“A winning environment - opportunity to succeed”

As a member of the regional training centre here in Edmonton, I have the privilege of working with Dr. Michael Kennedy (@wasprofessor), a professor at the University of Alberta. Michael's been my physiologist for the past two years, and the relationship started out with monitoring my lactate threshold while running. The test itself is fairly simple, but provides vital information that helps determine what paces I run at to maximize the effectiveness of my training. 

Fast forward two years and we are still working together trying to fine tune my training. In January, we started taking a look at my nervous system, and to be more specific, the autonomic. The procedure is heart rate variability, which requires daily monitoring and weekly check-ups that allow us to determine the effects of my training, positive or negative. Throughout my training cycles, we can determine whether the level of stress applied to my body is adequate, insufficient or damaging, and in turn adjust my training accordingly to take full advantage of the physiological state of my body. It has been a steep learning curve and I still have so much to learn.

At the roots of all the tests and programs performed in sport science, is the desire to change an athlete’s behaviour. From my experience, this is far more successful when I fully understand the reasoning behind why we do what we do. This is the fundamental reason why I am in Physical Education. The faculty provides me the resources to further my understanding of the physiological adaptations going on in my body and in turn, I am becoming more and more conscious of what is happening and why. With this knowledge I am gaining the ability to self diagnosis training stress with Michael’s aid.

 Sporting results aren’t up to chance as some might think. "Oh he’s just so talented", "wasn’t my day", "he got lucky" and so on. Every move at the elite level is calculated with absolute precision, and for every result, whether it good or bad, there is a scientific method to analyze every parameter to determine why such a result was achieved and on the flip side, how to achieve such desired results.

This is the proactive approach I have adopted to not only my training but to my life. At the core of sport is the development of youth into better human beings and through these lessons, the Academy has truly given me “A winning environment - opportunity to succeed”