Designing effective cognitive training plans is crucial for enhancing your athletes’ performance. The Soma Analytics Plan Builder is a powerful tool that allows you to create tailored cognitive training programs with ease. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through the process of setting up a cognitive training plan from scratch.
Step One: New Plan Setup
Name Your Plan
Start by giving your plan a descriptive name to easily identify it later.
Save the Plan As
Choose “New Plan”.
Tag Your Plan (Optional)
Add tags to categorize your plan. Tags make it easier to search for plans.
Step Two: Session Setup
We recommend creating all your sessions before designing the training plan.
Create Session
Click on “Add Session” to create a new session.
Name Each Session:
Use names like “Baseline”, “Session 1”, “Session 2”, etc.
Typical Session Layout:
Baseline
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
…
Set Session Cycles
Determine how many times an athlete should repeat a session by entering a value in the “Cycles” field.
Recommendation: Set cycles to 1 to keep sessions engaging and varied.
Add Scales
Enhance session feedback by selecting scales from the dropdown menu.
Examples of Scales:
Fatigue (RMF)
Effort (RME)
Exertion (RPE)
Activate Baseline Comparison (Optional)
Turn on the “Baseline Comparison” feature to automatically generate and send baseline reports after post-baseline tests. Ensure this is enabled only for the baseline session.
Note: Activating this feature sets your session cycles to 2, ensuring consistent baseline comparisons. Athletes will repeat the baseline at both the start and end of the plan.
Enable Minute-on-Minute Mode (Optional)
For detailed performance analysis, enable “Minute-on-Minute” tracking for each session.
Step Three: Design the Plan
Now that all your sessions are set up, it’s time to design the training plan.
Add Drill to Session
Click on “Add Drill” and select the task.
Set Parameters:
Duration: Set how long the task should last.
Intensity: Set the intensity level.
Mode: Select the training mode
Repeat this process until the session is complete.
We suggest designing your athletes’ cognitive training program by consistently repeating a set of core sessions—Session 1, Session 2, and Session 3. Each week, either progressively increase the load or vary it by adjusting the intensity, duration, or frequency.
Example
Focus: Attention I Inhibition
Integration: Pre Training
Session 1
PVT-B
Task Switching I ADM Mode
Attention Switching I ADM Mode
MSIT I ADM Mode
Session 2
PVT-B
RVIP I CSQ Mode
Sustained Attention I CSQ Mode
Mackworth Clock I CSQ Mode
PVT-B
Session 3
PVT-B
Incongruent Flanker I - Audio Mode
Visual Inhibition I - Audio Mode
Inverted Stroop I - Audio Mode
PVT-B
Periodization: Progressive Overload
Week 1: Intensity 70%
Week 2: Intensity 80%
Week 3: Intensity 90%
Week 4: Intensity 100%
Tip: If you want to analyze the baseline data before completing all other sessions, we recommend setting up the session names and scales, and enabling MoM (Minute-on-Minute) mode. This preparation will save you time. After reviewing the baseline data, simply return to the plan and continue building it.
Step Four: Assigning the Plan
Click “Assign Users”.
Select the users you wish to assign the plan to.
Click “Assign” to assign the plan immediately.
To Schedule the Plan:
Select the time and date from the calendar.
The plan will be assigned at the chosen time.
Example Plans
We have created a PDF of plans designed to serve as guidelines, helping you get started with Soma quickly and effectively. These plans offer a flexible framework for structuring a program, allowing you to adapt task placement, duration, intensity, and periodization to meet the unique needs of your athletes.
📥 Download