IR Yellow Jersey Program
November is upon us.
- The intensity and specificity of training
increase as we move into the Specific Preparation Phase (SPP).
- This also means that it’s time for fitness
testing.
- …& time to launch the IR Yellow Jersey program.
Here’s how the IR Yellow Jersey
program works:
- IR branded yellow jerseys (t shirts) are awarded
to the fittest athletes (statistically) based on the most recent round of fitness
testing results.
o November
testing in Sydney & Melbourne – other testing sessions following the
current SSA Fitness Testing Protocol or similar
- Points are collected based on your performance
in your most recent testing session.
-
Yellow jerseys awarded to the following age –
gender groups;
o U14 women
o U14 men
o U16 women
o U16 men
o U18 women
o U18 men
o U21 –
Senior women
o U21 –
Senior men
The scoring system
- A value of 0 (not able to complete), 1 (poor)
to 5 (excellent) is assigned to each of the key areas from the testing protocol:
o Aerobic
power
o Anearobic
endurance
o Explosive
power
o Flexibility
o Agility
o Linear
speed
o Strength
- U14-U16’s will receive a score out of 50
- U18-U21-Senior athletes will receive a score
out of 60
Check out the complete scoring summary below
This scoring system allows you to:
- Break the testing data down to an easy to
manage meaningful number
- Track changes over time (as you can w. the
testing data), although it is our hope that this method will simplify the
process
- IR minimum requirement is ‘Good (62-75%)’
** NB: for 2013.14 & beyond, minimum fitness standards will be
required to be met for acceptance into the program
Testing
- Fitness testing will give you an overview of
your capacity, by providing data on
your strength, ability to run, jump, create force etc.
- The testing process will provide you with data
that you can track throughout your athletic career. One off tests are of limited use – tracking one’s
progress over time is the only way forward.
- Testing is an important and often misunderstood
and underemphasized practice. More emphasis
is needed on the importance of physical capacity in Australian ski racers…the
majority of Australian athletes lack the fitness, strength, flexibility,
mobility and athleticism required to move (& ski) in a powerful and
efficient manner.
- Any testing – assessment will result in a
better understanding of your current strengths and weaknesses and provide
valuable information in future planning.
- Testing is necessary to determine the effectiveness
of training programs, determine future program direction, track (& monitor)
progress and establish goals and performance benchmarks. At school, we write tests and exams – on the
hill we race (& train with timing) – with conditioning we test.
- This is something that you do as an athlete –
you must make the time to attend testing sessions.
Movement screening
- Movement screening is an essential assessment
tool. Whereas testing captures your movement capacity, movement screening is designed to capture your movement quality.
Movement screening is intended to highlight both efficiencies and
inefficiencies within one’s movement pattern.
Screening can be performed in conjunction w. fitness testing (often at
the start and/or finish of each training phase), or on its own. Stay tuned for more information on movement
screening, and particularly the ‘Functional Movement Screen’, most often
referred to as the ‘FMS’ coming your way on the IR blog later this month.
For more information, contact:
Jeff Books
Athletics Director
