by Thomas Kurz
First, thanks to all who commented on the post Cardiovascular Endurance: Questions, Part I, especially to Ken, Paul Mealling, Brendan, and Shannon for their informative comments.
When I asked questions in that post, I hoped for answers closely tying the sign (symptom) to the training advice (prescription). Many commenters were close and their advice was correct in general, but none used the sign itself to direct training. In the text below, the parts in bold type are my answers to those questions. The rest are just “whys.”
Tripod position: the symptom
Economic breathing is achieved primarily by the diaphragm, intercostals, and sternocostalis–the primary respiratory muscles. Other muscles of the trunk, neck, and shoulder girdle act as accessory respiratory muscles and help the primary muscles, but not so much as to impair their main functions as, for example, stabilizers of the trunk, neck, and shoulder blades.
Assuming the tripod position is a sign that both the primary and accessory respiratory muscles are excessively fatigued–thus in any exercise that follows, the posture will suffer and so will the technique, endurance, strength, and so on.
This position is a sign of either extreme fatigue, which in training should be rare, or of poor planning. So, if an athlete is about to pass out, say, after an all-out finish of a mile race, then this position is excusable. However, during a workout it is a sign of poor planning because:
–frequently exceeding the capacity of the primary respiratory muscles quickly leads to overtraining;
–resting in the tripod position, or while leaning and supporting oneself on some object, wastes an opportunity to exercise all the respiratory muscles (both the primary and the accessory) in the upright “functional” posture; and
–resting in the tripod position (that is, not moving the legs) is harder on the heart than resting while walking.
Upon seeing an athlete resting in this tripod position, a coach should tell the athlete to straighten up and walk until the athlete feels no need to assume this position. Feeling the need to assume the tripod position indicates an excessive effort as well as not being ready for the next effort. Thus the need to assume this position is a tool for regulating exercise intensity.
Further, resting in an upright, functional posture provides an additional training stimulus to help the respiratory muscles get fitter in that posture, which transfers to better overall endurance.
Now a new question: Other than directing endurance training, how can one use the above knowledge about the tripod position in sports such as ball games and martial arts?
Reading the answer, I am thinking most of it apply to asthmatics who are out of breath and just stand around attempting to slow their breathing?
What!???
Apologies, sir. I do not know what I am reading on that post, but it is not what I wrote.
To ask again, does the information in the answer apply to mild suffers of asthma (ones not of the “puffers) who just stop moving around and stand still? Should asthmatics also keep moving, even slowly, so as to allow their breathing to normalize?
From my background in martial arts, I would always like it when an opponent assumed this position during a break from sparring or a match as it conveyed my opponent had run out of gas. Equally, I always avoid adopting the same position for exactly the same reason – it is a big boost psychologically to know your opponent is exhausted. On team sports you would pick those players in the opposition adopting this position to run the plays at.
Great observations!
Hi. I coach soccer (senior men’s) and I remember seeing some of my players adopting this position during a training game yesterday, at the end of a quite strenuous session – please be aware that I’m not head coach and didn’t set the task – (so yeah, ok, it’s about directing training) but NOW I see that it’s an indicator that we’re not putting in enough rest breaks for the players and we’re in danger of over training. Thanks! I’ve learned something.
Hi Coach,
for me it is watching field hockey players running around in a slumped position, limiting their ability to breathe correctly. They do this because their legs are too weak to bend down and play in a lower position with thier heads and chests up.