Original episode & show notes | Raw transcript
Welcome. This lesson is designed for the educated and intelligent student, aiming to deconstruct the core psychological concepts from the Empirical Cycling Podcast episode featuring Patrick Smith. We will move beyond surface-level advice and delve into the foundational principles of behavioral science that underpin elite coaching and athlete development.
Our first topic is a concept that is both deceptively simple and profoundly powerful: the idea that the very act of measurement changes the thing being measured.
In both coaching and science, we often assume our role is to be a neutral observer, collecting data to understand a pre-existing reality. The podcast immediately challenges this by introducing a core principle from behavioral science: Behavioral Reactivity.
Definition: Behavioral Reactivity is the phenomenon where individuals alter their behavior, performance, or actions simply because they are aware they are being observed or assessed.
The host, Kolie Moore, draws an analogy to the observer effect in quantum physics, where measuring a particle inevitably affects it. In human behavior, this effect is not a quantum mystery but a predictable psychological response.
How it Works in a Coaching Context:
Imagine an athlete who feels their training has stagnated. A coach comes in and, before changing a single workout, says, “For the next two weeks, I only want to measure one thing: your average daily sleep duration.”
Before Measurement: The athlete’s sleep might be erratic and an unconscious factor in their fatigue.
During Measurement: Knowing that their sleep is being watched by the coach, the athlete will almost certainly begin to behave differently. They might go to bed earlier, avoid late-night screen time, or prioritize their sleep schedule. Their behavior reacts to the measurement.
The key insight here is that the measurement itself was the coaching intervention. The coach didn’t need to prescribe a complex recovery protocol; they simply needed to draw the athlete’s attention to a critical variable. The athlete’s behavior then shifts to optimize the measured metric.
Implications for Coaches and Athletes:
Measurement is Never Neutral: Any metric you choose to track—be it power, cadence, TSS, or subjective feelings—will inherently become a target for the athlete. This can be used strategically. If you want an athlete to focus on consistency, measure their number of weekly training sessions. If you want them to focus on recovery, measure their resting heart rate or sleep quality.
The Danger of Simplicity: The podcast notes that many coaches, both novice and experienced, bypass this fundamental tool. They jump to complex, “shiny” interventions (e.g., novel interval structures, esoteric supplements) while ignoring the profound impact of simple, consistent measurement of foundational behaviors.
Threat vs. Tool: In the world of behavioral science research, reactivity is seen as a “threat to validity” because it contaminates the “natural” behavior you’re trying to study. However, in the applied world of coaching, it is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.
Once we accept that we can influence behavior through measurement, the next question is: what is the underlying model of the athlete we are trying to influence? The podcast presents a critical distinction between two major schools of thought in psychology.
Core Idea: This model posits that individuals have stable, internal personality traits that are fixed and predictive of their behavior. The “Big Five” traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
Framework: It’s primarily descriptive. It seeks to categorize you, giving you a label. The podcast summarizes its logic as: “You are this, this, and this. Therefore, you can do this, and you can’t do this.”
Limitation in Coaching: This model can be fatalistic. If an athlete is categorized as “low in conscientiousness,” it implies an immutable trait that limits their potential. It offers little room for change or intervention.
Core Idea: This model is not concerned with fixed internal traits. Instead, it focuses on the interplay between an individual’s observable behavior and their environment. It analyzes the context in which behaviors occur and the consequences (rewards or punishments) that shape them.
Framework: It’s functional and pragmatic. It doesn’t ask “Who are you?” but rather “What do you do, and why?” The logic is: “We observe these behaviors occurring at these levels in these contexts. If we change the context or the consequences, how does the behavior change?”
The “Bumper Bowling” Analogy: The podcast provides an excellent metaphor to understand this:
The Ball: The athlete.
The Ball’s Direction: The outcome of their current behaviors.
The Bumpers/Tilt of the Lane: The coaching interventions.
The Goal: The coach’s job isn’t to change the “internal construction of the ball” (the athlete’s supposed personality), but to strategically place bumpers (provide feedback, measure new metrics, adjust rewards) to guide the ball’s existing momentum toward the pins (the athlete’s valued goals).
Why This Distinction is Crucial for Coaching:
The Behavior Analysis model is fundamentally more optimistic and actionable for a coach. It assumes that behavior is malleable and can be shaped. It frees the coach from trying to psychoanalyze an athlete’s deep-seated personality and instead empowers them to focus on practical, environmental changes that produce tangible results. The goal is not to change who the athlete is, but to help them refine what they do.
This brings us to the classic Nature vs. Nurture debate. While acknowledging that “it’s somewhere in the middle,” the podcast argues for a pragmatic coaching approach: given a limited amount of time and energy, focus your efforts on the “nurture” side of the equation—the behaviors, habits, and environmental factors that you can actually influence.
In our next lesson, we will build on this foundation to explore why a seemingly simple act like resting is so psychologically complex for dedicated athletes.