Applied Sports Science newsletter – January 21, 2016

… you’ve been training and racing at a high level for most of your life. Do you believe that as runners our bodies only have so much to give?

Definitely. Everyone slows down eventually and there’s a lot of factors that contribute to when that’s going to be for each person, but eventually everyone does and will slow down and get to the point where I am—not necessarily extreme fatigue, but not being able to perform at the level they once did. I kind of look at how I trained in my running career as pretty similar to a lot of the camps I observed when I was in Kenya, where you get a lot of young runners who have been running for a lot of years just training super hard and running a lot of high volume, a lot of high intensity and that does kind of burn your candle a little quicker than if you take a more mellow approach to training and gradually build up and all that. But that’s not who I am, you know? I was always into exploring the extremes for myself and I’m actually kind of amazed I got as many years as I did out of my body. And I’m thankful for those years because I feel like I pushed really, really hard for a long time, so I’m actually kind of grateful to my body for what it did do for me.

… Early this season, Bhullar remained in Toronto attempting to lose weight and improve his conditioning while the Raptors 905 went on the road. At the franchise’s urging, he ran sprints and worked out two or three times per day. He also met with Marc Bubbs, a nutritionist who’s involved with the Canadian national team. A chef cooked all of his meals. “Pretty much everything was set up for me to stay on the right path and do all the right things,” Bhullar said.

Two months later, Bhullar has made some strides. When he reported to training camp in early November, his body fat was at 17 percent. It’s now at 14 percent, the lowest he can remember. His weight is down to around 360 pounds, from close to 400 a few months ago. His diet now consists of more healthy food: kale, omelets, chicken, rice, and fish. “I think he’s been pretty good in terms of trying to change his dietary habits,” Raptors 905 assistant coach Tim Lewis said. “That’s all been really effective for him.”

… “Our No. 1 priority when I came on board was expansion and, ideally, to get each of the NBA teams to having their own D-League affiliate,” said Malcolm Turner, president of the NBA Development League since 2014. “We are all tied in together with the NBA. We are housed in NBA headquarters. Part of what we stand for as a league is strategic assets for the NBA system. And there, obviously, is the player development aspect. Last season was a record year for D-League expansion in the NBA. Thirty-eight percent of NBA rosters had players with D-League experience. Thirty-five percent of the playoff rosters had D-League experienced players. There was a record number of D-League players called up – 195 times assigned. General managers and coaches recognize it’s a platform to player development.

“An additional example beyond development is, we have the opportunity to use technology, experiment with rules, gather data. We are looking to make a great game better.”

After a disappointing sixth place finish in the World Cup — largely due his team’s inability to score — head coach John Herdman had questions than needed answering.

How could he get more out of his team, especially on offense? And what could he be doing differently?

“I knew after the World Cup I had some deep reflection to do,” said Herdman, speaking on the sidelines of the pitch at the Fortius Centre in Burnaby where Team Canada is currently training.

The soul searching led to a surprising place — the office of Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. The meeting was brokered by chiropractor Gerry Ramogida, who happens to work with both teams.

One of the first advocates of sports science, Chip Kelly, is now the head coach in Santa Clara. We break down what it entails and what it could do for the 49ers.

In a piece this week at the Los Angeles Times, Note to Self podcast host Manoush Zomorodi describes a lesser-known form of FOMO, the fear of missing out. This one, though, keeps you reading, watching, and clicking, constantly on the hunt for more information. (About what, exactly? Doesn’t matter. Keep clicking.)

Zomorodi details an email she gets from a listener describing the condition. “I want to read all these articles about everything from the latest scientifically engineered sugar substitute to an in-depth analysis of Donald Trump’s hair,” the listener wrote. “It’s like a different flavor of FOMO … It’s fear of missing out, but missing out on content — and on knowledge. With limited time and mental resources, there’s no way to get through it all.”

This thing has a name: infomania.

The innate immune response is generally considered to have an important role in tissue remodeling following resistance exercise.
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to compare changes in markers of monocyte recruitment following an acute bout of high-intensity (HVY), versus high-volume (VOL) lower-body resistance exercise.
METHODS:

Ten resistance-trained men (24.7±3.4y; 90.1±11.3kg; 176.0±4.9cm) performed each protocol in a randomized, counterbalanced order. Blood samples were obtained at baseline, immediately (IP), 30-minutes (30P), 1-hour (1H), 2-hours (2H), and 5-hours (5H) post-exercise. Plasma concentrations of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF?), myoglobin and cortisol were measured via assay. Tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNFr1), macrophage-1 antigen (CD11b), and C-C chemokine receptor-2 (CCR2) expressions were measured using flow cytometry. TNFr1 and CD11b were assessed on CD14CD16 monocytes, while CCR2 was assessed on CD14 monocytes.
RESULTS:

Plasma myoglobin concentrations were significantly greater following HVY compared to VOL (p<0.001). Changes in plasma TNF?, MCP-1, and expression of CCR2, and CD11b were similar between HVY and VOL. When collapsed across groups, TNF? was significantly increased at IP, 30P, 1H and 2H (p's<0.05), while MCP-1 was significantly elevated at all post-exercise time-points (p's<0.05). CCR2 expression on CD14 monocytes was significantly lower at IP, 1H, 2H and 5H (p's<0.05). CD11b expression on CD14 CD16 was significantly greater at IP (p<0.014), and 1H (p=0.009). TNFr1 expression did not differ from baseline at any time-point. Plasma cortisol concentrations did not appear to be related to receptor expression.
CONCLUSIONS:

Results indicate that both HVY and VOL protocols stimulate a robust pro-inflammatory response. However, no differences were noted between resistance exercise training paradigms.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of mental fatigue on soccer-specific physical and technical performance.

Methods: This investigation consisted of two separate studies. Study 1 assessed the soccer-specific physical performance of 12 moderately trained soccer players using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test, Level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1). Study 2 assessed the soccer-specific technical performance of 14 experienced soccer players using the Loughborough Soccer Passing and Shooting Tests (LSPT, LSST). Each test was performed on two occasions and preceded, in a randomized, counterbalanced order, by 30 min of the Stroop task (mentally fatiguing treatment) or 30 min of reading magazines (control treatment). Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were measured before and after treatment, and mental effort and motivation were measured after treatment. Distance run, heart rate, and ratings of perceived exertion were recorded during the Yo-Yo IR1. LSPT performance time was calculated as original time plus penalty time. LSST performance was assessed using shot speed, shot accuracy, and shot sequence time.

Results: Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were higher after the Stroop task in both studies (P < 0.001), whereas motivation was similar between conditions. This mental fatigue significantly reduced running distance in the Yo-Yo IR1 (P < 0.001). No difference in heart rate existed between conditions, whereas ratings of perceived exertion were significantly higher at iso-time in the mental fatigue condition (P < 0.01). LSPT original time and performance time were not different between conditions; however, penalty time significantly increased in the mental fatigue condition (P = 0.015). Mental fatigue also impaired shot speed (P = 0.024) and accuracy (P < 0.01), whereas shot sequence time was similar between conditions.

Conclusions: Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific running, passing, and shooting performance.

From the folds and crinkles of a living brain, a fleeting fleck of electronics smaller than a grain of rice can wirelessly relay critical health information and then gently fade away.

The transient sensors, which can measure pressure, temperature, pH, motion, flow, and potentially specific biomolecules, stand to permanently improve patient care, researchers said. With a wireless, dissolving sensor, doctors could ditch the old versions that require tethering patients to medical equipment and performing invasive surgery to remove, which adds risks of infections and complications to already vulnerable patients.

Though the first version, reported in Nature, was designed for the brain and tested in the noggins of living rats, the authors think the sensors could be used in many tissues and organs for a variety of patients—from car crash victims with brain injuries to people with diabetes. “Sensors are incredibly important,” chief resident of neurosurgery and study co-author Rory Murphy of Washington University School of Medicine told Ars. But they’ve been a hassle, too.

A new brain imaging study from MIT and Harvard Medical School may lead to a screen that could identify children at high risk of developing depression later in life.

In the study, the researchers found distinctive brain differences in children known to be at high risk because of family history of depression. The finding suggests that this type of scan could be used to identify children whose risk was previously unknown, allowing them to undergo treatment before developing depression, says John Gabrieli, the Grover M. Hermann Professor in Health Sciences and Technology and a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT.

OBJECTIVES:

There is an epidemic of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in youth athletes. Poor neuromuscular control is an easily modifiable risk factor for ACL injury, and can be screened for by observing dynamic knee valgus on landing in a drop vertical jump test. This study aims to validate a simple, clinically useful population-based screening test to identify at-risk athletes prior to participation in organized sports. We hypothesized that both physicians and allied health professionals would be accurate in subjectively assessing injury risk in real-time field and office conditions without motion analysis data and would be in agreement with each other.
METHODS:

We evaluated the inter-rater reliability of risk assessment by various observer groups, including physicians and allied health professionals, commonly involved in the care of youth athletes. Fifteen athletes age 11-17 were filmed performing a drop vertical jump test. These videos were viewed by 242 observers including orthopaedic surgeons, orthopaedic residents/fellows, coaches, athletic trainers (ATCs), and physical therapists (PTs), with the observer asked to subjectively estimate the risk level of each jumper. Objective injury risk was calculated using normalized knee separation distance (measured using Dartfish, Alpharetta, GA), based on previously published studies. Risk assessments by observers were compared to each other to determine inter-rater reliability, and to the objectively calculated risk level to determine sensitivity and specificity. Seventy one observers repeated the test at a minimum of 6 weeks later to determine intra-rater reliability.
RESULTS:

Between groups, the inter-rater reliability was high, ? = 0.92 (95% CI 0.829-0.969, p < 0.05), indicating that no single group gave better (or worse) assessments, including comparisons between physicians and allied health professionals. With a screening cutoff isolated to subjects identified by observers as "high risk", the sensitivity was 63.06% and specificity 82.81%. Reducing the screening cutoff to also include jumpers identified as "medium risk" increased sensitivity to 95.04% and decreased the specificity to 46.07%. Intra-rater reliability was moderate, ? = 0.55 (95% CI 0.49-0.61, p < 0.05), indicating that individual observers made reproducible risk assessments.
CONCLUSIONS:

This study supports the use of a simple, field-based observational drop vertical jump screening test to identify athletes at risk for ACL injury. Our study shows good inter- and intra-rater reliability and high sensitivity and suggests that screening can be performed without significant training by physicians as well as allied health professionals, including: coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists. Identification of these high-risk athletes may play a role in enrollment in appropriate preventative neuromuscular training programs, which have been shown to decrease the incidence of ACL injuries in this population.

How many calories are on your plate? Engineers at the University of Washington have developed a gizmo that estimates the nutritional value of your meal with the mere snap of a smartphone.

NutriRay3D combines a smartphone app with a laser-mapping add-on: The app identifies what kind of food is in the picture, and the laser-mapper provides an estimate of each food’s volume. Then you get a real-time estimate of the calorie count and nutritional content.

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy have been clocked as the fastest players in the Premier League this season.

EA Sports’ Player Performance Index shows both players have recorded a speed of 22 miles per hour over five seconds, with Vardy setting the pace back in August in Leicester’s 2-1 win at West Ham.

Sports clubs, media outlets and fans around the world all share a thirst for advanced statistics and information. Big clubs use them to improve the performance of their own players, prepare tactics against other teams or scout potentially interesting players. On the other hand, media outlets love data just as much since it gives added value to their reports. Finally, the stats have also outsized importance for fantasy sports managers who create their fantasy teams with individual athletes in top form.

Let’s start with last year’s soccer World Cup in Brazil. While their last FIFA World Cup success can be attributed to many things, the Germans, known for technological know-how, had a trump card in their hands. Many soccer fans raised their eyebrows when it was revealed that the national squad wore Adidas’ miCoach elite team system during training sessions before and during the competition. The physiological monitoring service collects and transmits information directly from the athlete’s bodies, including heart rate, distance, speed, acceleration and power, and then display those metrics live on an iPad. All this information is made available live on an iPad to coaches and trainers on the sideline during training, as well as post-session for in-depth analysis. Interestingly enough, analysis of the data can help identify the fit players from those who could use a rest.