UK Sport

Over 600 volunteers keen to 'Train Like Champions'

Could you train like a champion?
UK Sport

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Jessica Whitehorn 11 December 2008

UK Sport have been inundated with applications from willing volunteers keen to benefit from the expertise of world class coaches and scientists while supporting research aimed at giving Britain’s top athletes the edge over the opposition.

Over 600 people have applied to take part in ‘Train like Champions’, a recruitment drive run by UK Sport’s Research and Innovation team aimed at finding volunteers to take part in cutting-edge research projects into human performance sciences, in order to discover and test novel training strategies and methods.

When the project was launched back in September, Head of Research and Innovation, Dr Scott Drawer explained the need for the volunteers’ help:

“For work in this area to be applicable to elite athletes, we need to involve participants in our projects who are capable of training like our best athletes – with the utmost dedication and determination.

“The overall performance level is not the only factor which will determine whether individuals can contribute – it is just as important that we find participants who, like many of our athletes, are at the perceived limit of their individual capabilities, whether that be their best bench press score or their personal best for a 40km cycling time trial.

“We need people who have reached a plateau in their training. Every dedicated sportsperson knows this feeling - you train for years and, at some point, you stop becoming better. Our top athletes experience the same problem, where the investment in training time and effort leads to smaller and smaller gains.

“The ability to assess novel training methods will provide us with a unique opportunity to challenge our knowledge of training principles and explore ways to make a significant impact on our elite athletes’ performance.”

Now that all the applications have been screened, invitations are being sent out this week to invite the volunteers to ‘Train Like Champions Challenge’ testing days early in 2009, in which the participants will be put through a series of tough physical challenges to determine their suitability for forthcoming research projects.

Those who appear to display the characteristics required for specific projects will be asked to commit to structured training programmes. In return the ‘elite subjects’ will benefit from free performance assessments and training plans, and experience innovative training interventions under the guidance of world class coaches and sport scientists, enabling them to train like a champion.

Anyone interested in applying to Train Like Champions should visit www.uksport.gov.uk/tlc

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