Episode 69- 'Optimising Training Load Monitoring' for Injury management with Chris Napier PhD, Athletics Canada Physiotherapist.

Sep 15, 2020

Chris Napier, Canadian physiotherapist, biomechanics researcher and author of The Science of Running, explores wearable tech for monitoring training load. He discusses what wearables can measure, internal vs external load, sensing tissue-specific stress, tracking daily life stressors, and how AI and large datasets may turn data into actionable alerts. Short, practical and forward-looking conversation on tech and injury prevention.

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ADVICE

Always Combine RPE With Time Not Just Mileage

Track internal load (session RPE × duration) in addition to external load like distance to better reflect the body's response.
Napier gives the example: same 10K can be RPE 2 when fresh or RPE 5 when fatigued, altering total stress.

ADVICE

Match Sensors To The Injured Tissue

Use targeted wearable measures for recurring tissue problems, e.g., monitor Achilles tendon load if you have chronic Achilles issues.
Napier warns the same sensor won't help if the injury is in a different tissue like a tibial stress fracture.

INSIGHT

Load Alone Can’t Tell You Tissue Failure Point

Injuries happen because training load exceeds tissue capacity, but tissue capacity is hard to measure directly.
Napier says we're far from measuring tissue capacity, so load data alone has limits for predicting injury.

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Welcome back to another episode of the Run Culture Podcast, today I'm incredibly fortunate to be chatting to Canadian Sports Physiotherapist, author, biomechanist and researcher with a special interest in running; Chris Napier. Known as @runnerphysio on twitter, Chris is a 2:33 marathoner, he finished his Masters in Physiotherapy in 2003 in Perth, Australia and his PhD in running biomechanics and injury prevention in 2018. He co-owns Restore Physiotherapy clinic in Vancouver. He is currently a physiotherapist with Athletics Canada. He is also the author of a fantastic book called; 'The Science of Running'; which I might add is just such a comprehensive resource for educating the runner about the latest running research, myths and the multiple reasons why we get injured Chris's list of research publications continues to grow as a postdoctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University; he now has a particular interest in the use of 'wearable technology' to monitor training load and injury risk in runners. Chris's approach is to fuse biomechanical data capture from the field with subjective and objective training data. He is particularly passionate about education and translating his research into practical/translatable solutions for the runner. In this chat we really focus on how runners could 'optimise training load monitoring' now and in the future. I ask Chris; what is 'wearable tech'? We delve into the range of possibilities that 'wearable tech' could allow in regards to better monitoring the runners training load. Where he envisions 'wearable tech' to be at in 10yrs? Is there such thing as too much data? What data is valid/relevant? We also chat about the value in monitoring daily life stress (ie. sleep, stress, happiness, wellness/health/illness, pain, fatigue) and how being more cognizant of this can help with avoiding injury and maximizing performance. Will Artificial Intelligence start doing more and more, processing of our training data and start making some training decisions for us? We discuss the ins/out of this idea. We also discuss that; 'AI' will likely never be able to replace the often under appreciated value of coach-athlete rapport and the effect this relationship can have on motivation and compliance.