FRA
As a coach, one of the most frequently asked questions is about workload: What is it, and how does it affect my athletes? Workload is one of the most critical factors in monitoring player performance and ensuring their long-term health and success. In this blog, we’ll dive deep into what workload is, how Beyond Pulse measures it, and how you can use this metric to optimize your athletes’ training and performance.
What Is Workload?
In simple terms, workload is the total amount of physical effort an athlete exerts during a training session or game. It’s a combination of volume (how much an athlete moves) and intensity (how fast or intensely they move). Beyond Pulse uses these two components—distance covered (volume) and speed (intensity)—to create a single workload score that represents the overall physical demand placed on an athlete.
Why Is Workload Important?
The concept of workload is essential for coaches because it offers an objective, quantifiable way to track how much physical stress athletes are under. This is crucial for:
- Injury Prevention: Monitoring workload helps prevent soft-tissue injuries, which can occur when players are fatigued. Research suggests that up to 70% of soft-tissue injuries happen without contact, often due to overwork or insufficient recovery. By managing workload, coaches can reduce the risk of injury.
- Performance Optimization: Proper workload management ensures athletes are performing at their best without burning out. By balancing intensity and volume, coaches can help players improve their fitness while staying healthy.
The Workload score allows coaches to make informed decisions about training, recovery, and injury prevention.
How Beyond Pulse Measures Workload
Beyond Pulse focuses on external workload—the physical demands placed on the body during training. External load is measured through metrics such as:
- Total Distance Covered: How far an athlete moves during a session.
- Sprint Distance: How much of that distance is covered at high speed.
- Number of Sprints/Accelerations/Decelerations: How often players make high-intensity efforts.
Beyond Pulse uses these data points to calculate TRIMPs (Training Impulses), which is a unit of workload, just like a volt is a unit of electricity. A session can have low (0-10 TRIMPs), moderate (10-20 TRIMPs), or high (20+ TRIMPs) workload depending on the intensity and volume.
The Workload Spectrum
Workload operates on a spectrum, where both low-intensity long-duration activities (like walking a marathon) and high-intensity short-duration activities (like sprinting for 3 miles) can produce the same workload score. This is because workload is a combination of volume and intensity—both factors play an equally important role in determining the total load on the body.
How to Read the Workload Graph
Beyond Pulse provides a graphical and numerical breakdown of workload on the coach and player dashboard. For example, in a training session graph, tall thin peaks represent short bursts of high-speed activity (sprints), while broader, lower peaks represent lower-intensity efforts spread over time (like a long-distance jog). The workload dial helps you monitor these metrics and adjust your training accordingly.
Managing Workload in Practice
Establish a Baseline
Start by collecting consistent data on your athletes over time. This will give you a baseline of what is normal for each player and help you identify when something is off—whether that’s due to fatigue, overtraining, or a particularly intense week of training.
Adjust Training Based on Goals
Workload is flexible. If you have less time in a session, you can increase the intensity to maintain the same workload. For example, if a typical session produces a workload of 18 TRIMPs over 90 minutes, but you only have 60 minutes, you can increase the intensity (through small-sided games or high-intensity drills) to hit the same target.
Monitor and Prevent Injuries
By tracking week-to-week changes in workload, you can identify when players are at risk of overtraining. A good rule of thumb is not to increase TRIMPs by more than 10% per week, especially for younger players. Ensure that athletes have adequate rest and recovery days to prevent injuries.
Encourage Athlete Feedback
Open communication with athletes is essential. Ask how they’re feeling before and after training. Fatigue, stress, and mental health can all impact performance and injury risk. Simple questions like, “How are you feeling today?” can offer insights into their physical and mental state.
You might also be interested in: Why does subjective data matter?
Educate Players on Recovery
Non-sport factors such as sleep, nutrition, and hydration also play a crucial role in an athlete’s workload tolerance. Educate your players about the importance of recovery, and if possible, bring in experts to help reinforce these lessons.
Final Thoughts
Managing workload is both an art and a science. By monitoring external workload with Beyond Pulse, coaches gain critical insights into the physical demands placed on their players. This information helps reduce injury risk, optimize performance, and ensure athletes are both healthy and happy.
As a coach, you can use workload data to tailor your sessions, manage player fatigue, and ultimately build stronger, fitter athletes who are ready for the demands of competition.
Interested in learning more about the Beyond Pulse metrics? Speak with an expert from our team.
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