, Global Performance Summit, Retrieved from:
http://www.globalperformancesummit.com/speakers-2/nick-winkelman
Questions?Will Kirousis
www.tri-hard.com
We Wish YOU An Awesome Season!