Applied Sports Science newsletter – January 5, 2016

Just like that, the 2016 tennis season is here. And with it, all eyes will be on Serena Williams (again), but this time because she is kicking off the new year with an injury.

The world No. 1, who hasn’t played since losing in the US Open semifinals four months ago, withdrew from her opening event at the Hopman Cup, citing knee inflammation.

The pressure on Premier League players, with their need to be in peak form for domestic and European games, is contributing to a worrying rise in injuries. Despite improved medical back-up and physiotherapy, biomechanical knowledge and training, more footballers are missing matches, potentially costing clubs millions of pounds.

Statistics from physioroom.com, which collates information about rehabilitation, show the total number of injuries suffered by Premier League players was below 1,000 in the seven seasons from 2004-5, but reached four figures in 2011-12. For the past three seasons it has exceeded 1,200, with this season’s tally also projected to do so.

Richard Heys, of physioroom.com, says: “The standard of fitness preparation has improved and is continuing to improve but the intensity of the matches has increased. They are much faster so fatigue does occur.” Whereas 50 years ago, players would run about three miles in a match, now it is often well over six.

PURPOSE:

The goal of this study was to compare the effect of work- and duration-matched interval training (HIIT) versus moderate aerobic endurance training (ET) on acute and chronic inflammation, along with changes in the lipid profile, to determine which may be more beneficial for improving cardiovascular health.
METHODS:

Twelve sedentary males (maximal oxygen consumption = 41.6 ± 5.4 mL kg-1 min-1) completed 8 weeks of aerobic interval training or moderate aerobic training, with variables including C-reactive protein (CRP) for chronic inflammation, interleukin-6 (IL-6) response for the acute inflammatory response, plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TRG), and low-density lipoprotein, and body composition measured before and after the training period.
RESULTS:

HIIT decreased plasma TRG from 92 ± 32 to 61 ± 12 mg dL-1, which was significantly different from ET, while ET improved the TC:HDL ratio from 4.67 ± 0.85 to 4.07 ± 0.96 and reduced the percentage of android fat from 36.78 ± 9.60 to 34.18 ± 11.39 %. Neither training protocol resulted in an acute IL-6 response on the first nor the last day of exercise, a change in chronic levels of CRP, or a significant increase in HDL, despite previous research finding these changes.
CONCLUSIONS:

It seems that in order to maximize the health outcomes from physical activity, both HIIT and ET should be included. The acute inflammatory response and reductions in chronic inflammation resulting from exercise training may not be as common as the literature suggests.

After a sabbatical from blogging of six months the start of a New Year is always an extra incentive to get back in the game. I’ve not been totally sat on my backside in that time, I had a Masters dissertation to get over the line and a small boy to see through from one year old to 18 months so mildly productive!

However, what I thought I would start 2016 with is sharing some notes from an interview I had with a coaching legend, Dario Gradi. These are a few of the key quotes I took from this and my thoughts/interpretation of his views. Dario has a track record in player development, a rich history in coaching going back decades and is famous for being at the helm of a Crewe Alexandra group that consistently punched above their weight when producing top footballers.

Each year, nearly 50 percent of Americans vow to change their behavior come Jan. 1, resolving to lose weight (one-third of us want to slim down every year), get more organized or fall in love. Odds are, they won’t succeed. Just 8 percent achieve their New Year’s resolutions. One-quarter give up after the first week. These statistics are bleak but not surprising. Many New Year’s pledges involve trying to establish new habits or conquer bad ones. And there’s a lot of misinformation swirling around about how habits are formed and how they can be changed. Here are some of the most common.

Building on the expert insight of University of Queensland’s Professor of Sport Psychology & Coaching Cliff Mallett, this update drills into the Key Characteristics of The Worlds Best Coaches. Like any decent update this post aims to provide a deeper user experience, particularly focusing on the process of knowing ourselves: Or in other words the process of hacking, updating and refining our operating system.

At some point we all need to update our software, but its often niggly and almost always annoying. In the long run it (normally) makes life easier, but that hasn’t stopped me putting it off in the past. The thing is, the world’s best coaches continually update their software – it’s a top priority for them.

PURPOSE:

Monitoring mood state is a useful tool for avoiding non-functional overreaching (NFOR). Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in stress-related mood disorders. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of intensified training-induced mood disturbance on plasma BDNF concentrations at rest and in response to exercise.
METHODS:

Eight cyclists performed 1 week of normal (NT), 1 week of intensified (INT) and 1 week of recovery (REC) training. Fasted blood samples were collected before and after exercise, on day 7 of each training week and were analyzed for plasma BDNF and cortisol concentrations. A 24-item Profile Of Mood State questionnaire was administered on day 7 of each training week and global mood score (GMS) was calculated.
RESULTS:

Time trial performance was impaired during INT (p=0.01) and REC (p=0.02) compared with NT. Basal plasma cortisol (NT=153±16 ng/ml, INT=130±11 ng/ml, REC=150±14 ng/ml) and BDNF (NT=484±122 pg/ml, INT=488±122 pg/ml, REC=383±56 pg/ml) concentrations were similar between training conditions. Likewise, similar exercise-induced increases in cortisol and BDNF concentrations were observed between training conditions. GMS was 32% greater during INT vs. NT (P<0.001).
CONCLUSION:

Consistent with a state of functional overreaching (FOR), impairments in performance and mood state with INT were restored after one week of REC. These results support evidence that mood changes before plasma BDNF concentrations as a biochemical marker of FOR and that cortisol is not a useful marker for predicting FOR.

Technology has blanketed the game of football like a cover corner with 4.28 speed. Technology has grown to such an extent that it is often difficult to know what to use and why to use it.

Dan Wilcox, owner of Elite Fueling and nutritionist for the 2015 BYU football program, uses Polar Team 2 technology to isolate certain data points that can tell him how an athlete is performing and how to load an athlete during subsequent training days.

Success is nothing new for SC Corinthians Paulista: formed over a century ago, the elite soccer club has claimed the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title six times since 1990. Still, playing in one of the world’s most grueling and competitive league, success never comes easy—after rival club Cruzeiro earned back-to-back league titles in 2013 & 2014, Corinthians stormed back to win the league in 2015, in part by managing to stay healthier than their competitors. Incorporating Omegawave into their high performance model was one of the changes Corinthians made this season, and after a November draw with Vasco Da Gama sealed the 2015 league championship, we had an opportunity to speak with Bruno Mazziotti, the team’s coordinator of the Physiotherapy Department and Biomechanics Laboratory.

Omegawave: Which Omegawave system are you currently using with the club?

Bruno Mazziotti: We have the Team solution. We use it frequently to measure our full squad. At first, we started taking measurements 24 and 48 hours after the game to understand the data better and to analyze how players were recovering from the game itself. We were particularly interested in the central nervous system’s behavior and recovery. All players were measured.

We also acquired six mobile units that we gave to selected players so that they could take the units with them and measure at home.

Often times, it is easy for coaches and sports organizations to get caught up in the concrete, particularly hardware as a magical solution that only spews good information. Force plates may appear to be the total solution, or more often in the US, GPS is perceived as the catch-all solution for sports science. The reality is that both solutions are not necessary, as they require something far more challenging than the hardware itself; they require consistency and subsequent validated actions to be effective.

Polar has unveiled a new smart scale to complement its line of activity trackers. The Balance works with any Polar fitness band—but if you don’t have one, it also communicates through the Polar Flow app.

The functionality should feel familiar if you’ve ever used a smart scale. Users simply weigh themselves and plug in a target body weight. The system then sends that information to your Polar fitness band or the Polar Flow app (iOS/Android). Over time, Balance will learn your fitness habits and provide personal feedback to help you lose weight. [video, 1:40]

Public anxiety about concussions has soared in recent years and will likely jump again with the release of the movie “Concussion” this month. STAT combed the academic literature and talked with more than a dozen neurologists, biomedical engineers, neuropsychologists, and other experts to bring you the latest on the science of concussion. Here’s your briefing. [video, 1:52]

… Approximately 70% of ACL injuries occur as a result of noncontact mechanisms, such as landing from a jump, forceful deceleration, cutting, or pivoting over a planted foot. The classic noncontact injuries are sustained without extrinsic contact to the knee (from an outside player or object) and are thought to result from the athlete’s inherent movement patterns. This means that noncontact ACL injuries are theoretically preventable, and as a consequence, identification of modifiable risk factors is essential for the success of ACL injury prevention programs.

Over the past decade, 3 prospective studies have provided evidence that abnormal lower extremity movement patterns heighten the risk of ACL injury. Collectively, these studies suggest that abnormal movement patterns at the trunk, hip, and knee are associated with an increased incidence of ACL injury.

Cross-sectional studies indicate that abnormal movements at the trunk, hip, or knee may be influenced, in part, by diminished hip strength. Several investigators have reported that decreased hip muscle strength is associated with greater knee valgus angles, knee valgus moments, and loss of frontal plane postural stability. However, no prospective studies have related hip strength to noncontact ACL injury risk in an athletic population.

CONTEXT:

Hamstring acute muscle injuries are prevalent in several sports including AFL football (Australian Football League), sprinting and soccer, and are often associated with prolonged time away from sport.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION:

In response to this, research into prevention and management of hamstring injury has increased, but epidemiological data shows no decline in injury and re-injury rates, suggesting that rehabilitation programs and return to play (RTP) criteria have to be improved. There continues to be a lack of consensus regarding how to assess performance, recovery and readiness to RTP, following hamstring strain injury.
RESULTS:

The aim of this paper was to propose rehabilitation protocol for hamstring muscle injuries based on current basic science and research knowledge regarding injury demographics and management options.
CONCLUSIONS:

Criteria-based (subjective and objective) progression through the rehabilitation program will be outlined along with exercises for each phase, from initial injury to RTP.

Background: Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) can be detrimental to any athlete, having both short- and long-term health consequences. Examining preseason screening landing mechanics can indicate the likelihood of injury during the season. Furthermore, previous injury is also commonly referred as a predisposing factor for reinjury.

Hypothesis: Players with a history of lower extremity injury would have higher Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) scores than those with no previous injury, and healthy soccer athletes who sustained an injury during the 2014 season would have higher LESS scores than those who remained uninjured.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Level of Evidence: Level 3.

Methods: Thirty-four Division I male and female soccer athletes (19 men, 15 women; mean age, 19.6 ± 1.2 years; mean height, 172.4 ± 8.7 cm; mean weight, 70.8 ± 9.1 kg). An a priori sample size estimation for a power of 0.80 (80%) and an alpha error of 0.05 with an estimated effect size of 0.6 for a sample of 30 participants was attained. Participants performed a drop-landing task and were scored on their landing mechanics using the LESS. Lower extremity injuries were tracked during the season. LESS scores between those with and without a history of injury and those who were injured and uninjured during the season were compared using 2 separate 1-way analyses of variance.

Results: No statistically significant differences (F1,33 = 0.47, P = 0.50) existed between LESS scores in athletes who had a previous injury history compared with those with no injury history. No statistically significant differences (F1,20 = 0.05, P = 0.83) existed between LESS scores in healthy athletes who were injured during the 2014 season compared with those healthy athletes who were uninjured.

Conclusion: No differences were present between athletes with and without a history of lower extremity injury. The majority of healthy participants who were injured during the season had similar LESS scores to those who remained uninjured, suggesting that the LESS may not be able to identify atypical landing mechanics in this group of athletes.