Applied Sports Science newsletter – March 4, 2016

Why someone works says much about them. What has mattered. What may continue to matter, even as circumstances change.

So what was it for Hassan Whiteside, during a journey that has taken him across the deep blue sea, and into the deepest depths of the D-League?

“There were times when I’m looking at the TV, and I’m looking at other NBA guys,” the Heat center said late Tuesday night, after he posted his sixth straight double-double. “No offense to them, but I’m looking like, ‘I can dominate these guys, and I can play with these guys, and I can play against these teams.’ And that just kind of kept me motivated. I always watched NBA games, and I was like, ‘Why can’t I be out there?’ ”

He is out there now, and in a rather remarkable zone.

Reports concerning the effect of endurance exercise on the anabolic response to strength training have been contradictory. This study re-investigated this issue, focusing on training effects on indicators of protein synthesis and degradation. Two groups of male subjects performed 7 weeks of resistance exercise alone (R; n = 7) or in combination with preceding endurance exercise, including both continuous and interval cycling (ER; n = 9). Muscle biopsies were taken before and after the training period. Similar increases in leg-press 1 repetition maximum (30%; P<0.05) were observed in both groups, whereas maximal oxygen uptake was elevated (8%; P<0.05) only in the ER group. The ER training enlarged the areas of both type I and type II fibers, whereas the R protocol increased only the type II fibers. The mean fiber area increased by 28% (P<0.05) in the ER group, whereas no significant increase was observed in the R group. Moreover, expression of Akt and mTOR protein was enhanced in the ER group, whereas only the level of mTOR was elevated following R training. Training-induced alterations in the levels of both Akt and mTOR protein were correlated to changes in type I fiber area (r = 0.55–0.61, P<0.05), as well as mean fiber area (r = 0.55–0.61, P<0.05), reflecting the important role played by these proteins in connection with muscle hypertrophy. Both training regimes reduced the level of MAFbx protein (P<0.05) and tended to elevate that of MuRF-1. The present findings indicate that the larger hypertrophy observed in the ER group is due more to pronounced stimulation of anabolic rather than inhibition of catabolic processes.

An Olympic combine to find Canada’s next greatest athletic stars is underway, thanks to a program headed by RBC and CBC Sports, in conjunction with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

The goal is to hit the road and find the best undiscovered athletes (aged 14 to 25) in Canada. The combine gives athletes from across Canada a chance to showcase their athletic skills with the hope of being discovered by sport officials.

If selected, they’ll receive financial support and mentorship towards an Olympic journey and a trip to Rio 2016.

… The importance of sleep for optimal athletic performance and recovery, cognitive/academic performance and well-being, together with, reducing injury and illness risk within athletes, including adolescents, has been consistently purported recently (Luke et al., 2011;Milewski et al., 2014;Owens et al., 2014a;Baert et al., 2015;Bergeron et al., 2015;Diaz-Morales and Escribano, 2015;Fullagar et al., 2015a;Fullagar et al., 2015b;Nedelec et al., 2015a;Prather et al., 2015;Thun et al., 2015). These academic, health and performance agendas are central to the modern academy ethos. However, evidence based practices that practitioners and athletes could utilise to maintain sufficient sleep are limited (Halson, 2014;Fullagar et al., 2015a;Fullagar et al., 2015b;Halson, 2015;Nedelec et al., 2015a;Nedelec et al., 2015b), especially within adolescent athletes.

Academy athletes regularly undergo extensive physiological monitoring and sport-specific performance testing (Armstrong and McManus, 2011;Barker and Armstrong, 2011). However, given the suggested positive effects of sufficient sleep and its maintenance on several aspects of athletic performance and recovery (Fullagar et al., 2015a;Fullagar et al., 2015b), sleep monitoring is not presently given equal importance and attention compared to ‘typical’ physiological capacity testing (eg ?V ?O?_2max).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of strength training on physical fitness parameters and injuries occurrence in young elite soccer players.

Fifty-two elite young soccer players (13-14 yrs) were divided on a randomized order on Experimental Group (EG, n=26) and Control Group (CG, n=26). For EG, 2 to 3 sessions of strength training (90min) were introduced weekly in their training program for 12 weeks (4×3 weeks separated by 1 week recovery). Sprint tests (10-20-30m), T-test time, and jumping tests, were measured at the start (T0), at the middle (T1), and at the end of the experiment period (T2). The injury rate was recorded by the medical and fitness training staff throughout the soccer season.

Compared to CG, EG performed significantly better in sprint running and T-test time at T2 (p<0.01). Similarly, the improvement amount for jumping tests was significantly greater (p<0.05) in EG compared to CG. A total of 17 injuries were recorded over the soccer season. The rate was higher in CG (13 injuries) compared to TG (4 injuries). This study showed that strength training accurately and efficiently scheduled in youth soccer players, induced performance improvement and reduced the rate of injuries.

The ability to accelerate, decelerate, and reaccelerate is a skill that is required of all athletes in field/court sports. Whether it is a point guard in basketball trying to create space between his defender, an outside pass rusher in football setting up an offensive lineman for an inside move, or a center midfielder in soccer pushing the ball down the field, all of them need to be able to start, stop, and change direction.

Making a cut or changing direction in sport requires movement of the center of mass from one side to the other. To slow down our mass and subsequently push off into a new direction we need to have a positive shin angle. When athletes master this skill they can separate themselves from their competition (literally and figuratively).

There are many different qualities that can be trained to improve this skill such as elasticity, stiffness, and power. This article will discuss one of the most under appreciated aspects of this skill; the biomechanics of the pelvis and the influence this has on the function of the knee and ankle when changing of direction.

The present study aimed to extend research that has focused on the identification of stressors associated with coaching practice by systematically evaluating how such stressors effect athletes, and more broadly, the coach–athlete relationship. A total of 13 professional- and national-level athletes were interviewed to address the three study aims: how they detect when a coach is encountering stressors, how coach experiences of stress effects them as an athlete, and how effective the coach is when experiencing stress. Following content analysis, the data suggested athletes were able to detect when a coach was experiencing stress and this was typically via a variety of verbal and behavioural cues. Despite some positive effects of the coach experiencing stress, the majority were negative and varied across a range of personal influences on the athlete, and effects on the general coaching environment. It was also the broad view of the athletes that coaches were less effective when stressed, and this was reflected in performance expectations, perceptions of competence, and lack of awareness. The findings are discussed in relation to the existing theory and with reference to their implications for applied practice, future research, and development of the coach–athlete relationship.

The evaluation of rate of force development during rapid contractions has recently become quite popular for characterising explosive strength of athletes, elderly individuals and patients. The main aims of this narrative review are to describe the neuromuscular determinants of rate of force development and to discuss various methodological considerations inherent to its evaluation for research and clinical purposes. Rate of force development (1) seems to be mainly determined by the capacity to produce maximal voluntary activation in the early phase of an explosive contraction (first 50–75 ms), particularly as a result of increased motor unit discharge rate; (2) can be improved by both explosive-type and heavy-resistance strength training in different subject populations, mainly through an improvement in rapid muscle activation; (3) is quite difficult to evaluate in a valid and reliable way. Therefore, we provide evidence-based practical recommendations for rational quantification of rate of force development in both laboratory and clinical settings.

Wearable devices are changing the way people think about their lives and lifestyles. Smart watches are changing how we interact with each other, activity trackers are changing how we exercise, and wearable cameras are changing the nature of memory.

So what can we expect from the next generation of wearable electronic devices?

Today we get an answer of sorts thanks to the work of Roger Ribas Manero and pals at King’s College London. They’ve developed a wearable device that measures muscle fatigue during activities such as running, the first time this has been possible outside the lab.

Running lifestyle brand Saucony have launched their all-new Stride Lab gait assessment technology, which will be toured around UK running shops this year. Developed by the Saucony Innovation Lab in Boston, the Stride Lab expands on the experience offered by typical gait assessments; while most simply film a runner from behind as they run on a treadmill, the Stride Lab features three high-speed cameras in front, behind and at the side of the runner. These different angles allow for every dynamic aspect of a runner’s technique to be assessed, including their knee rotation, leg extension and knee flexion.

Sports is physics in motion — a concept that students will explore this weekend at Texas A&M’s fifth “Aggies Invent” competition.

Aggies Invent is a 48-hour design competition that gathers students from across Texas A&M to solve design challenges centered around a theme. This year students are challenged to enhance the experiences of athletes and fans.

A quarterback swivels his head, scanning for holes between defenders. A hitter watches a pitcher’s curveball, timing its break over the plate. They do it all without another person or a field.

Athletes from Jameis Winston to Jordan Spieth now use virtual reality programs to supplement live practice. Using software such as Eon Sports VR’s Sidekiq, players can simulate full-speed games with only a headset and a smartphone.

Purdue University on Monday became the latest football program to partner with Kansas City-based Eon, planning to use virtual reality to train quarterbacks.

Division I athletes will have a say in shaping NCAA policies about time demands through a survey distributed this week to all 346 schools.

Athletes in every Division I sport will be asked to provide feedback in the survey, distributed Monday by the NCAA. The Power 5 conferences, the NCAA Division I council and the Division I student-athlete advisory committee formulated the survey. Results are due March 21 and will be relayed to the Division I council, which will meet in April.

The survey is being conducted online and not being administered by coaching staffs that could attempt to influence the responses.

Growing up with a sister nearly a decade older than me meant that from the time I was 10, I could swear like a sailor.

It turns out that I might have been a late starter. Research shows that children start swearing by age the age of six – or younger – and we tend to swear about 0.5 to 0.7% of the time, which can amount to dozens of curse words a day, depending on how much you talk.

Swearing, the critics say, may make us appear ill-educated, rude and untrustworthy, as our mothers might have tried to drill into us. But it could have some surprising benefits, from making us more persuasive to helping relieve pain.

Blood-borne markers of fatigue such as Creatine Kinase (CK) and Urea (U) are widely used to fine-tune training recommendations. However, predictive accuracy is low. A possible explanation for this dissatisfactory characteristic is the propensity of athletes to react with different patterns of fatigue indicators (e.g. predominantly muscular (CK) or metabolic (U)). The aim of the present trial was to explore this hypothesis by using repetitive fatigue-recovery cycles. 22 elite junior swimmers and triathletes (18 +/-3 years) were monitored for nine weeks throughout two training phases (low-intensity, high-volume (LIHV) and high-intensity, low-volume (HILV)). Blood samples were collected each Monday (recovered) and Friday (fatigued) morning. From measured values of CK, U, free-testosterone (FT), and cortisol (C) as determined in the rested and fatigued state, respectively, Monday-to-Friday differences ([DELTA]) were calculated and classified by magnitude before calculation of ratios ([DELTA]CK/[DELTA]U and [DELTA]FT/[DELTA]C). Coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated as group-based estimates of reproducibility. Linear mixed modelling was used to differentiate inter- and intra-individual variability. Consistency of patterns was analysed by comparison to threshold values (1.1 for all weeks). Reproducibility was very low for fatigue-induced changes (CV >=100%) with inter-individual variation accounting for 45-60% of overall variability. Case-wise analysis indicated consistent [DELTA]CK/[DELTA]U patterns for seven individuals in LIHV and seven in HILV; five responded consistently throughout. For [DELTA]FT/[DELTA]C the number of consistent patterns was two in LIHV and three in HILV. These findings highlight the potential value of an individualised and multivariate approach in the assessment of fatigue.