Performance Tracking | Re-Engineering Labs

The Kayak Tech Survey Outcome

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Julian Chua

Almost 6 months ago, I wrote a short post about (what I thought was) a lack of technologies for monitoring training in flatwater or sprint kayaking. To make sure that it wasn’t just me thinking that way, I created a survey and sent it to a couple of kayaking friends who graciously helped spread the word. I also posted a link to the survey on social media (i.e. Twitter) which I think wasn’t quite as effective. Overall, I didn’t get a big response but it still gave me a peek into things. So let’s dive into it and see what it’s telling us.

Key Stats

So here are some key stats as captured by Typeform:

There were a total of 120 visits, of which 101 were unique and out of the 101, there were 37 responses. This means a 36.6% response rate. Among the 37 responses, 14 were done on Laptops, 23 on Smartphones, and none on Tablets.

Screenshot of Typeform Key stats

Some Details

Then onto the 6 questions:

Training frequency per week – 30 out of the 37 responses said they train at least 2 times a week or more.
Yes/No to use of technology during training – 30 out of 37 use some form of technology to track their training
Regarding the type of technologies they use – 29 use a GPS watch, 19 use a heart rate strap, 8 use a smartphone app, 3 use Motionize, 3 use Vaaka Cadence, 2 use a SmartWatch, and 1 uses a GPS + IMU unit. (note that some people use more than 1 piece of technology)
The number who do not use technology – 5 responded that they do not use any technology and the most popular reason is that they have not tried them
What they liked about their current technologies – Being able to track Heart Rate (n=18) is the top thing that people liked. This is followed by Pace (14), Speed (11), Distance (8) and Stroke Rate (4) (or cadence).
Regarding improvements they would like to see, everyone had slightly different preferences. But in essence, 9 said they would like a kayaking specific device or app, 6 wanted stroke rate available in their existing devices, 6 wants some form of power monitoring (that is affordable), 4 would like to see stroke/technique analysis, 3 wants greater accuracy and reliability in their tracking, and 2 would like a better visual of their data.

[If you would like to see it on Typeform, here’s an overview of responses to the first 4 questions: link]

Even though I only had 37 responses, there was a good mix of opinions; and I take away 3 key things out of the above data:

The GPS watch is the most commonly used tech. It makes sense because it is a multi-functional device – it can be used for running, riding, swimming or just for everyday use as a watch.
More than half (19) of the people use a heart rate strap and it seems most of them value the heart rate data.
Although there are technologies out there that can be used/adapted, 23 out of the 30 still wants some form of improvement to their devices. The most common feedback is there isn’t a kayak specific device or app.

I reckon most people would have a similar setup as the athlete in his Instagram image below – wearing a heart rate strap and with a GPS watch mounted onto the kayak in front of the cockpit.

Tom Liebscher’s Instagram photo (link to original photo)

Additional Info

Also from the few conversations I had with some of the kind people who did the survey, most (if not all) GPS watches don’t track stroke rate, and the accuracy of the speed measurement during short distances/sprints/intervals are not very good.

What I didn’t get a lot of information or feedback about are those kayak specific technologies that are actually in the market like Vaaka Cadence, Motionize and Kayak Power Meter. It seems like not many people have used them. This could be because of the price or a lack of opportunity to try it. I will be digging a little bit deeper into that.

What next

The main outcome I took out of this little exercise is that my initial hypothesis has its merits, and it’s worth pursuing this further. The few options that I am exploring further going forward are (in that order):

Smartphone app (likely iOS)
A kayak specific device like a kayak computer
Garmin Connect app

As this is really just a side project here at ReEngineering Labs, the progress might not be as quick. Nevertheless, it will be moving forward and I will be posting updates every 3 months.

If you are reading this for the first time, please do check out the earlier post here, and have a go at the survey here. If you would like to give your input on kayak technologies or even be part of this project, drop me a message here. To get notifications about this project, simply subscribe on the right.

With that, thanks for reading!

Technologies Used To Monitor Training In Sprint Kayaking [Survey]

Posted on January 20, 2018 by Julian Chua

What is Sprint (or Flatwater) Kayaking

In case you are haven’t heard of the sport, Sprint Kayaking isn’t the most popular sport in the world. In fact, it isn’t a very easy sport to get into. For example, if I am new to the sport, I might need to join a club to get access to the equipment and training programs. Then I would sign up for an introductory course of sorts to learn the basics of kayaking on the water and safety in the water. After I sort out the basics, which is probably done on more stable kayaks, I will try to move into the kayaks designed for sprints. These sprint kayaks will be a lot more tippy but they allow the trained paddler to go on the water really quickly – hence the name sprint kayak. The length of the process from being new to the sport to being able to comfortably paddle on a sprint kayak will vary between individuals but I would say it is between a few months to a year. Then to be really good in the sport will take years of training or 10,000 hours as Malcolm Gladwell popularised in his book Outliers. [There are many debates on the actual number of hours (to become an expert in anything) but the point is: it’s hard work.]

My own brief experience in the sport

Years ago when I was in the sport as a teenager, the only technology we used was the stop-watch that took the time of our 200m/500m/1000m sprints or it was used as a timer for doing interval sessions. Back then, I only competed at the national level and never went further. Work and life commitments took over and I even moved to a different city. Now with a young family, having time to go flatwater kayaking is quite the luxury.

my first kayaking session of 2018

Here comes the “tech” bit

But being a sports engineer, I recently revisited the use of technology in sprint kayaking training and was thinking of a couple of ideas of adopting technologies that are available in the market to help with training. I did a bit of research and it seems like most kayaking people use products that were designed for runners or cyclists to track their training. A commonly used product is the running/cycling app Strava. I know a handful of people who secure their Garmin (or other fitness) watches onto their boat and simply start a “run” to track the session. The data then goes onto the Strava platform or any other platform they use.

my “run” on Strava

Nelo has a training app that paddlers can use by securing their Android phone onto their kayaks and it uses GPS and the motion sensors on their phone to track their training. The great thing about their app is that it incorporates a Coach’s app that monitors up to 6 different paddlers. There are also a couple of iOS apps on the market that tracks water sports of various kinds including waterspeed app or paddle logger. These ones are a bit more generic.

Then there’s also sensor products specific for paddling sports such as the Vaaka Cadence sensor, the Motionize sensor, and the Kayak Power Meter.

There might be some more that I haven’t come across or they are only used in research labs at the moment. But even with what seems like a good range of training products, I still feel that there is something missing with all these different products. Maybe it is just the sports engineer in me that thinks that way. I am keen to speak to other canoeists/kayakers/paddlers out there who may or may not use technology in their training and get some feedback.

So if you are a canoeist/kayaker/paddler, could you please fill out this survey: link. Your time and input will be much appreciated and will help shape the future of any tech that’s developed! If what I talked about here interests you, leave your email at the end of the survey and I will keep you posted on future developments. Lastly, please also forward this to your fellow canoeist/kayaker/paddler friends. Thanks!

Tracking & Managing Anxiety in Athletes Using Wearables

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Julian Chua

The 2016 Rio Olympic games as with the previous games was a great platform for many tech companies to showcase their latest developments. There are radar and camera technologies that capture motion/biomechanics of an athlete on the field and in the pool. There are wearable devices that (also) track motion plus monitor physiological parameters 24/7. They aim to positively alter athlete behaviour and optimise performance. There are also sports apparel and equipment that were designed and developed (after much R&D) to enhance athlete performance. But we will leave that for another time.

Wearables for tracking performance

Going back to wearables and tracking systems; they often look at (somewhat) straightforward parameters – joint positions, speed (or velocity), height, acceleration, impact, angles, rotation rate, heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep and other physiological stuff. Sometimes coaches and athletes only need to look at a single parameter while other times they may need to examine a combination of variables and find correlations or visualise them over time to identify trends. Some companies go further by processing the above data and coming up with (trademarked) indexes such as Player-Load (Catapult), Windows of Trainability (Omegawave) and Recovery Score (Whoop). What they are trying to achieve is break down all the data that is being collected and deliver one metric that simplifies things and make it easy for coaches and athletes to measure performance (and recovery) .

In major games like the Olympics, where athletes trained years to prepare and qualify for that one event and possibly one moment, there can be a lot of anxiety and pressure to perform. Even if all the physical preparation has been done right, the results could still boil down to how well those emotions are managed; the difference could be between a podium finish or not performing as well as expected. So are there wearable technologies that monitor an athlete’s emotions and maybe warn the athlete of dangerous anxiety levels that can lead to choking or panic?

Wearables for tracking anxiety

Turns out there are a number of wearables in the market that do that. Here are three different types:

Head-worn wearables that measure EEG signals (or brain activity) like the Emotive Insight and Muse. Although the Muse is designed as an aid for meditation and relaxation, it is basically monitoring four EEG channels to see how excited or relaxed a person’s brain is. The Emotive Insight has five EEG channels and looks at the user’s cognitive performance in areas such as Engagement, Focus, Interest, Relaxation, Stress, and Excitement. Emotive also has a higher spec neuroheadset that can look at fourteen EEG channels and goes into much more depth of what’s going on in a person’s mind and how he/she is feeling.
Emotiv Epoc+: 14 channel wireless EEG system
Wrist-worn devices that measure electrodermal activity (or EDA), blood volume pulse, skin temperature and motion; like the Feel and Empatica E4 wristbands. Based on research, measurements of EDA strongly reflect sympathetic activation which is linked to stress levels and excitement. Measuring heart rate variability through the blood volume pulse sensor also reflects sympathetic and parasympathetic activation. Skin temperature is another reliable measure of stress levels as shown in this research. Finally, motion tracking with inertial measurement units (or IMUs) helps identify the user’s activity and tries to place a connection between anxiety levels and what the user might be doing at that time.

The Empatica E4 and Feel: 4 sensors packed on a wrist device
Clipped-on devices that measure breathing frequency like the Spire. The Spire is built with force sensors; when it is secured onto the user’s waistband or bra, it detects the expansion/contraction of the user’s torso and diaphragm during breathing, thus deriving the breathing rate. Then algorithms are used to determine from the breathing waveforms whether the user is calm, tensed or focused.

Spire: Breathing frequency tracker

Most of these devices also provide an accompanying app to monitor anxiety levels, and they prompt users to meditate or do breathing exercises. On a side note, a breathing exercise for lung patients was adapted for training athletes’ breathing technique and also focuses on dealing with anxiety. Athletes could also listen to brain.fm music that either helps them relax or stay focused. In a way, managing stress levels on a day-to-day basis can be beneficial for athletes because stress levels can increase the likelihood of an athlete falling sick or getting injured, and it also affects recovery.

Emotion Profiling for Performance

On the other hand, when it comes to performing well during competitions/races, some athletes actually perform better with some amount of anxiety. In fact, different athletes in different sports may perform better at varying levels of anxiety. In other words, some athletes perform well at high levels of arousal while others may perform better at lower levels of anxiety. It’s all about finding a sweet spot. As mentioned in this article, one widely used tool by coaches/athletes to identify that sweet spot or optimal performance zone is the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model. This is a qualitative analysis approach that involves the athlete recounting the emotional experiences related to successful and/or poor performances. All the emotions are then labelled and rated as described here, and this creates an individualised emotion profile showing which emotions are helpful for performance and which ones are unhelpful. Of course, this would only work if athletes have competed for a number of times previously and came out with different outcomes (winning or losing or setting new personal bests).

Individualised emotion profiling (source: sportlyzer)

Ultimately we could utilise all the different wearables (and tools) mentioned above and somehow piece all that data together to shed some light on the inner workings of each individual athlete. Then the data could be used to “pivot” them in the optimal direction. But at the end of the day, its really down to the athletes themselves pushing hard every day and fighting battles with their body, mind and soul to get to where they would be. So let’s just salute the Olympic athletes for what they do and what they have achieved. And while we await the start of the Paralympics, I leave you with this video below by Under Armour and Michael Phelps. Thanks for reading!