Newsletter for Orienteering Coaches, Issue 1

Welcome

Welcome to the first issue of British Orienteering’s Coaching Newsletter. At least I don’t think there has been anything previous. There is nothing in the archive.
The intention is to issue 2 or 3 times a year and be sent out to all those who have opted to receive the newsletter. This can be done by logging on to the British Orienteering website and clicking on the left hand menu link “Newsletter Settings”. But for this issue please forward to anyone interested.
In this issue there is an article by Jackie Newton on Planning Physical Training Load and I have cribbed an article on Nutrition for Recovery from Canoe Focus which I found very interesting.
It’s not the intention to write many articles so I am appealing for your help. If you can provide any articles, useful snippets, book reviews etc. then please pass them to me.

Mick Garratt
NEOAcoaching@britishorienteering.org.uk

Planning physical training load: how much is too much, too little or just right?

Jackie Newton, National Talent Development Coach

Now that autumn is here, athletes from every sport around the world will be reflecting on their 2014 season, setting targets for 2015 and planning how they will get there. Yes, this is the time to consider how much training and recovery needs to go into the programme but getting the balance right can be tricky and if you get it wrong it can interfere with fitness levels and, even worse, lead to injury or illness.

Training load and subsequent recovery should depend on fitness levels and experience of training. Athletes need to listen to their bodies and make notes on how they feel and respond to different training sessions. They should keep a diary of training noting training load, sleep, nutrition, hydration and anything else that affects levels of fatigue. They should find a way that works for them and you, the coach so that you both can keep a check on the volume and intensity of training. Attack Point is a good resource and for you to keep up to date with what your athletes are doing and how they are coping.

You should decide on a format to record training load. It may be that you monitor distance run and the time taken to run it and so you can see the pace used; you may use a heart rate monitor, especially if you have worked out training zones or you may use RPE or Rate of Perceived Exertion.

There are a few different ways of using RPE. Perhaps the most simple is to rate a training session from 1 - 10. 1 is where it is very, very easy and 10 is where the athlete is running as hard as he or she can. You could then multiply this number by the number of minutes that it took to do the training session. For example, an easy run ranked as a 2 that took 20 minutes would give a score of 40 and at the other end of the scale a hard interval session ranked at 7 that took 30 minutes would score 210. Multiplying the intensity with the volume gives you the overall training load.

Generally speaking, training load should vary from day to day. If your athlete is new to training you may look to do: easy, hard, easy, easy, hard, easy, easy though the week. If you consider your athlete to be intermediate they may go: easy, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy. Orienteers in elite development who have a lot of training behind them sometimes put in weeks that look more like: hard, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy and there may be some ‘double days’ (training twice per day).

As well as noting down lots of numbers in the diary such as training load, hours of sleep, mileage etc. your athlete would benefit from including some free writing about how they felt. Every so often you should read back through the log and ask how effective the training and recoveries have been. Highlight the positive comments such as felt good, felt brilliant, really enjoyed this session. Then take note of any negatives such as my legs felt heavy, felt lethargic, didn't enjoy this one. You may well discover why they performed well or not by looking at how training load and recovery affected them.

Understanding how training works will help you to work out how much recovery is needed. Training is the stimulus. Once the training is done the athlete will feel fatigued as the body is broken down. When you allow recovery the body begins to repair itself but rather than just mending itself to the level that it was previously at it builds itself back stronger. This is called overcompensation. It makes the athlete fitter and so the athlete will start at a higher point in terms of fitness the next time he or she puts in a training session, or stimulus. Fitness increases over time if you get this right!

On the other hand, if an athlete isn’t given enough recovery the overcompensation doesn't occur. The body may only build itself back to the level that it was at or it could even start from a lower level and be broken down further by training before it has repaired. The danger here is that you could start on a downward spiral and the athlete could wind up injured or ill. You could also compromise fitness if given too much recovery. If the athlete does nothing for several days after training they may lose fitness.

Once you have worked out optimal training levels and the recovery needed to sustain and grow you can put together a more effective individual training programme. It is important to remember that everyone is different and some need to work at a different rate than others that are in the same age class. It all depends on fitness levels and experience of training.

Discussion and communication is key. A coach’s knowledge and experience in orienteering training together with the athletes' knowledge and feelings about themselves can equal the winning combination in developing potential.

CPD

Continuing Personal Development (CPD) for coaches was implemented by British Orienteering in 2011.

The purpose is to help coaches maintain and improve their knowledge and skills. The benefits of the CPD programme are seen as allowing coaches to:

• build confidence and credibility through tracking their individual learning activities

• form and achieve goals by focusing on their training and development;

• cope positively with change by constantly updating their skill sets, demonstrating a growth mind-set;

• be more productive and efficient by reflecting on their learning and highlighting gaps

• in their knowledge and experience;

• add value to the sport and the athletes they coach through their increased competency.

From the viewpoint of British Orienteering, our National Governing Body, it ensures that the coaching workforce maintains their level of knowledge and keeps up to date with current best practise, including any safety issues.

Every coach, wishing to be licensed by British Orienteering, maintains their own CPD log and submits it as part of the regular three yearly licensing renewals. Since its inception, coaches have been invited to send their logs in to their association coaching representative (ACR) as part of a ‘rolling inspection’ programme. This has allowed the ACRs to find out if the points awarded for knowledge, training and experience are reasonable and to have an insight into how the scheme is working.

In light of log inspections, some adjustment has been made to the points awarded. These adjustments come in from the start of 2013 and are highlighted in the CPD Development Update July 2013 http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/coach_support

If you are a qualified coach and wish to maintain a ‘Licence to coach’, you need to ensure that you are maintaining a CPD log, preferably using the template on the British Orienteering website. Licence details and the template can be found at http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/licenced_coaches

CPD logs can be submitted anytime to your ACR but generally the working date is by the end of March. Those coaches who have already submitted have had their licence to coach extended.

If you have recently qualified (and well done!) then the three years starts from your date of qualification. However there is nothing to stop you submitting before then if you wish to.

Further information and support can be found on the British Orienteering website:

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/coach_support

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/231

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uploaded/downloads/CPD_Update_5_Aug_2014.pdf

ACRs

The Association Coaching Representatives represent coaches within their regional association.

The main areas of responsibility are:

• Develop effective communication links for the purposes of continuing personal development (CPD) with:

  • Club Coaching Organisers where they exist;

  • Coaches who are members of the association;

  • The Association general committee.

• Work with the Association in developing their coaching workforce through club links to:

  • identify where gaps exist which affect participant pathways and target coach education opportunities accordingly;

  • provide input into the scheduling of coach training;

  • support coaches to maintain their licence to coach by ratifying their CPD log when required and providing appropriate feedback on their log;

  • ensure coaches in the association have CPD opportunities, advice and information;

• Together with members of the NSGC (National Source Group for Coaching), the coaching CPD group has the responsibility to assess and moderate the CPD programme & licence to coach scheme;

• Report to the association committee on coaching related matters;

• Any other activities or business as is reasonably requested by the association in support of the general development of Coaching within the association;

  A list of current ACRs can be found on the coach support page of the BO website: http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/page/coach_support

Coaching Conference

After a gap of a year the National Coaching Conference is planned for the weekend of 24/25 January 2015, at a new venue: Lydiard Park Academy, Swindon, Wiltshire. Details are on the following document http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uploaded/downloads/CPD_Update_5_Aug_2014.pdf

Retention of Juniors

The principle of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is now well established. The model says that there are critical periods in the life of a young person in which the effects of training can be maximised and that it can take anything from eight to twelve years of training for an young athlete to achieve his or her full potential. This approach is also supposed to promote lifelong involvement in the sport.

The model recommends that competition is structured with a 70:30 training/practice to competition-ratio for boys aged between 9 and 12 rising to 50:50 between 16 and 18. What is the ratio for our orienteering juniors? Seems to be 100% competition. Are we doing something wrong?

I attended a Paddlesport Coaching Update earlier this year. That’s all paddlesport coaches have to do to renew their licence. Just attend a one day update course. But that’s by the way. One of the workshops on this day was about the retention of juniors in the sport. It’s not just orienteering that suffers from this problem.

There were about twelve of us in the session. a mixture of club coaches and outdoor centre based instructors. As an icebreaker we were each given a sheet of paper and were asked to sketch memories of our teenage years. Then we had to explain the drawings to a partner who then introduced the subject to the rest of the group.

Without exception everyone of us were actively involved in an outdoor lifestyle as teenagers. Scouts, youth clubs, ACF and in my case camping every weekend with the Youth Section of the Camping Club. A wide range of sports and activities were available to us. Some we liked some we didn’t. But the common factor was the social side. Everyone had included some sketch representing an aspect of the social side. We were all in a close community with a group of our contemporaries. A gang sounds the wrong word. It was only by doing this exercise did it become clear just how important this was to us.

The obvious conclusion to draw from the exercise is that clubs need to consider if not provide a social framework for their juniors. In the workshop the club coaches didn’t like the conclusion. We are coaches not youth leaders. And with youngsters passing through on a daily basis the centre instructors just don’t have the time to create this atmosphere.

I'm not saying this is the answer. Just food for thought. Your views would be appreciated.

Nutrition for Recovery

Introduction

For any athlete training intensively and/or frequently food is an important and significant factor in daily life. More important than the training really. You can not train if you don’t eat. It’s essential to physiological improvement.

The aim of this article is to discuss what foods help or hinder recovery and when to eat to get the most beneficial effect.

We all know the food types that are essential for performance: carbs, fats and proteins. But what is less appreciated is eating the right food at the right time will greatly aid recovery and enhance the body’s adaptation to training. Eating the right food and the right time will

• replenish the energy used efficiently,
• repair any muscle and tissue damage,
• provide the necessary nutrients the body needs for muscle growth and other physiological adaptations, and
• restore the bodies endocrine and immune functions.

It’s heavily cribbed from an article which appeared in Canoe Focus, April 2013 by Dr Kevin Currell, Head of Performance Nutrition, English Institute of Sport.

The article is only concerned with recovery from normal day to day training and not from recovery from injury or illness which requires special consideration.

Balanced Diet

There is no magic formula to compensate for not eating a balanced diet. The idea of a balanced diet is well documented. Even primary school children can complete a food pyramid. But another way of looking at it is each meal should comprise a third each of

• Fuel foods - principally carbohydrates but including good fats. Of course any carbohydrates should be unprocessed (such as brown rice/wholemeal pasta).
• Function foods - mostly protein but again good fats with fruit and vegetables
• Health Foods - vegetables and salads to ensure good intake of nutrients and vitamins.
   

Recovery Foods

After a hard training session the body needs to recover in time for the next session. It is during this recovery period that the body is adapting to the demands of the training session.

If full recovery does not occur then accumulated tiredness will take it’s toll and the athlete will be prone to injury and infections.

The three basic food stuffs are all required to some extent during this recovery period:

• Proteins: essential for the repair of muscles. It would be wise to aim to have about 20g of protein per meal to ensure the intake of ‘essential’ certain amino acids which the body cannot make;
• Carbohydrates: fuel that is needed both for the repair process and to replenish spent reserves;
• Fats: to be used by the immune system.

In addition antioxidants will promote the bodies recovery from the stresses of training.

Early morning

My father used to say you should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and supper like a pauper. No scientific reasoning there but it does attempt to show the need to start with the day with something substantial.

Of course if you’re planning to train early morning, perhaps a pre-work swim or run, then you can’t overindulge but you should try to eat something simple before you go such as a couple of slices of toast, a cereal bar or a banana. What you’re looking for something that is easy to digest. Something with a low Glycaemic Index. This is a measure of relative energy release and is illustrated by the following table:

Post Training

The aim should be to eat as soon as possible after training. The sooner you can eat the quicker you will recover, this is key for those athletes looking to have a second session later in the day. Milk and a piece of fruit are an ideal post-training snack that combines both protein and carbohydrate.

Some foods, typically those high in saturated fats, can cause inflammation if taken immediately after training and should therefore be avoided. So cakes, pastries, crisps, chocolate, cream, pies, sweets and chips should be a big no-no I’m afraid.

The timing for food intake after recovery can be split into two phases: immediately after training and within an hour.

Immediately after training

Muscles can take up carbohydrates within two hours of exercise but the sooner the glycogen stores are replenished the quicker recovery will be. So it’ll be best to aim to eat within an hour of training.

Foods taken immediately after training need to include

• proteins
• carbohydrates
• antioxidants

Fats are not so important at this stage. Good foods are milk, bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, berries.
 

Water

Of course rehydration is critical at this stage. So drink plenty of water. Of course the amount the body  sweats is very individual.

One way an athlete can determine his/her own hydration needs is to weigh oneself before and after training. The difference in weight in kilos is approximately the volume of fluids that will have been lost in sweat. The aim would be to replace one-and-a-half times the volume you have lost, but over a couple of hours, not immediately.

One hour after training

A second boost of proteins, carbs and antioxidants could be taken an hour after training. Good fats could be included this time to maximise recovery. Suggestions would be nuts, berries, olives, feta cheese, yoghurt, fruit juice.

Sports drinks

Several companies, such as SIS - Science in Sport, now market specific post training foods. No doubt these have the right ingredients but will be expensive.

Anti-inflammatory foods

As mentioned above some foods can cause inflammation if taken immediately after training and should therefore be avoided. These are summarised below:

Suggestions for Meal Improvement

The following table illustrates various everyday meals and suggests ways of improving them:

Raceday

When it comes to race day, breakfast, the consumption of carbohydrates during the race and hydration should all be key components to the individual’s race plan.

It’ll probably entail a meal about three hours before the start of a race so that the food has sufficient time to pass through the digestive system.

Obviously depending on the duration of the race the consumption of sugary carbohydrates and fluids during a race could have a positive impact on performance. But it’s all down to individual preference and the racing discipline. The maximum amount of carbohydrate the body can absorb per hour needs to be considered. This is in the region of 60g to 70g. And bear in mind it’s best to stick with familiar foods and products products to ensure there’ are no stomach upsets during the race.

Acknowledgements

Canoe Focus April 2013 by Dr Kevin Currell, Head of Performance Nutrition, English Institute of Sport.

“Nutrition for Sport” Steve Wootton, Simon & Schuster, 1989

'More People, More Places, More Podiums'

For further information about orienteering please visit www.britishorienteering.org.uk