Glasses with a Brabant touch help top athletes achieve records and medals
In the world of top-level sports, the smallest details make the difference. That's why the vast majority of the Dutch team wore light glasses during the Winter Olympics in Beijing. And those glasses have a considerable Brabant touch .
Beijing 2008
For Schoutens, the ball started rolling in 2007. He – a fervent sports fanatic – was approached by Marcel Wouda and Jacco Verhaeren of the Dutch swimming team after several publications. During the Beijing Olympics (2008, ed.) many swimming finals took place in the morning. That was something unique, normally they always swim finals a lot later in the day. There was also a lot of jet lag in prospect. The Dutch swimming team wanted to make sure that the athletes would suffer as little as possible from that.” Schoutens therefore went along to the training camp, interviewed twenty swimmers and investigated their sleeping patterns, among other things.
The ultimate goal: to try to shift the physiological peak performance to the moment of the competition, so that they would perform better in the morning when it really has to be. A shift in the daily routine, in other words. "The best example at the time was Maarten van der Weijden, who swam a race at 10:00. We changed his rhythm in such a way that his peak performance moment (the moment on a day when you perform best, ed.) was a lot earlier in the day than normal."
More likely
Suffering from jet lag or not yet being accustomed to a different time zone makes a difference to your sports performance. Research by the University of Groningen showed that the best swimming performances are delivered in the afternoon. In the morning it goes considerably slower. The difference can amount to almost four tenths of a second.
According to Jacco Verhaeren, you can also save a lot of time thanks to the method, which is called chrono coaching: "The rule of thumb in sports is: for every hour of time difference, you have to get used to it for a day. If you make sure that your body is used to the time zone immediately upon arrival, you can quickly pick up your normal training schedule. That is of course a huge difference compared to when you do nothing about it, then you have to get used to the time zone for days."
In top sport it is the sum of the details. If it all fits, you are able to deliver the best performances.
Jamaica, the United States and Jumbo-Visma
The method with the light glasses, which also consists of guidance, time-adjusted nutrition and schedules, was a success. Using the blue light of the glasses for half an hour ensures that you get more energy. The orange glasses block daylight and ensure that you fall asleep more easily.
In the meantime, more than a thousand athletes from more than fifteen countries use it. From Belgian cyclists to Swiss swimmers and from the team around Rana Reider (the former trainer of Dafne Schippers) to athletics superpowers such as Jamaica and the United States. Dutch teams such as Jumbo-Visma and Reggeborgh also work with the light glasses. Schoutens looks honored: "It all sounds almost too good to be true."
De Brabander thinks that perhaps three quarters of the Dutch Olympians used the glasses – equipped with light therapy – during the last Winter Games. "There were some nice Instagram videos of Suzanne Schulting, among others, wearing the light glasses. It's really nice to see that it is being used."
Someone who proved that you can achieve world-class performances with the help of the light glasses is Victor Campenaerts. The Belgian cyclist improved the world hour record in 2019 and was closely supported by Schoutens in the run-up to that attempt.
"The record was broken at an altitude of 1900 metres in Mexico, in a large cycling hall with a light, transparent roof. Ultimately, it was calculated that the race could best be held at 11:00, because of the temperature and air resistance. However, his peak moment was in the afternoon. That is why we gradually advanced his entire rhythm by five hours two weeks before the race. The entire team eventually got up at 03:00 and went to bed every evening at 19:00 or 20:00. Victor said afterwards that it helped him tremendously, because he noticed that he could exert himself to the maximum. Those are the great projects."
If you have jet lag in your knees, you simply cannot perform at your best
According to Verhaeren, it is difficult to say exactly how much effect the glasses and chrono coaching have on sports performance. "I always say: you don't get in shape just by putting on glasses. If only that were true. But, if you are in top shape, then thanks to chrono coaching you can also show that top shape in a different time zone."
Schoutens: "Top-level sport is all about the sum of the details. If everything is right, you are able to deliver the best performance. If you have jet lag in your knees, you simply cannot deliver the best performance. That is simply not possible. Your biological clock then dictates to you that you have to go to bed, instead of participating in a final."
If it were up to the duo, the glasses would also be used on a large scale in other sectors. This is already happening in healthcare, the police and in defence. Chrono coaching is used in more than 35 hospitals and other healthcare facilities to shift and improve the sleep of doctors and nurses. DJ Giel Beelen was assisted by Schoutens in 2014 during his successful record attempt to make non-stop radio. "We try to translate the knowledge we gain in sports for the average mortal," says Schoutens.
Discipline
Although according to the researcher, that is not so easy. "Discipline is very important. Suppose you want to change your rhythm, but you have a party somewhere in the evening. If you still pick that up, then you are not well prepared. That one day ensures that the rhythm is no longer optimal. Top athletes do everything they can to get better and to be at their very best when they have to perform. They get the very best guidance. For example, with healthcare workers, it is all a bit different."
Of course, Schoutens also has dreams in sports. "I would like to work with an athlete like Max Verstappen, because he will probably also suffer from jet lag, just like his crew. And those machines and devices he works with and that whole team around him, that's fantastic, isn't it?"
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