As we explored previously, combining heart rate monitoring with GPS data can revolutionize your athlete performance analysis. Now let’s take a deeper dive into the specifics of how to unlock this powerful combination with STATSports and provide practice guidance on integrating heart rate monitoring into your programs.
Understanding Heart Rate Data
Within your STATSports application you will be provided with the athlete’s Max Heart Rate, Average Heart Rate, Time in Red Zone and the different Heart Rate Zones.
Max Heart Rate (Max HR): The highest number of beats per minute that your heart can pump.
Average Heart Rate (Average HR): The average heart rate throughout the entire session.
Time in Red Zone: The amount of time spent above Zone 5 or Red Zone threshold.
Heart Rate Zones: Indicate the intensity of the session depending on the time and percentage spent in each zone.
Interpreting Heart Rate Data
Just as coaches use GPS data to find an athlete's max speed, it's essential to determine each athlete's individual max heart rate. This allows coaches to create tailored training programs that account for the athlete's unique physiological profile. With an accurate max heart rate, you can assess an athlete's response to training more precisely, including intensity, load, and duration. Heart rate data, such as Time in Red Zone and time/percentage in Heart Rate Zones, can also inform energy system development, optimize training efficiency, and aid in recovery strategies.
Trend Analysis and Performance Insights
By tracking heart rate data over time, you can identify trends that reveal valuable insights into an athlete's progress. For example, consider an athlete who competes in a match and is able to play 45-minutes with a corresponding average heart rate. After a season or off-season training cycle, they compete in another match, playing in all 90-minutes (and covering a greater distance, as verified by GPS data) with a similar average heart rate. This indicates that the athlete has increased their capacity to sustain a given work rate over a longer period. Conversely, an athlete may compete in a match and consistently be able to play 45-minutes, suggesting no improvement in fitness. However, upon examining their heart rate data, it becomes clear that they're achieving a lower average heart rate, indicating enhanced efficiency.
Similar changes can be seen by looking at the time and percentage of the session spent in each zone or Time in Red Zone. Taking the previous example, an athlete plays in a match and spends 20-minutes in the Red Zone and covers 550 yards of High Speed Running. After an entire season, the same player still covers roughly 550 yards of High Speed Running and is now only spending 14-minutes in the Red Zone, suggesting an improved capacity.
In conclusion, integrating heart rate monitoring into your training programs can provide a more comprehensive understanding of your athletes' development and performance. By leveraging the powerful combination of heart rate and GPS data, you can unlock new insights, optimize training strategies, and drive improved outcomes for your athletes.