Last week Polar announced that it will be the “Official Heat Rate Technology Supplier” for U.S. Soccer through 2013, and this will include this year’s London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Polar will supply devices for nine national teams including the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, the Under-23, Under-20 and Under-17 Men’s and Women’s respective teams as well as the U.S. National Paralympics Soccer Team.
Each team will use the Polar Team2 Pro Set to help coaches and trainers gain insight into each individual athlete’s fitness level, where the monitors can be used to help athletes optimize fitness levels and prevent over training that could result in injury.
As with most monitors, the athletes will wear the transmitters during training sessions, but in this case the heart rate information can be wirelessly transmitted to a base station on the sideline and viewed on a PC.
From the real-time heart rate data retrieved, coaches can assess how much energy players expended, how hard their bodies were impacted and how much recovery time they will need to maximize performance on game day and throughout the season. The data collected is incredibly accurate and personalized based on each player’s age, height, weight and fitness level.
“The U.S. Soccer Federation recognizes the technological edge heart rate training provides,” said Ivan Pierra, Head Trainer for the Men’s National Team in a statement. “This partnership with Polar ensures that each team is equipped with the most cutting edge technology to help us achieve our goals, while keeping our coaches and trainers informed and our players performing at their maximum potential.”
This information should make the athletes ready for gameday!