May 17, 2018Going Overboard
Athletes strive to be their best. Some take this to the next level, becoming perfectionists who train past their limits and the point of gains. Coaches are one of the first lines of defense when it comes to helping these overly ambitious athletes how to train the right amount so they don’t become injured.
In a blog for Training Peaks, Professional Triathlete and USAT Certified Coach Mackenzie Madison offers some tips for coaches who work with these types of athletes. First, Madison recommends helping the athletes realize that more training does not always create more success. Explain to them the possible issues that stem from overtraining and show them an example of an athlete who has been affected by this. Instead, teach your athletes to use training phases.
“It is impossible to reach goals by trying to be super fit all of the time,” writes Madison. “If an athlete ramps up their training build too quickly they will end up short-siding themselves. Using periodization helps the athlete ultimately peak at a much higher fitness.”
Next, Madison expresses the importance of explaining to athletes the necessity and reasoning behind recovery. This includes having a discussion on the risks of not recovering. Let your athletes know that not taking time to rest can actually decrease their performance and lead to sleep disturbances, lack of motivation, and even strength and muscle loss.
Coaches can take this a step further by helping their athletes create realistic goals. Madison suggests coming up with both short and long term expectations that will help them focus more on growth and less on every outcome. One way to help with this is to give athletes specific numbers to shoot for to make sure they aren’t overdoing it. Then ask the athletes to report back.
“Ask for RPE (rate of perceived exertion) for their completed workouts along with assigning a letter grade on how they think the overall workout went,” writes Madison “Having the athlete give feedback allows for you to understand if the athlete is pushing too hard and has a warped perception of effort.”
Helping athletes stick to realistic expectations also involves explaining the importance of actually taking it easy on easy days. According to Madison, this will help them give maximum effort on harder days. And if an athlete misses a training day or isn’t able to finish a session, make sure they understand this is okay. Some might want to make up for it by training more or harder, but this will only hinder their performance.
Last, Madison suggests creating a training plan that leaves your athletes slightly undertrained rather than over trained. If coaches are always pushing athletes to work at their highest potential, they will lose their ability to do so and might even lose their interest in the sport.
“Training is not fun for an athlete who is constantly placing themselves under too much pressure, pain, fatigue, injury and lack of recovery,” writes Madison. “If you leave th athlete charged and feeling like they can keep challenging themselves, then their training will be safe, enjoyable, and fun.”
