BEN CAPOSTAGNO: Modern tools of coaching

I could go on for days about all of this but let’s now look at the sport as a whole. In 2010 there was cross country, downhill and four cross in the world cup circuit. This has now changed and four cross has split from the world cup scene and has shrunk a lot. There is now an enduro world series which is growing year by year. They have changed the rules so now riders can run mixed wheel sizes which is going to be big in the gravity scene. There are now Velosolutions pump tracks all over the world and there is a world championship for pump track. In terms of racing, the sport has become a lot more professional with teams investing a lot in big trucks, data acquisition equipment, track analysis and anything else to make the riders go faster. This has meant the field has tightened up and the time gaps are so tiny which makes for exciting racing. The tracks have gotten faster for downhill and more technical for cross country which means there are no more half measures. Everyone in the field is training hard these days, it’s too competitive not to.

For me, I like some of the changes but all in all I think all sports evolve and it’s just about keeping up with the times and embracing change. No point fighting it. I am super excited to go racing again this year even though I am not sure when that will be exactly due to the Covid-19 virus. I hope soon!

Until next time …

STEFAN GARLICKI is a 2X downhill national champion and a World Cup DH racer. Make sure you give him a

follow on Twitter: @StefanGarlicki and Instagram: @stefangarlicki

Loegang, Austria - UCI World Cup 2018.

Photo by Moonhead Media.

Full Sus’s regular coach, Ben Capostagno discusses some of the more modern tools available to coaches these days and provides some insight in to how he and his colleagues use them to assist athletes in improving their performance.

oaching has certainly evolved over the last decade or two, mostly due to an increase in the number of tools a coach has in their toolbox. However, despite the increase in the tools available for coaches these days, the role of the coach has not changed: support your athletes and assist them in improving their performance. C

SPORTS SCIENCE SUPPORT The field of sports science has certainly assisted coaches usually by answering questions posed by coaches or their athletes. “Will caffeine improve my performance?”, “Should I use a gel during a race?”, “Is this wheel-size really faster?”; all of these questions have been answered by well-conducted research trials, but the original question probably came from a coach or athlete. A strong link between sports science and coaching is imperative for the advancement of coaching techniques. In fact, the coaching process is essentially an open-ended research trial where the coach applies an intervention (training programme) to an athlete or a group of athletes, and then monitors the outcome (change

in performance). Athletes may respond differently to the same stimulus, so the coach makes a note of this and then will apply a different stimulus the next time. In order for the coach to collect and monitor their data, they rely on a host of tools that allow them to keep track of their athletes’ progress and make the necessary adjustments to their plan to ensure progression.

COACHING PLATFORMS Online platforms, like Training Peaks, allow coaches and athletes who may have vastly different geographical locations to still work together. The coach can use the platform to prescribe training for their athletes, who in turn can upload the data from their training sessions upon completion. The coach can then analyse the session and, depending on what training tools the athlete has (heart rate, power output, etc.), can see exactly what was done during the session. Did the athlete practice good intensity discipline or did they decide that their easy day was the perfect time to go and hunt those Strava KOMs? There is also software like WKO or Golden Cheetah that allow for a more detailed analysis of the training session. Platforms and programmes like these provide coaches with the ability to monitor key variables like training load and track the progression of an athlete through key sessions which are repeated during a training block and throughout a season.

THE EVOLUTION OF COACHING

TRAINING TOOLS Heart rate has been used to monitor training intensity since the ‘80s and the affordable nature of heart rate monitors has made them common training tools. It is recommended that you perform a maximal incremental exercise test at a recognised sports testing institute to help determine your personal training zones, because training according to arbitrarily assigned percentages of your maximum heart rate is not as effective. Training according to specific training zones, which are based on your metabolic thresholds, will improve both the specificity and quality of your training. Heart rate can be influenced by external factors such as fatigue, environment, caffeine and illness. These factors do affect the reliability of heart

rate data, but heart rate is still a very effective tool for monitoring training intensity.

The most direct measure of cycling intensity, however, is power output. It is not influenced by external factors and cycling is one of only a handful of sports where power output can be measured during both training and racing. Power meters have become increasingly more affordable and, as a result, their popularity has increased among cyclists of all levels. Using a power meter during training and racing is a great way to monitor not only intensity, but also progression. The introduction of smarttrainers, which reliably measure power output, and the online virtual environment of Zwift have reduced the boredom usually associated with indoor training and allowed cyclists to train very effectively indoors. The increased use of power meters has resulted in many people disregarding their heart rate data, but it is important to remember that, while power output is an important measure of the external load or the work being done, it does not provide any insight into the internal load, or how the cyclist’s physiology is responding to the training. These two variables should be used in tandem for a more complete picture.

In summary, coaching has evolved and will continue to evolve in the coming years. The introduction of new tools allows for the collection of more training-related data. However, it is the correct interpretation of that data that will ultimately lead to an improved performance.

BENOIT CAPOSTAGNO

currently works for Science to Sport in Cape Town. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Cape Town and is investigating training adaptation and fatigue in cyclists.

For more info: www.sciencetosport.com