Learnings from Athlete Training Camps
by George Blackwell
For the last 3-4 weeks, I’ve been on race trips and camps with the Loughborough University triathlon squads. This included a range of abilities from potential Olympic / Paralympic Medallists, to people looking to do their first triathlon!
On the way home, I made some informal notes / reflections to summarise my thoughts and feelings on the ‘camp environment’. For this week’s newsletter, I thought I’d attach these and expand on a few of the notes, to help you when considering whether a training camp would be good for your performance.
1. Be targeted and purposeful – those that go on a training camp with a clear idea on what they want from it (technically, tactically, physiologically) are far more likely to leave it with significant improvements. If you don’t know what you want from camp, is your training at home (in the daily training environment) set up in a purposeful / deliberate way?
2. What do you lose on camp and is it worth it? A lot of athletes talk about the ability to do more training with less distractions when on camp, but a key reflection of mine was what many athletes lose in comparison to a home set up that is very dialled in. Access to physio / massage (depending on the level of the camp) is generally lower, nutrition is thrown off by foreign supermarkets and general routine is different, and sleep is often disrupted with sharing rooms or different / uncomfy beds compared to what they’re used to. All these things should be accounted for around training load!
3. The importance of REST – camp is intense, for everyone: athletes, coaches and the other support practitioners that may be there. Are the 4 types of rest (physical, emotional, social, mental) all being facilitated? Are you spending 2 weeks burning the candle at both ends and going to come back exhausted?
All these things are important, especially in a group training environment. Consider them before deciding whether you should sign up for a training camp and when you’re preparing to go.