Deadly Dozen Needs Analysis
To design an optimal plan, we first need to understand the sport and the athlete, which is done with a needs analysis, a 2-stage process where we first analyse the sport, then the individual athlete.
Sports Categories:
Here are some examples of the different types of sports (some categories merge). We also have youth and veteran age categories and special populations such as Paralympians.
Strength Sports: Powerlifting, Strongman, Weightlifting.
Strength and Speed Sports (Athletics): Track and Field (Throwing, Jumping and Sprinting).
Team Sports (Invasion Ball Games): Football, Soccer, Rugby, Hockey.
Team Sports (Fielding/Striking Games): Cricket, Rounders, Baseball, Softball.
Net/Wall/Racket Games: Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Table Tennis.
Endurance Sports (Cyclic Sports): Long Distance Running, Cycling.
Combined Sports: Biathlon, Triathlon, Decathlon.
Combat Sports (Martial Arts): MMA, Boxing, Karate, Judo.
Gymnastics: Floor Work, Parallel Bars, Vaulting.
Complex Coordination Sports (Dance): Artistic Skating, Synchronized Swimming.
Aquatic: Swimming, Surfing, Sailing.
Outdoor Pursuits: Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, Orienteering.
Target Sports: Archery, Pistol.
Extreme sports: skateboarding, Mountain Biking, Base Jumping.
Motorized sports: Formula Racing, Motorcycling.
Fitness Racing Sports: Conventional fitness racing sports like the Deadly Dozen and Hyrox. Specialist fitness racing sports like CrossFit and Obstacle Course Racing (OCR).
Most sports can be classified into one of the four categories below, with some sports having events in each. For example, there are individual duel (singles) and duel (doubles) events in tennis.
Individual: Competing as an individual against the event.
Individual Duel: Competing as an individual against another individual.
Duel: Competing as a pair against another pair.
Team: Competing with 3 or more individuals against another team.
Sports Analysis
Sports Overview: What is the typical sporting season and the main events throughout the year?
Movement Analysis: What movement patterns are common in the sport and, therefore, need to be trained? Kinetics is the study of the forces that create motion, and kinematics is the study of motion
Physiological Analysis: What are the strength, power, hypertrophy, muscular endurance, metabolic, speed, agility, and mobility requirements of the sport?
Injury Analysis: What are the common sites for injury, and how is the risk of injury effectively minimized?
Position-Specific Analysis: What are the different needs of each position? For example, the demands placed on a prop are different from those placed on a winger in rugby
Much of the information above can be gained by watching the sport, attending competitions, and speaking to coaches, athletes, and other spectators. Even just watching the sport on television or searching for videos online will provide you with invaluable insight once you approach being a spectator with a coach’s eye.
On top of all this, there is a plethora of information online in regard to the analysis of different sports. You will find articles discussing the physical demands of a sport, injury surveillance studies that provide you with information on the prevalence of injuries, and incredibly well-edited videos that demonstrate the movement requirements of specific positions – do your research!
The analysis of sport is much easier with the accessibility of various technologies such as video software, GPS (Global Positioning System) and heart rate monitors, etc.
An example of using these technologies is time-motion analysis. For example, video and GPS can be used to assess how much a mid-fielder in soccer moves during 15 minutes of play. Add a heart rate monitor, and you will gain data on the average heart rate during a game and how often specific positions go into what is often referred to as a “red zone” heart rate (above 90% of maximum heart rate).
The Deadly Dozen is an easy event to analyse as there are fewer variables. It is an individual sport where the athlete is competing as an individual against the event (or as a pair or team against the event), i.e., No other athlete is directly impacting their performance. On top of this, every aspect of the event is planned out. We know exactly how long the athlete is running for and what movements/exercises they are required to complete.
Sports Seasons:
Most sports follow an annual plan that works towards the main season where the major events occur. For example, rugby players will be well aware of intense pre-season training prior to the main season. However, some sports, such as combat sports (MMA), may not follow an exact season each year, with athletes potentially accepting big fights at different times of the year.
Four parts of the conventional sporting season:
Pre-Season: A time when athletes prepare physically for the season and when teams often play exhibition/warm-up games
Regular Season: The time that most of the games are played (league competitions, etc)
Post-Season: The time after the season. Teams often have a tournament to win a championship (playoffs)
Off-Season: The time before the season starts that teams use to rest, recover and prepare for the next preseason/season.
The Deadly Dozen Season
Although the Deadly Dozen can host races year-round, the primary season is in the summer. Therefore, the winter is seen as the Off-Season (although it is a great time for an indoor track season), where an aerobic base is usually established. The spring acts as a Pre-Season where training ramps up and places more emphasis on race-specific movements and qualities, and the Summer is the main/regular Season – late summer is where major championships take place.
Athlete Analysis
Analyse the age, gender, and anthropometrics of the athlete (height, weight, limb lengths, etc) – what are the pros and cons of each for their sport?
Look at their training and injury status
Conduct tests to evaluate the athlete
Evaluate the results compared to your research and their peers’ testing results (considering positional demands) – use normative data
Based on the results and comparisons, decide what the training priorities should be for this athlete in consultation with them.
An analysis of the athlete should always start with a simple conversation (for a personal trainer, this would be the initial consultation). To truly understand the needs of an athlete, you must get to know them and build rapport. Having good rapport will result in the athlete giving honest feedback, which is essential, as honest feedback about how the athlete feels and responds to the training will best inform your programming.
From there, testing will provide you with relevant data, and normative data informs this.
Normative Data
Normative data is data from a reference population that establishes norms that can be compared against. However, there are a few things we must consider.
If using “norms” or “rating tables” to interpret your test results, you must consider whether the tests were carried out using the same protocol – many tests have a number of variations but are still given the same name.
Is the equipment different in any way?
Are the distances the same: Metric or imperial system – is the test laid out in meters or yards?
Was the same starting stance used?
Was the same starting command given? i.e., 3-2-1 Go!
Were the weather conditions the same?
It is also important to consider what population group the normative data was derived from. For example, the age group or ability level – many studies have been carried out with college/university students/athletes.
Published norms are generally based on the range of scores around the mean. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the above-average score is good. For example, the test group may have achieved poor results across the board, and therefore, an above-average score is still fairly poor.
Smallest Worthwhile Change
Fitness testing is generally conducted several times a year to evaluate changes in an athlete’s performance and identify where programming adaptations may need to be made.
Unfortunately, there are countless factors that can influence test scores on a given day. For example, an athlete’s arousal level, caffeine consumption, sleep quality the night before and overall fatigue and stress levels. Therefore, changes in test scores cannot always be put down to increases or decreases in overall performance. There is also going to be a certain amount of variety between test scores no matter how perfect the conditions are, and this is more problematic when there is less wiggle room in the test, i.e., A test that lasts less than 10 seconds.
This being said, it is important that we determine what is a worthwhile or meaningful change in an athlete’s test results and this is obviously going to depend on the test. For example, an increase of 2cm+ on a vertical jump or 0.08 seconds (80 milliseconds) on a 5-0-5 agility test (timing gates are far more accurate than a stopwatch).
Ultimately, when deciding on the SWC of a test, it comes down to the coach’s experience and knowledge of the test and normative data.
Deadly Dozen Analysis
So far, we have established a few things about the needs of the DD Race:
The race involves the athlete competing against the event, i.e., other competitors are not directly impacting on their performance
The race involves 12x 400m runs, which is a total of 4800m. Other than the first run, these are performed in a fatigued state, and the legs are often worked heavily prior
Key movements include loaded carries, deadlifting, squatting, lunging, pressing overhead, crawling, and going down into a prone position before getting up and jumping horizontally
For the average athlete, the weights would be considered fairly low in a strength training setting (performing sub-10 rep sets), but for the high rep ranges (60 reps / 100+ meters), the weights are reasonably high. In a fatigued state, most athletes will have to break some of the exercise stations down into multiple sets, i.e., sets of 10-20 reps
The race is going to last between 40 and 120 minutes
Looking at the bullet points above, the athlete will need a good aerobic base (aerobic capacity – work for long periods) and great aerobic power.
Aerobic power is the ability to work at higher intensities while still primarily using the aerobic system. If an athlete ventures too far past their anaerobic threshold (aka lactate threshold), they won’t recover and will burn out.
Good anaerobic fitness and the ability to tolerate the discomfort of the anaerobic system working hard is also key. Muscular endurance is key to ensure the muscles can keep working after bouts of intense exercise.
The athlete needs good running speed to cover the 400m as quickly as possible and high levels of muscular strength so the weighted Labour stations do not take too much out of them. If an athlete is not as strong, then the weights used during the deadlift, squat, and push press, etc will cause huge fatigue.
With hybrid events like the Deadly Dozen, it is a balancing act of having enough muscle mass and strength to move the weights with greater ease, yet not being too heavy that it negatively impacts the athlete's running ability – a leaner athlete may have the advantage when it comes to running, but a more muscular athlete may have the advantage when it comes to the Labours.
Good lower body power is required to jump, and good lower and upper body power is required to take the weights overhead.
The athlete needs good balance, coordination, and agility to transition between the different stations and execute the proper form and technique. They need to be able to change direction quickly during Distance Labours like the Farmers Carry.
Good mobility and flexibility are required to ensure the athlete can perform exercises like the KB Goblet Squat to the proper depth.
Coach Jason Curtis
Founder & Race Director
