EXPLORING INTERACTIONS 2012 Cycle 1 Bob Janssen 1517384

HEALTHY RUNNING LIFESTYLE BY CREATING AWARENESS OF TRAINING INTENSITY

Inhoud
Design goal .........................................................................................................................................2 Research goal .....................................................................................................................................2 Research activities and topics .............................................................................................................2 Results ................................................................................................................................................2 Interview with running coach ..........................................................................................................2 First interviews with students .........................................................................................................3 More extensive interviews ..............................................................................................................3 Interview with Johan Molenbroek ...................................................................................................4 Running class ..................................................................................................................................4 Storyboard of current situation .......................................................................................................4 Literature research..........................................................................................................................5 Interaction vision ................................................................................................................................6 Concept direction and first ideas .........................................................................................................7 Further design and research in next cycle ...........................................................................................8

Design goal
The intended goal is the following:
I want to design a product or service that ensures that students who jog in the city adopt a healthy running pattern.

Research goal
Finding the answers to the following research questions: What motivates joggers, why do they overtrain themselves? Is it because they want to achieve results too quickly, because they dont like schedules, because of external influences (peer pressure, motivational tools) or because they dont listen to their body? What are the goals they set and their running routines? What injuries do students who jog in the city get from jogging? Where do they often feel pain, and what do they do if they feel pain, continue running or slow down/stop? What factors are important for the prevention of running injuries? How can I affect and measure these? How can I change a runners behavior?

Research activities and topics

Interview with running coach at Runners World store Technique, ways of training, training schedules, accessories and different shoes First interviews with students who jog Injuries, technique, ways of training, training schedules and motivation More extensive interviews with 4 students who jog and storyboard Overall goal/motivation, schedule, individual run goals, preparation, going further than your goal, overtraining and injuries/pain during running Interview with Johan Molenbroek, associate professor Applied Ergonomics & Design at TU Delft Body types, loading of bones, feedback and monitoring Running class at TU Delft sports center from a running coach Experiencing first hand, stretching and running exercises Literature research Stretching, measuring training intensity, overreaching/overtraining and ways of training

Results
Interview with running coach
Most injuries arise from overtraining Beginners should build up training over 8 weeks, slowly start training to make your body get used to it and to learn technique Dynamic stretching before training is better than static stretching Use intervals when training, this will help you improve your technique and speed more 2

Training 2 or 3 times a week is best, you need resting days too to recover before the next run

First interviews with students

Beginners start with a run that is too long for them They train too many times per week because they want to see results fast Beginners sometimes join regular runners, which causes problems for the beginners People who have a certain goal (10k or marathon) follow their schedule to rigorously External factors influence them (peer pressure, motivational tools)

More extensive interviews

Girl, 24 Goal: Improve condition, lose weight Schedule: 8k each run with 1 break, goal 10k with no breaks About what she does when she gets knee pain: No, I just continue running, I only slow down when I feel something in my shin. (Friend of hers has had an infection in the shin from running and couldnt go running for a year) Boy, 21 Goal: Improve fitness Schedule: 5-6k each run About whether he ever exceeds the distance he set for himself before his training: No, hardly ever. Boy, 22 Goal: Keep in shape, fitness, speed Schedule: 6-7k each run, same route each time, goal 15 km/h during the whole run About whether he ever runs further than his normal route: Ill just stick to my round, Ill be tired at the end anyway. About being a competitive 800m runner (2-3 years ago): When I trained 5 times a week I did get over trained, now I know very well what I can and cannot do. Boy, 24 Goal: Stay fit Schedule: 5k, goal as fast as possible I often get during my run that Im afraid that if I start running faster at some point I will not make it to the end (his goal in distance), but when I then get to the end and still have something left I would have wanted to have run faster.

Interview with Johan Molenbroek

Proposed running schedules can be very different from one coach to another Adapt training to the persons body-type, if youre very flexible your training should be different than when youre very stiff Dont underload or overload your bone, bone can adapt to handle certain loads, but only gradually and to some degree You cant measure whether someone is near their limit and will get injured precisely, person can feel it best themselves, body is best measuring instrument, but people choose to ignore it sometimes Monitor training so you dont train when you havent fully recovered yet Use more feedback loops than in current systems like Nike+ Capture data during running, compare to past data and body characteristics

Running class
Do dynamic stretching and running exercises before running a longer distance, warms up muscles and makes them ready to deal with the training After a heavy training do a light training the next day (if you do a training the next day) With a longer distance dont start too quick, its better to have something left and use it at the end Running in a group matters, if I wasnt running in a group I wouldve stopped or slowed down sooner on the way back After training do a cooling down and static stretches

Storyboard of current situation

Traits of the person in this storyboard: Wants to get fit/stay fit Goals in speed/distance or both Runs same route almost each time, a circle, so they generally dont go over the goal they set in km for each run, but this distance can still be too much Takes phone/mp3-player with them to keep track of time/speed/distance and play music Not well aware of consequences of joint/muscle pain, will run on when in pain Wants to feel fulfilled after a run

Literature research
Results: Ten minutes of dynamic stretching before an exercise that requires power and agility (such as running) has been shown to cause better performance than ten minutes of static stretching or no stretching1. The intensity of a training cannot be measured by looking at the percentage of the maximum heart rate a runner is at, because the metabolic stress is not constant across runners with the same heart rate percentage2. Functional overreaching causes super compensation, which benefits the athletes performance, non-functional overreaching however does not lead to super compensation and can lead to overtraining syndrome, which is characterized by a drop in performance and changed hormone levels. Overreaching cant be accurately detected by changes in heart rate or heart rate variability, the alterations are too small to use as an indicator3. The difference between continuous training and interval training with the same relative training intensity is that using interval training the increase in aerobic power (a measure of the maximum attainable oxygen usage during exercise), peak power output and exercising work rate is greater than using continuous training. Lactic acid is however less quickly accumulated when a continuous training regime has been used4. RPE (rating of perceived exertion on a scale of 6 to 20) performs well as a means of monitoring and regulating exercise intensity, different level of RPE show significantly different levels of heart rate, blood lactate and velocity, both when running indoor on a treadmill and when running outside in a field5.

McMillian, D.J., Moore, J.H., Hatler, B.S. & Taylor, D.C. (2006). Dynamic vs. Static-Stretching Warm Up: The Effect on Power and Agility Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 20 (3), 492-499. 2 Katch, V., Weltman, A., Sady, S. & Freedson, P. (1978). Validity of the Relative Percent Concept for Equating Training Intensity. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 39 (4), 219-227. 3 Bosquet, L., Merkari, S., Arvisais, D. & Aubert, A.E. (2008). Is Heart Rate a Convenient Tool to Monitor Overreaching? A Systematic Review of the Literature. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 42 (9), 709-714. 4 Gorostiaga, E.M., Walter, C.B., Foster, C. & Hickson, R.C. (1991). Uniqueness of Interval and Continuous Training at the Same Maintained Exercise Intensity. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 62 (2), 101-107. 5 Ceci, R. & Hassmn, P. (1991). Self-monitored Exercise at Three Different RPE Intensities in Treadmill vs Field Running. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 23 (6), 732-738.

Conclusions: It is interesting that dynamic stretching can increase performance as opposed to not stretching or static stretching because the runners I interviewed mostly dont stretch before running, while they might benefit from this. Heart rate without taking into account other factors cannot be used as an indicator of training intensity or the occurrence of overreaching. Depending on the runners goal it is better to either do interval training or continuous training. Interval training is suitable if their goal is speed and to improve their cardiovascular fitness, while continuous training is more suitable if the goal is distance or duration (because verzuren happens later when a continuous training schedule has been followed). The fact that RPE (rating of perceived exertion on a scale of 6 to 20) can be used as a means of monitoring and regulating exercise intensity means that runners can judge the training intensity quite well when asked to give a rating. This means that after an intense training, say 15 on the RPE scale, you can ask them to perform a less intense training for the next time they go running by suggesting to stay at 12 on the RPE scale. The good thing about this is that you cut out external factors, a 10 km run in an hour might be a 12 on the RPE scale one day, but a 13 or 14 the day after because its windy, by suggesting them to stick to a lower RPE rather than a lower number of kilometers you can make sure the training is actually less intense. RPE also ties in well with what Johan Molenbroek said in the interview, the runner can judge whether they are near their limit or prone to injury best themselves, the body is the best measuring instrument.

Interaction vision
In the intended interaction the runner is aware of what he or she is doing and doesnt over train. Its alright if someone who is running gets into a flow and loses track of time for a while, but only up to a certain point. This point past which it becomes more likely that someone will get injured differs per person, it depends on a persons condition, body type and is also effected by external conditions like the weather (warm or cold muscles can react differently to stress). The person who can sense what this point is the best is the runner himself, but being in a flow can cause a runner not to take notice. In other cases a runner might ignore the signs from his or her body because theyre not aware of the consequences. Being in a flow can be very relaxing, so mentally its quite beneficial, but to make them aware of what theyre doing they need to be pulled out of this flow. Likewise to other situations where youre in a flow, like when youre sleeping, showering or gaming, you dont want to stop abruptly when an influence from outside forces you to (like an alarm clock ringing, the water getting cold or someone shouting dinner is ready), you always want to continue a bit longer. These distractions or changes dont have to be as abrupt as the ones mentioned, take the Philips Wake-up Light as an example, it changes the environment very gradually, but at a certain point you still take notice and wake up. Aside from making them aware of their running and as such preventing injuries because they cant ignore their bodys signs anymore the interaction should be fulfilling, giving positive feedback and helping them achieve their goals. The interaction vision can be described as follows:

Concept direction and first ideas

The concept direction is a product that creates awareness of the body in the user by asking them what their Rated Perceived Exertion (RPE) is. They start paying attention to their body more, this can help them adjust their training if they feel its necessary. The asking the RPE can take place in all kinds of ways, different triggers of which the user knows that they now should communicate their RPE to the product. The product stores the RPE so the user can later check back and see what their training intensity was over several trainings. This can help them to keep the right balance of intensive and less intensive trainings (as advised by the running coaches). If they see their intensity has increased while their distance or speed have not changed much from one training to another this might be a signal that theyre overtraining (performance drop is one of the indicators of overtraining) or are a bit ill. As can be seen in the two design ideas below the way of triggering the user to communicate their RPE as well as the way of communicating this can be any number of things. In the first idea a change in the music from the headphones (i.e. volume drop) is the trigger and the communication of the RPE rating can be done by speech using voice recognition. In the second idea the trigger is not specified, but it could be for instance a tightening of the fabric around your arm, here the communication is done by pressing buttons on the water bottle holder, if you want to have 14 for instance on the 6 to 20 scale, you would press 5 twice and 2 twice. In the second idea the number is displayed on your sleeve (there are LEDs in the shirt), so if youre running with friends who are more advanced than you they can see when youre having a hard time keeping up (when their own intensity is lower than yours while you walk the same speed) and react to that.

Further design and research in next cycle

Below are the main points that will be tackled in the next cycle by making models and testing interactions with users: How should the product trigger the user to think about their exertion? How should the product allow the user to fill in their RPE? How will the product convey the RPE to others? How will the user be enabled to keep track of his training intensity over time, allowing them to see day to day changes?