Applied Sports Science newsletter – January 9, 2016

… “I used to catch them like that all the time,” Wade shouted through a laugh, as if trying to convince a group of non-believers. “I caught one like that my first year at Marquette, in my first game back in Chicago against DePaul. Look it up. DePaul didn’t even recruit me, and I’m from Chicago. So you know how [good] that felt.”

Two weeks shy of his 34th birthday, Wade is turning back the proverbial clock more often these days. Only he doesn’t refer to it that way. Instead, he considers it aging gracefully 13 seasons into a career in which he’s still producing at an elite level.

It’s unusual to hear a current NFL player criticize the league, let alone talk frankly about its handling of concussions or its response to domestic violence scandals.

But a new book does just that. It’s called NFL Confidential, a memoir of the 2014 football season written by a player who goes only by Johnny Anonymous. [audio, 3:24]

… For the first time since they joined FCB in the summer, Luis Enrique is allowed to name Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal in his side, and he confirmed to the media that “both of them will get the chance to wear the Barça shirt and play a part in the match. We have GPS data from their training sessions that shows that they are perfectly capable of playing the full 90 minutes.” [video, 2:33]

… Overlooked and underestimated has been the theme of his athletic career, according to his father, Don Cousins.

When Cousins graduated to tackle from flag football in sixth grade, he tried out for quarterback for the Barrington Broncos A team in suburban Chicago. The coach called the next day. “We’re good at quarterback,” he said. So Cousins quarterbacked the B team and won the league championship.

… At Dortmund, the football Klopp implemented was fast and vibrant, loud and proud. It was enthralling at its apex, befitting of a club on the rise again. Fascinating as it was to watch, chart and assess, this indefatigable style required a hidden substance, something unseen by the analyst. It needed complete buy-in from all players. That was something Klopp achieved which, in tandem with a devout following that felt less and less disconnected from the players they were roaring on, galvanised an ailing club. It took Dortmund back to the Bundesliga summit, twice, as well as a Champions League final.

In forging this connection he made the players’ effort as unconditional as the fans’ support. There was a mutual recognition of the importance of both, a close spiritual alliance between noise levels reached and hard yards ran. In this respect, his appointment as Liverpool manager ties in with tradition.

Let’s face it: society is driven by results. Results, success, and achievement. From an early age, we are conditioned to measure ourselves against the elite, against our peers, and against our past selves.

It’s almost too easy to focus just on that pinnacle result. The ideal career, the city championship, the rivalry game, the perfect jump shot.

But what is the best way to get there?

By focusing on the PROCESS. [video, 6:24]

Maintaining skeletal muscle mass and function is critical for disease prevention, mobility and quality of life, and whole-body metabolism. Resistance exercise is known to be a major regulator for promoting muscle protein synthesis and muscle mass accretion. Manipulation of exercise intensity, volume, and rest elicit specific muscular adaptations that can maximize the magnitude of muscle growth. The stimulus of muscle contraction that occurs during differing intensities of resistance exercise results in varying biochemical responses regulating the rate of protein synthesis, known as mechanotransduction. At the cellular level, skeletal muscle adaptation appears to be the result of the cumulative effects of transient changes in gene expression following acute bouts of exercise. Thus, maximizing the resistance exercise-induced anabolic response produces the greatest potential for hypertrophic adaptation with training. The mechanisms involved in converting mechanical signals into the molecular events that control muscle growth are not completely understood; however, skeletal muscle protein synthesis appears to be regulated by the multi-protein phosphorylation cascade, mTORC1 (mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1). The purpose of this review is to examine the physiological response to resistance exercise, with particular emphasis on the endocrine response and intramuscular anabolic signaling through mTORC1. It appears that resistance exercise protocols that maximize muscle fiber recruitment, time-under-tension, and metabolic stress will contribute to maximizing intramuscular anabolic signaling; however, the resistance exercise parameters for maximizing the anabolic response remain unclear.

PURPOSE:

This study evaluates whether focusing on using specific muscles during bench press can selectively activate these muscles.
METHODS:

Altogether 18 resistance-trained men participated. Subjects were familiarized with the procedure and performed one-maximum repetition (1RM) test during the first session. In the second session, 3 different bench press conditions were performed with intensities of 20, 40, 50, 60 and 80 % of the pre-determined 1RM: regular bench press, and bench press focusing on selectively using the pectoralis major and triceps brachii, respectively. Surface electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded for the triceps brachii and pectoralis major muscles. Subsequently, peak EMG of the filtered signals were normalized to maximum maximorum EMG of each muscle.
RESULTS:

In both muscles, focusing on using the respective muscles increased muscle activity at relative loads between 20 and 60 %, but not at 80 % of 1RM. Overall, a threshold between 60 and 80 % rather than a linear decrease in selective activation with increasing intensity appeared to exist. The increased activity did not occur at the expense of decreased activity of the other muscle, e.g. when focusing on activating the triceps muscle the activity of the pectoralis muscle did not decrease. On the contrary, focusing on using the triceps muscle also increased pectoralis EMG at 50 and 60 % of 1RM.
CONCLUSION:

Resistance-trained individuals can increase triceps brachii or pectarilis major muscle activity during the bench press when focusing on using the specific muscle at intensities up to 60 % of 1RM. A threshold between 60 and 80 % appeared to exist.

Contrary to the outdated locker-room myth, the reason you hit your limits is not simply that lactic acid is scorching your muscles. Instead, the sensations you feel while running each correspond to a different minicrisis in your body, and they combine to determine whether you can hold your pace.

Last spring, scientists from around the world gathered in San Diego for a special conference to share the latest results in their search for the ultimate limits of endurance. They discussed hot new topics like metabolites and mental fatigue, as well as the familiar foes like heat and hydration. Here is what their findings reveal about what’s behind the pain of pushing for a PR.

Halfway through their first season in Brooklyn, the Islanders are, for now, stopping their game-day routine of morning commutes to Barclays Center and afternoon hotel stays near the arena.

On Thursday, hours before facing the division-leading Washington Capitals for the first time this season, the Islanders held an optional morning skate at their practice complex here, about 30 miles from Barclays Center.

The Islanders have been successful in Brooklyn, compiling a 13-6-2 record entering Thursday, but the players, who live mostly on Long Island, have hinted in the first three months of the season that home games have felt more like road games.

Pelicans All-Star forward Anthony Davis doesn’t wear that black base layer for fun. He wears it for his health. As does teammate Eric Gordon, NFL quarterback Tony Romo and Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. The list of players making use of Alignmed posture products has grown recently, a sudden rise for a five-year-old product developed first for medicine and then for sports performance.

Duane Brooks, Pelicans trainer, tells SI.com that he has seen a marked difference in his players who wear the gear. “Eric Gordon had a major shoulder issue last year,” Brooks says. “Instead of surgery, he did rehab and played the rest of the season with the shirt on. This season he wants to wear it again. It aligns him properly.”

The original Vert wearable measured your height. The sequel knows how intense your workout or game was.

New Balance announced that they will be launching a new division dedicated to improving athletic performance. This is the second such announcement from a major athletic apparel leader today; the first being Under Armour.

New Balance’s new division will be called New Balance Digital Sport and it will attempt to better understand, motivate and improve performance of athletes via digital experiences and new wearable technologies. The first product that New Balance will be launching for Digital Sport will be a smartwatch towards the end of 2016.

Under Armour plans to add artificial intelligence to fitness tracking with the help of IBM Watson, creating virtual coaching for athletes. … the Baltimore-based brand announced plans to partner with IBM and use Watson’s cognitive computing technology as a virtual coach, health consultant and fitness trainer. The coaching system will give athletes “timely, evidence-based coaching” on sleep, fitness activity and nutrition, the company announced in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Seattle Sport Sciences, Inc. (S3), a technology company with current offerings in the sports performance and entertainment industries, today introduced the ISOTechne™ MAP System, a suite of products supported by software that collect and generate data in real time, allowing organizations to objectively measure, analyze and enhance athletic performance.

They all show you aspects of what’s happening in your body so you could make better lifestyle choices to be healthier, but blood testing tells a deeper story than a mobile app or wristband could tell on their own. With all these devices and services becoming more accessible, healthcare is finally shifting from your doctor’s hands to your own, and advancements in blood testing are opening even greater doors.

Most of us have had our blood drawn at some point, whether it was a doctor’s appointment or a donation with the Red Cross, so you probably have a general idea of how it goes down. But, have you wondered what happens from the moment the needle pricks your arm to the time you get your results in the mail?

Turns out, it is an intricate process.

Objectives

The principle aim of the current study was to examine within-match patterns of locomotor efficiency in Professional Soccer, determined as the ratio between tri-axial accelerometer data (PlayerLoad™) and locomotor activities. Between match variability and determinants of PlayerLoad™ during match play were also assessed.
Design

A single cohort, observational study.
Methods

Tri-axial accelerometer data (PlayerLoad™) was recorded during 86 competitive soccer matches in 63 English championship players (574 match observations). Accelerometer data accumulated (PlayerLoad Vector Magnitude [PLVM]) from the individual-component planes of PlayerLoad™ (anterior-posterior PlayerLoad™ [PLAP], medial-lateral PlayerLoad™ [PLML] and vertical PlayerLoad™ [PLV]), together with locomotor activity (Total Distance Covered [TDC]) were determined in 15-min segments. Locomotor efficiency was calculated using the ratio of PLVM and TDC (PlayerLoad™ per metre). The proportion of variance explaining the within-match trends in PLVM, PLAP, APML, APv, and TDC was determined owing to matches, individual players, and positional role.
Results

PLVM, PLAP, APML, APv and TDC reduced after the initial 15-min match period (P?=?0.001; ?2?=?0.22-0.43, large effects). PL:TDC increased in the last 15?minutes of each half (P?=?0.001; ?2= 0.25, large effect). The variance in PLVM during soccer match-play was explained by individual players (63.9%; P?=?0.001) and between-match variation (21.6%; P?=?0.001), but not positional role (14.1%; P= 0.364).
Conclusions

Locomotor efficiency is lower during the latter stages of each half of competitive soccer match-play, a trend synonymous with observations of increased injury incidence and fatigue in these periods. Locomotor efficiency may be a valuable metric to identify fatigue and heightened injury risk during soccer training and match-play.

Sore throats are not only a pain, but they can be caused by many different factors. Viruses, bacteria such as Streptococcus pyogenes, dry air, allergies or even drainage from a runny nose can make your throat hurt.

But not all sore throats are created equal. While allergies or a runny nose are painful nuisances, strep throat is a illness that needs a doctor’s diagnosis and treatment.

… Blood biomarkers are promising in many ways for head trauma research and long-term, return-to-play decision making. But to parse exactly what this technology can and can’t do for player health, it’s important to understand head trauma as best as current science allows, and to see what we still have to learn.

An expanding sports medicine field leaves options wide open for runners seeking treatment. Be sure you’re seeing the right specialist with the proper credentials.

How healthy is the food you’re buying? You have the nutrition label on that box of Frosted Flakes, but do you know how to count the calories? Decode the sugar content? Do the math when you add a bowl of milk or a cup of juice?

Technology being developed by John Hurdle, a professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Utah, could make those mental gymnastics unnecessary.

You might turn to a Red Bull or Monster energy drink when you need a boost, but the habit is doing your body, brain and even your reputation much more harm than good.

Most popular energy beverages are packed with sugar, caffeine and other stimulants that work to keep you amped for hours at a time. This combination is dehydrating, according to Brown University’s Health Services, and that can lead to headaches and fatigue — the opposite feelings you want when you drink energy drinks in the first place. Just as it does in coffee, the caffeine can prompt your body to build a tolerance, meaning you’ll start requiring even more of it to reap the same energy effects. And that can become a dangerous and costly habit.

Nothing in moderation can be that bad for you, right? That’s just not the case for energy drinks: A recent study that found consuming just one of these beverages can increase the risk for poor heart health.

… Americans spend more than $30 billion on supplements each year. Supplements are now the most common form of alternative medicine, and many of these pills promise to do incredible things, from boosting memory and building muscles to burning fat fast.

There’s just one problem: These pills are barely regulated. Supplement makers don’t need to prove their products are safe or even effective before putting them on store shelves. And while supplements are supposed to be accurately labeled, a Vox review of government databases, court documents, and scientific studies uncovered more than 850 products that contained illegal and/or hidden ingredients — including banned drugs, pharmaceuticals like antidepressants, and other synthetic chemicals that have never been tested on humans.

We found examples of weight loss supplements spiked with cancer-causing drugs that had been pulled from the US market, and brain enhancers laced with chemicals that have never been approved for sale in the US. More than 100 products contained DMAA, a drug that’s been banned in the US, UK, and several other countries because it is linked to strokes, heart failure, and sudden death.

It’s rare in life to have your cake and eat it. But are low-calorie sweeteners the guilt-free way to be naughty?

This book chapter reviews some of the major principles associated with optimal strategy in basketball. In particular, we consider the principles of allocative efficiency (optimal allocation of shots between offensive options), dynamic efficiency (optimal shot selection in the face of pressure from the shot clock), and the risk/reward tradeoff (strategic manipulation of outcome variance). For each principle, we provide a simple example of a strategic problem and show how it can be described analytically. We then review general analytical results and provide an overview of existing statistical studies. A number of open challenges in basketball analysis are highlighted.

Football has become an afterthought for 20 franchises now examining everything about the way they do business … plus, my thoughts on Chip Kelly, Peyton Manning, the Browns’ baseball guy and more.

Desperate to address organizational chaos, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam reached into the world of baseball analytics and hired Paul DePodesta of Moneyball fame to reshape the woeful Cleveland franchise. An MLB expert weighs in on what it means for the Browns and the NFL.

It’s been an odd season for NFL quarterbacks.

Tom Brady was suspended, then he wasn’t, then he led the league in touchdown passes. Peyton Manning was injured, lost his starting job, then got it back in time to help the Denver Broncos finish as the AFC’s top seed. Players such as Washington’s Kirk Cousins had breakout years. Buffalo’s Tyrod Taylor, who had never started a game in his first four seasons, had one of the highest quarterback ratings in the league.

But as strange as this season was, things are about to get stranger. The quarterback position is changing more than ever before, and team executives say the league is in the midst of a paradigm shift. No one knows exactly what the value of a quarterback is in the modern era.

… The use of advanced statistics and systematic approaches to decision-making have been part of the sports landscape for decades. Nowhere does it meet more resistance, however, than in football, where one-on-one matchups are fewer and sample sizes are smaller.

While almost every NFL team employs at least one analytics expert, many continue to rely heavily on what they see in person and on film to make choices on game day and draft day. In some cases the new-age form of information gathering is a source of friction for old-school coaches and scouts. One former Browns player calls it “the revenge of the nerds.” [video, 0:53]

Ever since Tuesday’s Cleveland Browns hiring of Paul DePodesta, the Internet has been buzzing with descriptions and stories of football analytics. For many, the evolution of sports analytics from the Moneyball days of the Oakland Athletics, to the Daryl Morey-ball play of the Houston Rockets, and also to the NFL, was seemingly inevitable.

But what really is football analytics? What does it mean? How can it help the perennially bad Cleveland Browns? I’ve wrestled with those questions in my head over the past 48 hours. And while I may be the Internet’s foremost sports analytics cataloguer — a bold proclamation, to be sure — I didn’t feel qualified enough to answer those questions myself.

If I were to curate some type of primer on football analytics for the Cleveland sports audience, the bulk of the post would have been citing individuals like Bill Barnwell, Brian Burke, Chris Brown, Chase Stuart, Bill Connelly, Benjamin Morris, et al. Instead of doing that, I felt the best thing to do was just to ask someone more qualified than me and have them answer some questions. And so I asked Trey Causey.