Crew Selection - Seat Racing

Crew Selection
Author: Kris Korzeniowski (USA)
FISA Be A Coach Level 3
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Introduction

The FISA CDP courses in Levels I and II attempted to provide a coaching educational package of useful information presented in a simple and practical way. One of the concepts emphasized has been that information obtained from using expensive and complicated equipment, although perhaps helpful at times, is not necessary to produce and select world class rowers.

Further, many coaches unfortunately lack not only information from scientific testing but also information about the performance capabilities of their athletes either individually or in specific combinations. Although the coach may have knowledge about the athletes' past performances, the coach may not have information about their present capabilities. This fact may be due either to the absence of sufficient or any competitions, or to a short period during which the coach must select the athletes.

This may apply to either a club coach or national coach selecting a few months or even a few weeks before a championship. This situation is especially challenging for the coach during the process of selecting a crew. To alleviate these difficulties, a simple and objective selection system was devised and has been used quite successfully in the United States.

This selection system is termed seat racing.

Willing to Win

Willing to Win

Author: Willi Railo (NOR)
From FISA Coach Handbook Level 3
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1.0 Introduction

People usually look on the psychological side of sport as being something abstract and therefore difficult to understand. That is the main reason why they find it hard to do something practical and effective to improve their attitudes to sport. The psychological side of sport is often left to chance. You could draw a parallel between psychological and the weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything! Understanding comes before improvement. We first try to understand what the problem is and give it a name, and then we go on to consider how the problem might be remedied.

Maximise You – 10 Tips for Coach Well Being

Maximise You – 10 Tips for Coach Well Being

Ann Quinn (Quinnessential Edge, London, UK)
ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review 2010; 50 (18): 3 - 4
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ABSTRACT

This article summarises some tips to help you maximise the most important person of all – you, so that you can enjoy the journey to your success both on and off the court.

Key words: Coach well being, health, self improvement.

Corresponding author: ann@annquinn.com.

Ten things every young coach should know

Ten things every young (swimming) coach should know

By Wayne Goldsmith (a few adjustments to offer Wayne’s recommendations to coaches in other sports)
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1. Learn from the guys (and gals) who have been there

The best way to learn is by doing. Next best is to learn by working with those who do the doing.

Find yourself a mentor: A senior coach who has experienced the ups and downs of coaching. If you can’t find a suitable senior swimming coach, seek out a senior coach from another sport. If you want to learn how to coach from someone who knows – coaching skills are generic across all sports.

- Find a senior coach who has strengths you lack.

- Find one who will be honest and sincere: one who is open in sharing the benefits of their experiences. One from whom you can listen to and accept honest criticism.

- Look for one who disagrees with your philosophy – who will challenge you – who will argue with you – someone who stimulates you to think, learn and grow.

A few hours a month with a great mentor is worth a hundred seminars, workshops and lectures.

Correcting Common Misunderstandings About Endurance Exercise

Exercise Science and Coaching: Correcting Common Misunderstandings About Endurance Exercise


Andrew N. Bosch, PhD

UCT/ MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town and Sports Science Institute of South Africa, Boundary Road, Newlands 7700, South Africa. E-mail: abosch@sports.uct.ac.za

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching Volume 1 • Number 1 • 2006

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Many coaches who work with endurance athletes still believe in old concepts that can no longer be considered correct. Prime amongst these are the understanding, or misunderstanding, of the concepts of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), lactate threshold, training heart rate, and dehydration and fluid requirements during prolonged exercise.

Knowing the VO2 max of an athlete is not particularly useful to the coach, and the exact VO2 max value of any particular athlete can vary considerably as fitness changes. Race performance is a more useful measure on which to base training schedules.

Lactic acid production, far from being an undesirable event, is of great importance and is actually beneficial to the athlete. The lactate concentration during exercise, and the lactate turnpoint, are both widely measured. The nature of the information that these measures can provide about training and training status, however, is still based on information from the 1980s, although more current information is available and many of the original concepts have been modified.

Heart rate is often used to prescribe training intensity, but it is important to understand the limitations inherent in its use. If used correctly, it is a useful tool for the coach.

Similarly, many athletes and coaches still believe that it is necessary to maintain a high fluid intake to avoid dehydration and prevent associated collapse. These beliefs are incorrect, but modern exercise science has been able to advance the knowledge in this area and provide more accurate information.

Exercise science continues to progress and can offer much to the coach willing to accept new and changing ideas.

Key words: Anaerobic threshold; Endurance training; hydration; lactic acid; maximal oxygen uptake; training heart rate

A Review of Hydration

A Review of Hydration

Douglas S. Kalman, PhD, RD and Anna Lepeley, MS, CSCS, CISSN
Strength and Conditioning Journal
Vol 32 No 2 April 2010
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SUMMARY

THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS THE GUIDELINES AND CONSIDERATIONS OF HYDRATION APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS POPULATION GROUPS AND RESPECTIVE CONDITIONS. AN AREA OF INTEREST AND CONTROVERSY WITH HYDRATION IS THE IMPACT OF ADDING PROTEIN, AS COMPARED WITH CARBOHYDRATE OR THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO, ON OVERALL HYDRATION AND PERFORMANCE STATUS.

So you say you want to win! But have you done the following?

So you say you want to win! But have you done the following?:
Jamie Croly
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1. Find a good WHY. Decide why you are training. What is your goal or objective at the end of the training/racing? The importance of the Why will be critical in the motivation that you have for your training/racing and therefore how much you commit to it. This has to be a something that is important otherwise when the weather is bad, the training is uncomfortable or the racing gets hard you will back off and not achieve success.

Exercise in the Heat

Exercise in the heat: Fundamentals of Thermal Physiology, Performance Implications and Dehydration

By Douglas J. Casa, PhD, ATC, CSCS
From Journal of Athletic Training 1999;34(3):246-252
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Objective: To present the critical issue of exercise in the heat in a format that provides physiologic foundations (Part I) and then applies the established literature to substantial, usable guidelines that athletic trainers can implement on a daily basis when working with athletes who exercise in the heat (Part 11). Data Sources: The databases MEDLINE and SPORT Discus were searched from 1980 to 1999, with the terms "hydration," "heat," "dehydration," "cardiovascular," "thermoregulatory," "physiology," and "exercise," among others. The remaining citations are knowledge base. Data Synthesis: Part I introduces athletic trainers to some of the basic physiologic and performance responses to exercise in the heat. Conclusions/Recommendations: The medical supervision of athletes who exercise in hot environments requires an in-depth understanding of basic physiologic responses and performance considerations. Part I of this article aims to lay the scientific foundation for efficient implementation of the guidelines for monitoring athletic performance in the heat provided in Part II.

Key Words: cardiovascular, heat stress, thermoregulatory

Training for Intense Exercise Performance

Training for Intense Exercise Performance: High Intensity or High Volume Training

By Paul Laursen
New Zealand Academy of Sport North Island
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Abstract


Performance in intense exercise events, such as Olympic rowing, kayak, track running and track cycling events, involves a mix of energy system contributions from aerobic and anaerobic sources. Aerobic energy supply however dominates the total energy requirements of these events after ~75 s of near maximal effort. As the aerobic energy system has the greatest potential for improvement with training, and intense exercise events generally persist for longer than 75 s, training methods for these events are generally aimed at increasing aerobic metabolic capacity. A short-term period (2-4 wk) of high-intensity interval training (HIT; consisting of repeated exercise bouts ranging in intensity from 80-175% of peak power) can elicit increases in intense exercise performance of 2-4% in well trained athletes. While the influence of high volume training (HVT) is less discussed, its importance should not be downplayed, as it may develop the aerobic base needed to support recovery and adaptation from HIT by promoting autonomic balance and athlete health. Indeed, when HIT is performed without a background of HVT, performance can be maintained, but is generally not improved. While the aerobic metabolic adaptations that occur with HVT and HIT are similar, the molecular events that signal for these adaptations may be different. The high levels of intramuscular calcium associated with HVT may signal for metabolic adaptations that improve muscle efficiency through the calcium-calmodulin pathway, while the brief low energy state created with HIT may elicit its effects through the adenosine monophosphate kinase pathway. These distinct molecular signaling pathways, which have similar downstream targets (i.e., mitochondrial biogenesis), may help to explain the potent effect that combined HVT and HIT has on aerobic energy system upregulation and intense exercise performance.

Rigging for the Adaptive Rower

By Volker Nolte & Allison Sheard

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Now What?

Now What?

By Vern Gambetta
http://www.functionalpathtrainingblog.com/2010/09/now-what.html
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You have max heart rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. You have total distance moved in a practice. You have blood lactate during and post workout. So you have pages of spreadsheets filled with numbers, now what do you do with this data? How can you translate all these random numbers into useable information? This is the million-dollar question. It is not a matter of what you can monitor, it is what you can use and interpret. There is an explosion of technologies available today that enable us to monitor virtually any parameter we want to, but before we go further down this path we need to take a step back and ask why? On one level it is very straightforward 1) We need to get accurate feedback to guide and shape the training process and 2) We need to understand individual response and adaptation to various types, volumes and intensities of training.


On the next level we need to determine the absolute need to know information that will help us accomplish those two objectives. Monitoring more parameters is not the answer, just because it measureable does not mean it is meaningful. You need to ask yourself is the data helping to make your athletes better? Can you translate the numbers into actions that will significantly impact the athletes training? If you find yourself inundated with random numbers without context then you need to step back and ask yourself why?

I love data, it is interesting and challenging to find meaning in data you gather. But and there is a big but here – have you lost sight of the forest for the trees. You can get caught up in generating random numbers that you take your eye off the ball. You need to watch the athlete as a person, as an individual, how they handle the stress of training and competition. Closely observe body language. Ask them how they feel. Educate them to read their bodies and how they react to training stress. Put the focus squarely back on Hu, the human element, not the technologies and the subsequent numbers.

Don't be a mad scientist, be a coach. Use technology to measure what is meaningful and appropriate. Less is more. Focus on the need to know and stop there. Look closely at the tools available to help you do this. How much time do you have? How much help do you have? Then carefully choose how and what you are going to monitor. Then have a plan to turn that data into information that you can use to modify or change your training. Remember just because it is measurable does not mean it is meaningful.

Exploring the Mysteries of Exercise

Exploring the Mysteries of Exercise 12

By Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/mysteries.html
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Although the benefits of exercise are espoused daily in classes, newspapers, journals and on TV, less information has been dispersed regarding the underlying mechanisms causing these physiological changes. The responsibility of fitness instructors and personal trainers to their clients has grown vastly in the last few years. Being able to explain why and how certain physiological phenomena occur, from the regular participation in exercise, has become more of a daily necessity. This article will examine and explain some of the mechanisms how exercise may influence several bodily processes.

Training Methods and Intensity Distribution of Young World Class Rowers

Training Methods and Intensity Distribution of Young World Class Rowers

By Arne Guellich, Stephen Seiler, and Eike Emrich
From International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2009, 4, 448-460
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Arne Guellich1, Stephen Seiler2, and Eike Emrich3

1 Department of Sports Sciences, University of Kaiserslautern, GERMANY
2 Faculty of Health and Sport, University of Agder, Kristiansand, NORWAY
3 Institute of Sports Sciences, University of the Saarland, Saarbruecken, GERMANY

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the distribution of exercise types and rowing intensity in successful junior rowers and its relation to later senior success. Methods: 36 young German male rowers (31 international, 5 national junior finalists, 19.2 ± 1.4 yr, 10.9 ± 1.6 training sessions.wk-1) reported the volumes of defined exercise and intensity categories in a diary over 37 weeks. Training categories were analysed as aggregates over the whole season and also broken down to defined training periods. Training organisation was compared between juniors who attained national and international senior success three years later. Results: Total training time consisted of 52% rowing, 23% resistance exercise, 17% alternative training, and 8% warm-up programs. Based on heart rate control, 95% of total rowing was performed at intensities corresponding to <2 mmol.L-1, 2% at 2-4 mmol.L-1, and 3% at >4 mmol.L-1 blood lactate. Low-intensity work remained widely unchanged at ~95% throughout the season. In the competition period the athletes exhibited a shift within <2mmol-exercise towards lower intensity and within the remaining ~5% of total rowing towards more training near maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) intensity. Retrospectively, among subjects going on to international success three years later had their training differed significantly from their peers only in slightly higher volumes at both margins of the intensity scope. Conclusion: The young world-class rowers monitored here exhibit a constant emphasis on low intensity steady-state rowing exercise, and a progressive polarization in the competition period. Possible mechanisms underlying a potential association between intensity polarization and later success require further investigation.

Keep It Simple and You Are Brilliant

Keep It Simple and You Are Brilliant

From http://www.functionalpathtrainingblog.com/2010/07/keep-it-simple-and-you-are-brilliant.html
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How many times have we heard coaches evoke the KISS principle, that is not what I am talking about. When I hear KISS I almost take it as an insult, KISS is dumbing down. I have believed for years that simplicity yields complexity. Start simple and basic and build complexity as needed. If it is not needed then don’t go to more complexity. Simple is not necessarily simplistic. I also strongly believe that if I can’t explain the science to my athletes in terms that they can understand then I probably should not be doing it. Why? Because If I can’t explain it then I probably don’t understand it and if I don’t understand it then it is not worth doing because it is going to be half-baked. It is just monkey see monkey do activities. I have found that the most brilliant people I know can make abstract concepts totally comprehensible, that is a gift of great teachers and coaches. I end with a quote from Winnie - the – Pooh “It’s more fun to talk to someone who doesn’t use long difficult words but rather short easy words like ”What about lunch?”

Basic Training Assumptions

Basic Training Assumptions

From http://chuckiev.blogspot.com/
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1. Training must be physically stressful. The whole purpose of training is to physically and appropriately challenge the body. From this challenge the body adapts and becomes more capable of handling a given level of stress. To be effective the training challenge should be specific to the stress anticipated in the goal event for which you are training.




2. Adaptation to a specific physical stress is called "fitness." This puts to rest old arguments about who is more fit - a golfer, weight lifter or marathoner. Each is equally fit for the unique physical demands of their sports. For example, if you want to define fitness as the physical skill required to hit a ball a long way with a stick then the golfer is the fittest.



3. Another product of stress is fatigue. If you challenge the body many physiological changes other than fitness can occur. You may have depleted carbohydrate stores, damaged muscle cells, altered body chemistry, etc. Taken as a whole these changes are called “fatigue.”



4. Fitness and fatigue trend similarly. You may not have thought about this before, but it is important to understand. There is a strong link between fitness and fatigue. If you are fatigued from training then you stressed the body adequately enough to create the potential for fitness. If the workout did not cause any fatigue at all then it also did not produce the potential for fitness. So, when fatigue is rising you can expect the same thing from fitness.



5. In order to race well one must reduce fatigue. This is what tapering before a big race is all about – reducing fatigue. You don’t want to go into important races tired. There is no benefit from doing that. Racing when tired most assuredly will produce less-than-stellar performances.



6. Reducing fatigue is called "coming into form." The term “form” came from late-nineteenth-century horse racing. Before placing a bet you would check the form (sheet of paper) provided by the bookie which showed how each horse had been racing recently. When a horse was racing well it was said to be “on form.” Bike racing which started in the late nineteenth century adopted this term early on. In recent years other endurance sports have begun using it.



7. Coming into form requires losing fitness. This is where I was taking you with the above assumptions. Don’t believe me? Then go back to #4. The bottom line is that you must give up some fitness in order to shed fatigue and therefore race at the highest levels. The trick is to limit and control how much fitness is lost in the tapering process. I’ve probably put more time and thought into this single aspect of race preparation than any other. But what I do is far from perfect. Peaking is as much an art as a science. The protocol I use isn’t 100%. This is described in my books. It may work for a given athlete for one race but not as well for the next. That’s because we are humans and not machines. There are many variables in our lives. Actually, I’m glad it’s that way.

Some features of the anatomy and exercise physiology of children, relating to training

By Professor Craig Sharp
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Although children between 11 and 16 are the fittest section of the community their activity patterns are continuously frilling. One important cause of this is that, at least in Great Britain, school sport is declining. With this background of falling activity the health of the future adults will depend increasingly on coaches to instill an enthusiasm for lifelong adherence to health-related activity patterns.

As children show considerable and important differences in their bodily responses to exercise, compared to adults, it is important that coaches are aware of the more important differences to avoid imposing undue physical stress on their young charges.

Emotional Preparation for the Olympic Games

Emotional Preparation for the Olympic Games

By Cal Botterill, Ph.D.
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Is it possible to emotionally prepare for the Olympic Games? My initial reaction is that it is not easy, and although there are important things an athlete can do, it is probably impossible to totally prepare emotionally for such an experience. There is no denying how special the Olympic Games have become. The fact that they only occur every four years means that even top athletes often only get one shot at them in their prime; for many others, the cycle of "peaking" in their careers just doesn’t work out for an Olympic opportunity.

The history of the Olympic Games going back to early civilizations, the gallant ideals of the Olympic Movement, and the public and media interest in the agony and ecstasy of Olympic striving have created an almost irrational and irreverent mystique and aura around the Games.

The heartbreak, the exhilaration, the breakthrough accomplishments, and the team effort, even in relatively unknown sports, have captured the hearts and attention of people around the world in a very personal and emotional way. Most medal ceremonies bring tears to the eyes of those watching and listening, and we feel the emotions involved.