How many times have we heard that Accidents in the race arrive slowlyas if the body, sneaking, launched signs not to ignore? And how many times have we trusted our smartwatch, convinced that he knew how to guide us in the right way? But now, a study just published byAarhus Universityin Denmark, upset everything we thought we knew: apparently ,.
And yes, even if you think you train intelligently following the instructions of your sports clock, You may still end injured. The fault? Of the algorithms on which these devices are based, who do not really foresee accidents.
Run too much compared to the usual is the main cause of accidents
The Danish study – the largest ever carried out on this issue – involved Over 5,200 runners from 87 countries and monitored their training for 18 months. The numbers are clear: Out of 588,071 registered runs, 35% of the participants underwent an injury linked to the race.
But the most surprising data concerns When These accidents happen. They do not occur after weeks of accumulation, as they have always told us. Happen suddenlyOften After a single training in which the distance is increased by the usual.
The unwritten rule, used by many runners (“”), was questioned. Here are the numbers that emerge from the study:
And you don’t need a great distortion: Even increases lower than 10% can be risky. In practice, Every time you raise the bar too quicklyexpose yourself to a concrete danger.
Your smartwatch deceives you
If you rely on your sports clock to avoid accidents, know that it could give you wrong information. The algorithms they use – like the notorious ACWR, “Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio” – They are based on very simple calculations: they compare the load of the last week with that of the previous three, and advise you not to increase over 20%.
But according to the manager of the study, the Professor Rasmus Ø. Nielsenthese systems and are based on Old studies, with very few participants and unreliable methodologies.
“Every day, millions of people receive wrong advice from their smartwatches. They believe they follow a scientific method, but in reality the algorithm is unable to predict the risk of accident,” explains Nielsen.
The even more worrying thing? These systems are also used by clinics, physiotherapists and coachesand they ended up becoming a standard – despite missing a real scientific base that supports them.
A new free algorithm arrives, able to really protect runners (and warns in real time)
The Danish team did not limit himself to criticizing. For eight years he worked a a new technology capable of giving more reliable and personalized indications. The goal is clear: help runners to prevent accidents, and do it better than current smartwatches.
This new algorithm will be completely freeavailable for companies, health workers, coaches and individual runners. And it may be integrated in sports watches Already on the market.
Nielsen imagines a system which reports the risk of accident in real timelike a traffic light:
In practice, an intelligent racing partnerwho knows when it is appropriate to stop you before it’s too late.
