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Show Notes
- Bring heart rate back into the conversation. Ibrahim and Martin revisit what makes it so powerful for understanding training load and adaptation. TRIMP, aka training impulse, offers a way to blend duration and intensity into one meaningful number, but it’s only as strong as how you individualize it. Their analysis across years of data suggests ~400–500 individualized TRIMP units per week (or around 30 minutes above ~85–90% HRmax) is enough to maintain aerobic fitness. The key takeaway? The concept matters more than the number. Use your own data to find your team’s threshold.
- Don’t just chase data, understand the dose and the response. A 10-minute increase in “time in zone” might boost aerobic capacity by 1–2%, but it also adds fatigue. Context is everything. For a player recovering from injury, low-intensity, longer-duration sessions may help rebuild mitochondrial size, while heat exposure or upper-body ergometers can sustain internal load when lower-limb work isn’t possible. The smartest coaches monitor both the stimulus (heart rate, TRIMP) and the response (submax runs, neuromuscular tests) to make truly evidence-based adjustments.
