Anaerobic speed reserve; maximising training prescription (part 1) with Gareth Sandford (Physiologist at Athletics Canada)

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Oct 21, 2021

Gareth Sandford, a physiologist for Athletics Canada with a rich coaching background, dives into the fascinating world of anaerobic speed reserve. He explains its significance for athletes and contrasts it with traditional metrics like VO2 max. The conversation also covers various training models, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses for optimizing performance. Gareth emphasizes the importance of athlete profiling to customize training strategies effectively. This insightful discussion is a treasure trove for coaches looking to enhance their athletes' conditioning.

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ANECDOTE

England Cricket's Speed Reserve Revelation

Phil Scott discovered the vast diversity of anaerobic speed reserve among England cricket athletes, illuminating unseen training dynamics.
This simple measure sparked rich discussions, helping coaches see unique subgroup needs in their athletes.

INSIGHT

Holistic Speed Spectrum Profiling

Coaches benefit from viewing their athletes across the entire speed-intensity spectrum to tailor training effectively.
Integrating aerobic and speed-power data prevents missed potential and improves individual training decisions.

ADVICE

Use Profiling to Tailor Training

Profile your squad's anaerobic speed reserve to group athletes by endurance and speed characteristics before choosing training models.
Customize training based on athlete profiles instead of enforcing one-size-fits-all models to maximize potential.

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This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Gareth Sandford, a researcher and physiologist for Athletics Canada, working with the Canadian Sports Institute, and the University of British Columbia. He previously earned his master’s in Sport Science and Physiology, where he did a year’s placement at Chelsea Football Club. He has also coached in the UK, US and in a tribal community in India. This led to a world tour which saw him observing and speaking to some of the best coaches in the world as part of his PhD.

Gareth is someone that you as a coach want to be listening to due to his education background and years of experience. This week’s podcast is a must listen/watch as Gareth talks about the anaerobic speed reserve, training models, athlete profiling (and its advantages) and tempo running vs maximal aerobic speed (MAS).

This episode is for all practitioners and coaches who want to maximise the conditioning work they do with their athletes. All you have to do is hit the play button to learn all this and much more.

This week’s Topics:

What is the anaerobic speed reserve and why would you use it?
Critical speed and what practitioners need to do to be able to look across the whole intensity speed continuum
Different trainings models, strengths and limitations they have
Tests you can use as a coach to help you best profiling your athletes

Timestamps

2:07 Topics learned from the world tour when getting his PhD and when was it

5:39 What anaerobic speed reserve means and what it does

7:14 The impacts of coaches exposing their athletes to anaerobic speed reserve with examples

10:34 The critical speed and what practitioners need to do to be able to look across the whole intensity speed continuum

12:38 Different trainings models, strengths and limitations they have, and what you can do

14:11 Important things to note as a coach when choosing the training model that works best for your athletes

22:13 How profiling your athlete can get them to the elite sport continuum

24:57 Tests you can do as a coach to help you do the best profiling of your athletes

29:39 The critical speed testing model and advantages and the challenges of using it

35:49 The types of models that you can use in developing athletes with aerobic qualities like footballers

40:50 Tempo run and ways in which a coach can use it successfully to train his or her athletes