The Pareto Principle: as applied to coaching

This is a post from Vern Gambetta, an expert in Functional Training; I think it applies to a lot of people who read this blog. I hope you enjoy it!

The Pareto principle states that 20% of the input creates 80% of the result. I would not get too hung up on the numbers as absolute, the key here is the concept. Everything is not weighted equally. You do not do a unit of work and get an equal result from that unit of work. Some types of training or methods can and will contribute more than others. The challenge for us in coaching is to carefully evaluate what we are doing in our training design and implementation to determine where we are getting the most return. We may have a favorite exercise or a workout that we think works, but if you step back you may see that it is not doing what you think it is doing, it is not where the results are coming from. In fact the results may be coming from something or somewhere else. It would be nice if every training session or method contributed equally to the adaptive process but that just does not reflect reality. 

According to the Pareto principle the majority of the results come from a small percentage of the work. So find out where the results are coming from and focus your efforts there for the best return. To use a cliché, separate the wheat from the chaff, focus on the need to do and minimize the nice to do. A corollary to this is that more is not that much better; optimize the volume of work to minimize the law of diminishing returns. Make your decisions in training based on the return, know where you best results are coming from and focus your efforts there. 

Wise words from Coach Gambetta, I think there are a few points that all of us could take on board from this. Any thoughts?

Train less to get faster!

How would you like to train less and still get fitter, faster and stronger? Well, it’s easier than you think. The number one mistake that self-coached athletes (and some poor coaches) make is that they simply train too much!

Some people believe you should do more training just for trainings sake. Unfortunately this ultimately is their downfall. Training too much has a significant effect on your progress, you’ll stagnate, you’ll feel you should train more because you’re not getting the results you want and head into a downward spiral.

I believe in doing the bare minimal to achieve the results you want.

Why? Because doing anything more than the bare minimum is a severe waste of your time and will probably end up in poorer and poorer results. This might mess with your head and sound counter-intuitive, surely if you can train more, then that’s what you should do?

Absolutely not! It’s called the bare minimum for a reason; it’s the least amount of work you need to do to achieve the results YOU want. You don’t need to do more, just to do more!  

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that minimum training means easy training. It doesn’t, it just means being smart and doing the training required to achieve YOUR goals. Effective training means stressing the body, resting sufficiently to allow the body to absorb the training stimulus and then doing it all again.

So be smart, follow the bare minimum protocol and you’ll achieve the results you always wanted!

Train smart all! 

Cardiff half marathon training plan

The Cardiff half marathon is fast approaching! With just over three months to go until race day, you should be starting to build up your longer runs to increase your endurance. But what else should you be doing? How long do I run for? How fast should I be running?

This and all other questions can be answered by our running coach, Mark Whittle. Mark is able to design a bespoke half marathon training plan, one that is designed specifically for you, nothing just copied from the internet! Mark will look at your previous running experience, your current fitness level, the amount of time you have to train and also take into account all the stresses and commitments of your daily life (family, work, social, etc).

So if you're doing the Cardiff half marathon and need someone to take the stress out of planning your training schedule, give Mark a call on 07947010276 or check out the website at Vale Sports Therapy.

Welsh Castles Relay 2012

On Sunday our very own runner and running coach, Mark Whittle, took part in the Welsh Castles Relay. The Welsh Castles Relay is essentially running the length of Wales, 200+ miles over 2 days, 20 stages and 59 teams, starting at Caernarfon Castle on Saturday morning and finishing on Sunday afternoon at Cardiff Castle. Here's Mark race report:

"Yesterday I took part in the Welsh Castles Relay, my leg was 9.1 miles from Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, a mainly flat leg with one or two hills and a long flat downhill to finish.

If I’m honest I wasn’t feeling great before the race, in the warm up I just felt tired and out of breath, I was just hoping that I would feel ok during the run. The race started rather quickly but within a few hundred yards I had settled into 6^th or 7^th place. The group in front seemed to be pulling away rather quickly, but I was already on my limit so there was no point in trying to chase them down this early in the race. A guy ran up to me from Serpentine running club and seemed to be going at a good pace so I settled into his pace and ticked along for a few miles. He seemed to be going really well on the flat sections (a bit too fast for me really), but struggled a bit on the up and downhill sections, so we stayed together for quite a while.

We got to about the 4 mile point and I was working very hard to keep up with my new friend, the pace was too quick for me really but I didn’t want him to gap me at this stage. We came to the biggest hill on the course and he started to blow a little bit, I took this as my opportunity to put my head down and try to get away from him. A gap appeared really quickly and I must have put 100m into him on this hill, but now it was my turn to start to blow! I had worked really hard to get away and was paying the price!

It was at this point I saw my parents, they said I was in 6^th place, this spurred me on but I was working really hard now, I still had over 4 miles to go, I think I had gone too hard too soon! I looked back and my new friend was gaining on me with every step and before I knew it he was on my shoulder. I put in a few surges; he’d drop back every time but would be back on my shoulder within a few seconds, I couldn’t shake him off. We got to the 6 mile point and he put a surge on of his own. I couldn’t go with him and the gap opened up very quickly to about 10m. I was back in 7^th place.

During our little battle I thought we were 1^st and 2^nd vet and was desperate to try to get back to him, I wanted to be first vet! We got to the 7 mile point and I knew it was all downhill with a flat section at the end from this point on. With just over 2 miles to go I worked out I had about 13 minutes of running left and it was now or never, if I wanted an opportunity to catch the guy and get first vet I had to give it one final push and risk blowing myself to pieces in the process.

I put my head down and ran as fast as I could for 30 seconds – he didn’t get any closer. I took a breather and did the same again, this time the gap closed. I went again and before I knew it I was two or three metres behind him, again I took a breather and then went passed him as fast I could. I was back in 6^th place! A gap quickly opened, but I was absolutely on the limit and gauged roughly I had about 5 minutes of running left to get to the finish line. I can’t lie to you, at this point I was dying, I was just hoping he was in as much pain as me!

I turned a corner and saw the guy in 5^th place! He was rocking and rolling all over the place, the wheels had definitely come off for him! I soon caught him, passed him and was in 5^th place!

I was in agony. Only about 3 minutes to run. Surely I can run for 3 minutes?

I keep looking back and a gap had opened between me and the next guy, but I could see my friend from Serpentine chasing hard and then passing the other guy to go into 6^th place.  

I was in agony. Only about a minute to run. Surely I can run for 1 minute?

I rounded a corner, crossed a road, ran down a lane behind some houses into a small housing estate and was ushered through a tree covered lane by the marshals with a “you’re nearly there!”. I exited the lane onto the business park where I knew the finish would be, but didn’t quite know how far into the business park we’d have to run, it could have been a few metres or a few hundred metres. You’d not believe how relieved I was to see all the supporters and officials literally a few dozen metres on exiting the lane, it was nearly over. I was sure the guy behind me wouldn’t catch me now but as this is was cumulative team race I still had to push to the very end as every second counts.

I crossed the line in 5^th place and, in my mind, 1^st vet.

After catching my breath and taking in some much needed fluids I was told that I wasn’t 1^st vet after all, I was 2^nd vet. To be honest I was a little gutted. I had buried myself against the Serpentine runner as I thought we were fighting it out for 1^st and 2^nd vet, if I’d have known we weren’t 1^st and 2^nd I don’t think I would have actually pushed as hard as I did. Is that wrong of me?

After the race I went to Cardiff Castle to watch the last leg and the presentation. Our last runner managed to get 4^th place which was a fitting end to the two days of racing. Last year the club came 8^th overall (out of 59 clubs) and this year we managed a very creditable 6^thplace, which for a very small club (we have 78 members) is an amazing achievement.

Many thanks to my family and friends for their support on the day, I couldn’t have done it without you guys and a big thanks to San Domenico Road Running Club for the superb organisation across two whole days of racing. Bring on 2013!"

Congratulations Mark, great effort! Good to see a running coach walking the walk as well as talking the talk! 

New PB for one of our running clients

One of our running clients, Darren Floyd, set a huge 2 minute personal best this morning at the Cardiff 5K ParkRun!

Darren has been training with Mark for nearly 3 months now with a view to run the Chicago marathon later in the year. Mark sets out a detailed weekly running program for Darren which is tailored especially for Darren, to take into account his busy lifestyle.

Darren has seen some massive progress in the last few months and I'm sure he'll set a new PB when he tackles the llanelli half marathon next weekend. Watch this space to hear how Darren gets on.

Question: what do you do?

So, I had this question today from a member of the public. It was phrased something like, "I know you do sports massage, but what else?".

And this got me thinking, what do we do? If I had to catalogue our services and the locations where our clients come from, could I do it easily? It sounds a strange answer, but I'm not sure. You see, we've grown our services massively over the last few years and our clients come from all over the Vale of Glamorgan and beyond.

So to summarise, our services include:

Sports Massage
Sports Therapy
Nutritional Advice & Products
Running Coaching
Triathlon Coaching
Nordic Walking
Fitness Coaching

With clients from Newport, Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Bridgend, Cowbridge, Porthcawl and Pontypridd (I'm sure I've missed a few!), including the Ulster rugby team (when they are in Wales playing the Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys or the Newport Gwent Dragons) and Cardiff City Football Club.

I think that about covers it!

Running workshops in Cardiff

Mark has just finished a series of 4 running workshops in Run and Become in Cardiff in the run up to the Cardiff half marathon. Mark was joined by Personal Trainer John Bruno and Physiotherapist Karen Pearce to provide advice to the half marathon runners on running injuries, run technique, nutrition, mind focus and general run training advice.

The workshops were well received, giving the novice runners a boost before race day. Look out in 2012 for more running workshops in Cardiff, as we'll be supporting the Cardiff half marathon again next year. Have a great race everyone!