Learn the key concepts of load management and how to implement a best practice approach to training monitoring to optimize performance and prevent injuries.

1. WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT &
ATHLETE MONITORING MADE SIMPLE
©2016, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
By Francois Gazzano, BSc.
Performance coach and athlete monitoring specialist.
CEO of AthleteMonitoring.com

2. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
SPORTS INJURIES = BIG PROBLEM
In the U.S. 1.5M high school and college athletes
injured/year
Kerr Z et al 2015; 2012-2013 National High School Sports-Related Injury
Surveillance Study
In the UK sport emergencies 390,000/year
House of Commons Library Accident and Emergency statistics
38% of professional soccer players are experiencing
mental health issues (13% in general population). >60%
had >1 severe joint and muscle injury
(World’s Player Union fifpro.org)
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‘Injuries that result in decreased match availability, impact negatively team performance’
The 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study, 2013

3. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
INJURIES ARE NOT BAD LUCK
Players rating of fatigue and
sleep quality are significant
predictors of injuries.
Laux et al . Journal of Sports Sciences, 2015
Fatigue contributes directly to
anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
injuries.
McLean, 2009.
Player's average playing
time per game is a
significant predictor of
concussion.
Stevens & Smith, 2008
Unusual increase in
training load during the
week prior to injury compared
to that of the 4 preceding
weeks.
Rogalski, 2013
3
Football players are 3.19 times more
likely to get injured during weeks
when they had high academic
stress. Mann et al. J Strength Cond
Research, 2015
↓ decision-making ability
↓ coordination
↓ neuromuscular control
↑ Risk
FATIGUE IS A KEY FACTOR
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4. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
THE PROBLEM IS FAIRLY SIMPLE
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LOAD EXCEEDS THE CAPACITY OF THE ATHLETE
Athletes are PSYCHOLOGICALLY / PHYSICALLY
UNFIT to tolerate prescribed workload
Athletes are physically fit but in NEED OF REST
1
2
Soligard,2016
«(...) rythm was frenetic, time was
flying too fast. I never had a minute
to relax. I asked for a break for
months»
Lara Gut
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5. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
RISK COMES FROM MANY SOURCES 5
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↑↑↑
RISK
Training
schedule
Training
Schedule
Fatigue
and
stress
Competition
schedule
Other
factors
Previous
injuries
Training / Competition Load
 Cumulative load
 Week-to-week load increase
 High / low acute:chronic load
ratio
 Spikes in loads
Competition Schedule
• Game-to-training ratio
• Lots of playing time
• Fixture congestion
• Lots of travel
Other factors
• Inadequate warm-up
• Poor fitness
• Nutrition/weight loss
• Type of sport
• Early sport specialization
• Age, etc.
Training schedule
 Number of ‘hard days’ per week
 Weekly training monotony
Lifestyle & Well-being
 Pre-game / training fatigue
 Poor sleep quality
 High level of stress
 Poor general health
Previous injuries
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
Focus on factors you
can control

6. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
HOW LOAD MANAGEMENT WORKS
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©2016, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
1. MONITOR fatigue, sport and non-sport
physiological and psychological stressors
2. DETECT inadequate workload (too low/too
high)
3. ADAPT (↑↓) training program, recovery and
rest based individual reponse to training, fatigue
wellness, fitness, health and recovery levels
GOAL : ↓ RISK ↑ PERFORMANCE

7. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
WHAT IS LOAD?
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LOAD / WORKLOAD (WL): the combination
of sport and non-sport stressors
EXTERNAL LOAD (EL): the external stimulus
applied to the athlete (distance, weight,
power, etc.)
INTERNAL LOAD (IL): Physiological AND
psychological response to external loads,
combined with non-sport stressors
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
Questionnaires,
Session-RPE, Wearable
Accelerometers, GPS,
dynamometers, etc
Physiological: Heart rate
monitors, Lactate
Psychological +
physiological: Session-RPE
Definitions The Tools
Internal load is the trigger of training-induced
adaptations (Weston et al., 2015)
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.

8. Measuring Internal Load
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9. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
HEART RATE
9
Use the linear relationship
between HR and the rate of oxygen
consumption during steady-state
exercise
LOAD = Σ Scores for each zone
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
Verschurenetal.,2011
220-age doesn’t predict max HRHR-VO2 curve
HR monitoring is
effective but only for
AEROBIC activities
Problems
DO NOT MEASURE the psychological
component
HR FLUCTUATES DAILY by up to
6.5%=> need regular calibration of
training zones
UNDERESTIMATES LOAD during
short-duration high-intensity /
anaerobic activities
Rationale
Key play
Aerobic activity
HR can be
used here
VO2max
HR max

10. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
SESSION-RPE
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COMBINES SUBJECTIVE and OBJECTIVE measures
VALIDATED for most sports, activities (aerobic, anaerobic,
strength training) & age groups
SIMPLE, no equipment required
LOAD = difficulty of the session/RPE (1-10) x duration
(minutes)
Impellizeri,2004
sRPE Load
HR Load
Rationale
Advantages
Problems
Requires athlete to enter / report data

11. The Key Workload Management
Metrics
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12. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
KEY METRICS #1
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©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
CHRONIC LOAD : 4-6 weeks load
average - linked to FITNESS
ACUTE LOAD: 3-7 day load - linked
to FATIGUE
FRESHNESS INDEX : difference
between chronic and acute load.
Positive Freshness index = low
fatigue + good performance
Anticipating Fitness, Fatigue, Freshness
CALCULATIONS
SESSION LOAD = session RPE x duration (minutes)
DAILY LOAD =Sum of all Session Training load for the entire day
WEEKLY LOAD =Sum of all Daily Training load for the entire week
MONOTONY= daily mean load /standard deviation
STRAIN= Daily or Weekly Training load x Monotony

13. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
KEY METRICS #2
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©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
ACUTE:CHRONIC WL RATIO : keep player’s in the
‘high-load, low-risk zone’ (0.8-1.3) - CURR WL/ 4WK
AVG
WEEK-TO-WEEK LOAD INCREASE: percentage of load
increase from one week to the next - CUR WL/LAST
WL
Increasing load safey, avoiding spikes in Load
Gabbett,2016
Gabbett,2016
Load ↑15%, risk ↑ 50%
AthleteMonitoring.com

14. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
KEY METRICS #3
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MONOTONY fluctuation of daily loads within the week
(daily mean/standard deviation)
STRAIN negative effects of heavy loads combined with
poor load distribution (Load x monotony)
YOUTH AHLETES
Hours per week <16, more h/week than athlete’s age
Ensuring adequate load distribution & volume
Foster,1998Jayanthi,etal.,2012
risk ↑ 70%AthleteMonitoring.com

15. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
KEY METRICS #4
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SELF-REPORTED WELLNESS Identifies
readiness, wellbeing & fatigue issues
PERSONAL FEEDBACK Identifies motivation
/ stress / fatigue /training issues
Measuring the invisible
ESPN-Thehiddendemographicsofyouthsports,2013
ENJOYMENT WITH TRAINING
determinant of intrinsic motivation &
persistence. Lack of enjoyment is
associated with sport dropout,
staleness and burnout (Fraser-Thomas J.
2008)

16. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
ADDITIONAL METRICS
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Counter Movement Jump (CMJ), and
musculoskeletal tests can provide useful
information about neuromuscular recovery
and/or injury
Neuromuscular Tests - If you have equipment
Large DAY-TO-DAY VARIABILITY
NOT ALWAYS ↓ after heavy load (Buchheit 2014)
REQUIRES THE COMPARISON WITH OTHER SIGNS and symptoms
(Bosquet et at. 2008)
NEEDS TO BE INTERPRETED IN CONTEXT OF THE TRAINING HISTORY
of each athlete, along with the training phase, load, and distribution
(Buchheit 2014)
Heart rate variability – Tricky to interpret

17. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
IN PRACTICE
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A quick tour of AthleteMonitoring.com
Load Management Features

18. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
References
1.Soligard T, et al.: How much is too much? (Part 2) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of illness, Br J Sports Med, 50:1030–1041, 2016.
2. Schwellnus M, et al.: How much is too much? (Part 1) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury, Br J Sports Med, 50:1043–1052, 2016.
LOAD MANAGEMENT IS SIMPLE 18
©2016, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
• INCREASE WEEKLY LOADS VERY PROGRESSIVELY
• AVOID SPIKES IN WEEKLY LOAD
• ALTERNATE HARD, MODERATE, EASY & REST DAYS
• KEEP A MINIMUM OF ONE REST DAY/WEEK
• REDUCE EXTERNAL LOADS DURING STRESSFUL PERIODS
• LIFE-EVENT & SPORT-RELATED STRESS
• PERCEIVED FATIGUE
• QUALITY OF SLEEP
• GENERAL HEALTH / WELL BEING
• FUN & ENJOYMENT WITH TRAINING
#2 ADJUST DAILY LOADS
BASED ON
AHLETE’SWELLNESS
#1 PLAN WORKLOAD
CAREFULLY
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.

19. ©2015, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
MAKE IT HAPPEN 19
©2016, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
#2 MONITOR THE KEY
METRICS AND USE THEM TO
ADAPT PROGRAMS
#1 ENSURE BUY-IN FROM
COACHES & ATHLETE
• ESSENTIAL. WITHOUT IT. IT DOESN’T WORK
• TRUST ATHLETES AND TALK WITH THEM
• DISCUSS WITH COACHES
#3 KEEP IT SIMPLE
• ONLY COLLECT DATA THAT REALLY MATTERS
• USE SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE
• GPS, POWER, HR, HRV, JUMP TESTS ARE A PLUS BUT
NOT REQUIRED
• WELLNESS MEASURES & SESSION-RPE
• ACWR, WEEKLY INCREASE, MONOTONY, STRAIN,
INVIDIDUAL FEEDBACK, ENJOYMENT, ETC
©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.

20. 2017 HYUNDAI A-LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sydney FC
2016 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP – WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
University of Washington
2016 PARALYMPIC SILVER MEDAL
Team Germany – Women’s wheelchair basketball
2016 OLYMPIC SILVER MEDAL
Indian National Team – Badminton Women’s Singles
2016 SUPER RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
New Zealand Hurricanes
2016 EUROPEAN LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
Lacrosse Great Britain
2016 EUROPEAN TOUCH CHAMPIONSHIP
Team Great Britain
2016 AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES (OVERALL)
Land Rover BAR
SMARTER TRAINING. LESS INJURIES.
BETTER RESULTS. FOR ALL
www.athletemonitoring.com
IT WORKS FROM YOUTH TO PROS

21. THANK YOU!
©2016, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.©2017, FITSTATS Technologies, Inc.
Contact
francois@athletemonitoring.com
Twitter: @a_monitoring
LinkedIn: francoisgazzano
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