Amir Williamson
Occupation: Fireman
Primary Sport: Hammer Throw
“It’s the best monitoring tool I have come across in 10 years of international athletics. It’s easy to use and understand and extremely accurate.”
I have been throwing the hammer for 10 years and competed internationally since the age of 17. The hammer throw has allowed me to compete around the world against the best athletes in my field. On top of this I balance a demanding, but enjoyable, job and have recently gotten married – suffice to say life is busy right now!
My goals for this year are a top 3 finish at the UK Championships and make the Commonwealth Games team for 2014. Training is going well and I feel these are very realistic targets. I believe without ithlete I would spend many days “resting” whereas now I can adapt my training sessions and continue. It is this use of training time which is making my targets achievable.
My coach, Malcolm Fenton, and I used to calculate my recovery time by the results of my training throws; we used this as a monitoring tool for central nervous system fatigue. However this was retrospective and didn’t always mean I got the recovery I needed at the right time. Then I heard about ithlete from my sports physiologist James Viner. James showed me the research and the data speaks for its self, we now use ithlete to monitor all of my training and recovery.
Using ithlete, initially I was able to track the quality of my sleep and recovery from sessions but now with regular analysis and feedback from Director Simon Wegerif I have been able to utilise ithlete to its full potential.
Training with ithlete means rest days are few and far between and I can continue to train whilst my body adapts and improves. Much of my training is focused around my daily HRV scores, as a result the progressions and rate of improvements we are seeing from training are remarkable. By using ithlete everyday my coach and I decide and re-evaluate my training, we swap and move sessions so I can train consistently at a high level without a decline in performance. For example, if my ithlete HRV indication is amber we alter my training accordingly, for example by reducing weights sessions by 10kg or throwing a lighter hammer. Whereas in the past I would schedule in rest days, I now keep training and in the way my body is best prepared for.
My technical skills sessions have become more consistent with my technique more refined resulting in greater distances being achieved in training and competition. This is only possible if my body is recovered from the physiological, psychological and chemical stresses that occur in training. Never before have I progressed so well!
The more data I have collected the more accurate and understandable my HRV scores have become. The fluctuations correspond amazingly to my previous training load. It’s the best monitoring tool I have come across in 10 years of international athletics. It’s easy to use and understand and extremely accurate. In fact I no longer use any other tools to inform my training program, it’s ithlete all the way!
I am extremely excited and honoured to have officially joined the ithlete Team. I want to say a massive thank you to ithlete for supporting me and I look forward to working towards the Commonwealth Games 2014 and the Rio Olympics 2016 with the ithlete Team, it will be an exciting journey!!! To keep up with the latest news on the journey follow me on Twitter.