[music] Mark Threlfall: In this modern age
of having access to every single training metric that you can imagine is there something that we
have forgotten about? Have we become so obsessed by the metrics and data that these devices
throw out to us that we have entirely forgotten about the age-old art of training by feel? Well,
that's got me thinking, have we completely forgotten about the idea of gauging our effort
and training sessions simply based on how we're feeling, how fit we are or how tired we are
rather than what our gadgets, devices, computers, or training plans are telling us. Well, today,
I thought I'd delve into this to see whether we should be worrying a little less about
what these are telling us and more about what this is telling us.
Before we get into this, let's pause for a moment and remind ourselves of what we have
available at our fingertips nowadays in terms of devices, metrics, data, and so on, because
the list really goes on. We've got pace, speed, power, heart rate, cadence, and that's just
some of the most basic bits of metric. Then, of course, if we delve into it deeper, we've got
normalized power versus oscillation, left and right power distribution, ground contact time,
heck we've even got devices that can calculate our rotation when we swim and even devices that will
show us our speed and our pace within the lenses of our goggles once we're swimming in real-time.
Of course, don't get me wrong, GPS sports watches like I've got on here,
power meters head units are all brilliant. They provide some superb information,
but how about we strip it right back to the bare essentials? I'm talking things like typically
how long have you been out for and paying close attention to how you're feeling whilst doing that?
How does that effort feel? How hard is it? How much tiredness is it creating? Basically, becoming
more attuned with how fit you are and paying close attention to how your body is feeling.
[music] This got me thinking, how did we manage back in
the day before we had any of these fancy gadgets or performance tracking devices other than simply
the trustee sports watch? Well, this is where I thought a deep dive into the records, but
proved rather interesting, or at least I thought so anyway. Now, logic might suggest that with
these advancements in technology, that we would have just seen the records tumble and tumble as
the years have gone on. Yes, sure in cycling we have seen some pretty significant advancements
partly due to our better understanding of aerodynamics and the equipment that we use. I also
took a glance at the athletics records for here in the UK and the pinnacle of the endurance events,
the marathon. That record stood for 33 years until a certain Mo Farah finally broke that in 2018.
Then we've got the middle distance legend, Steve Cram and Seb Coe who still hold the 800 and mile
records, which were set way back when in the early 1980s. Now, the only data that these greats were
able to pull upon was simply the splits that their coaches yelled out to them from the sidelines of
the track during their workouts. Non questionably at the core of their training was this incredible
ability to work hard and suffer like very few of us could imagine. That has led to
these exceptional results that clearly weren't driven by lots of data and tech. Of course,
this skill of training by feel was something that was learned over years of training and practice,
and it was extremely well-developed for these top athletes. They just knew when to push harder,
when even to ease off or even take a rest day. Actually, it goes as far as saying some athletes
still use very similar methods to date, particularly, the Ethiopian
and Kenyan runners. They use a very simple training methodology, but this isn't simply
limited to elite athletes. In fact, it can be adopted by anyone of any ability and any level.
[music] How does this approach now transfer to
our own training schedules with our own busy work, life, family commitments? Well, if done correctly,
then this more flexible approach to training can actually help to improve your performance
and/or all-important consistency with our training. Now, if you have a coach,
then the chances are they're setting you your training weeks in advance, a couple of weeks,
maybe even a month in advance. In an ideal world, you would have regular contact with your coach,
perhaps even face to face as with these elite athletes that I've just mentioned. That way
you're getting that feedback loop. You're able to relay how you're feeling to the coach on a regular
basis, and they can adapt your training to suit. I hazard a guess that for most of you out there,
that is not the case. Most of us end up resorting to these metrics that are quite
often automatically downloaded from our devices as soon as we finish working out
and those are uploaded to our coaches. Unfortunately, these sometimes only tell
part of the story. They don't explain how you actually feel. I mean, there's many ways we can
spin this one, but there's a bit of an example. You may have done a bike workout and you finished
and you find out that your power is lower than expected, but actually you felt absolutely fine
during that workout. In fact, you may have felt great. Perhaps, actually, you just had a bit
of a tailwind. For a coach taking a glance at that, that may have been a red flag, your power
wasn't as high as it should have been and maybe you didn't perform as well as you could have.
Likewise, in a tempo run, the data and the metrics may say the heart rate's slightly higher than it
should have been, but you otherwise felt okay and well in control, but a coach may look at that
and instantly raise a red flag again because yes, your heart rate was too high and therefore
you're perhaps pushing harder than you should have been. Basically what I'm trying to get at
is the importance of listening to your body and how you feel. That can lead to you being
more consistent as an athlete, rather than solely relying on the metrics. For instance, you may feel
fantastic on a day and therefore you decide to push on in your training, go hard in the workouts,
but probably more importantly if you woke up and you didn't feel very good and that day's training
had stated to go hard in a workout. Well, hopefully, you'd feel confident
having listened to your body that you would reschedule and back off that day and then,
therefore, be more consistent going forwards. [music]
Right. It's about time I round this video up. As I highlighted earlier, having this ability
and confidence to train by feel can allow you to change, adapt and mold your training at the drop
of a hat to fit with any blindful event, sudden life events, or how you're feeling on that day,
and so on and so forth. Yes, in today's video, I've used examples of longstanding world records
which, let's be honest, probably applies to very few of us out there. What it does remind us is
that we don't necessarily need to solely rely on these fancy gadgets, metrics, and data. Of course,
it does take some time and some experience to be able to train by feel effectively. Well,
let's say, for instance, a threshold bike workout. If you're going to do that and go too hard because
you're not in tune with your body, then you defeat the whole object of that workout.
You could end up digging yourself a very deep dark hole. That is where these gadgets, the metrics,
and data really do come into play and have their place and can be very, very valuable.
My advice, personally, would be to actually find a blend of the two. Trying to learn how to listen to
our body, but you may be using these metrics and data, which I'll be honest I rely on very heavily,
but using them there as a backup and getting them to help us get in tune with our body too. Let's
say, for instance, you might go out for an easy ride, leave your computer at home, or just ignore
it completely, and that way you're just getting in touch with your body. Maybe a tempo bike workout,
or run workout, maybe ignore the numbers on the device and try and get in tune with your body
and then just glance them every so often just to check that you are in the right ballpark.
Anyway, that's just my ideas and I'm rambling on here, but I'd love to hear from you guys. Do
any of you train by feel or do you solely rely on the metrics and data and you fully in that
kind of party that, that is the way forward to try and improve your performance? Please
get involved in the comment section down below love to hear from you.
I hope you have enjoyed today's video and all my ramblings. If so, please do give it
a like. Don't forget to give us a follow over on social media and if you're not doing so already,
give us a subscribe just down below. [00:08:27] [END OF AUDIO]