Why a pre-training questionnare?

A pre-training questionnaire if asking the right questions, can provide you and your coach a lot of feedback on how you might perform in the upcoming session. It can then allow you to adjust your session accordingly so you walk out of the door feeling accomplished and injury free. We use a very simple questionnaire consisting of 4 questions and totalling 25 points and will explain each one below.

Question 1: How many hours sleep did you get last night?

In my opinion sleep is the most underrated form of recovery and even I am victim to this. The required amount of sleep will vary between athletes, however generally speaking athletes will require more sleep based on their training loads and competition stress. At 360 SP we ask our clients to enter “how many hours of sleep they got last night” and their answer is scored as below.

1-5 hours = Poor

6-7 hours = average

8+ hours = Great

Question 2: How stressed was the last 24 hours?

Stress can fatigue you physically but even more so, mentally. This is not always the case, but it is likely that if you’ve had a highly stressful day, you will struggle to focus with your training session. We score stress on a scale of 1 to 5 with the ratings as below:

1-2 = Poor

3 = Average

4-5 = Great

Question 3: What are your energy levels like right now?

Knowing how much energy you have prior to a session will likely determine what intensity you can train at. Generally, if you are lacking energy it is likely you have not hydrated and eaten well over the past 24 hours. This means you need to either lower the intensity of your session OR get some energy into you, which is why at the gym we keep bananas, lollies and energy drinks on hand. As an athlete you want to be giving your sessions 100% and this lack of energy will just not allow you to do that. Scoring is rated out of 5 as below:

1-2 = Poor

3 = Average

4-5 = Great

Question 4: How motivated are you to train right now?

Motivation doesn’t affect how your session might go as much as the first 3 questions but it is something to note. Motivation can basically give you an indication of how much you still want to achieve that goal despite all other factors. For example, I personally find that my motivation score is always between 4 and 5 despite how stressed my day was or how much sleep I’ve had, because I still have the deep desire to achieve my goal. Losing that motivation might mean you need a reminder of WHY you are training. Scoring is also rated out of 5:

1-2 = Poor

3 = Average

4-5 = Great

Once completed the questionnaire you are scored out of a total of 25 points and this score will allow you to adjust your session accordingly. Obviously as athletes we always want to be training at full potential, but no human is perfect, we all have our good days and bad days. So it is important to take into consideration the risk vs reward. Getting injured and losing a few weeks training vs having a lighter session and continuing as planned. At 360 Strength and Performance we adjust the sessions as shown:

Scored 15 or less: De- load session starting at 50%

Scored 16-19: Lower intensity session starting at 80%

Scored 20+: Train as planned and push yourself!

If you look at the image attached at the beginning of this blog you will see a real time scoring of some of our members. One of them was instructed to start at 50%, two of them 80% and the other two to go full steam ahead. You always want to train hard, but you also want to train smart and this module allows us to just that.

Note that I did not fix the session to 50% or 80% but rather mentioned “starting at”. Sometimes energy kicks in after that banana. Sometimes lifting weights can completely shut your mind off to the stresses you’ve experienced over the last 24hrs. Sometimes motivation hits you when you train with your team mate. Your session can completely unexpectedly change and I always hope it does. If it doesn’t don’t feel like you’ve had a ‘lesser’ session because lifting 80% load when you’re feeling 80% can be somewhat equivalent to lifting 100% when you’re feeling 100%.

If you’re a novice, elite or aspiring athlete interested in strength and performance coaching and taking your game to another level, get in touch with us here.

Next blog I’ll fill you in on the post training questionnaire we use for recovery.