Applied Sports Science newsletter – July 10, 2017

For all the players who get a shot to make an NFL roster every year, there are countless others stuck on the outside, consumed by getting one more chance to play in the league. That’s why Brian Woods dreamed up The Spring League, an independent organization that held its inaugural season during a three-week period in April at the Greenbrier Sports Performance Center in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. And you’ll recognize some of the names on display. The two biggest were Ahmad Bradshaw, who has had 11 surgeries in nine years but was also a key player on two Super Bowl-winning teams, and former All-Pro defensive lineman Greg Hardy, who has dealt with both on- and off-the-field issues, specifically domestic violence charges in 2014. Ben Tate, Anthony “Boobie” Dixon and Sam Montgomery also took part in the showcase. We were there to capture it all as the players tried to catch the eyes of NFL scouts.

… McCarty’s ascension is similar to Kyle Beckerman’s four years ago: longtime MLS defensive midfielders past their 30th birthdays angling for their first World Cup squad many years after making their U.S. debuts. (McCarty’s was in 2009.) While Beckerman was always in the mix with Klinsmann during the last World Cup cycle, McCarty benefited from the recent coaching change.

Between 2011 and ’16, despite a strong MLS portfolio, McCarty appeared in one U.S. match (under Klinsmann’s predecessor, Bob Bradley).

“I figured the World Cup was a stretch, but I would maybe put into Jurgen’s mind that I’ll be around for the next cycle,” he said. “So when I wasn’t getting called in, there was a level of frustration, but there was also a level of acceptance because you do all you can at the club level and just want to continue to prove over and over again that you can play at the highest level.”

… With new management and a new coaching staff running this year’s camp, however, the first impressions work both ways. At the conclusion of Day 1, the players seemed to like what they’ve seen and heard.

“You get kind of the vibe of what they’re looking for,” forward Hudson Fasching said. “I think they’re trying to keep it fun. Having guys with a lot of passion out there, playing hard, keeping it lighter, try to keep a positive attitude going at all times.”

Positivity was one of the first characteristics mentioned by multiple players who were asked to describe the first day of camp, with coaches and management making a concerted effort to keep the players loose and relaxed. It helps that the on-ice sessions are being run by new Rochester Americans coach Chris Taylor, who assistant general manager Randy Sexton called “one of the most positive professionals” he’s ever been around.

More than anything, management looked to convey to the prospects that they were here for development, not evaluation.

When the British and Irish Lions run out to face New Zealand in Saturday’s decisive third Test, they won’t just be facing an iconic team who have transcended their sport, but also a family that has dug deep into Maori culture and contemporary psychology in order to create an environment geared to greatness.

Your VO2 max, a measure of aerobic fitness that refers to the maximum rate at which you can deliver oxygen for use by your exercising muscles, is an important number—if not for racing, then for health. It’s an excellent predictor of longevity: better, in some respects, than how much exercise you get. The American Heart Association recently argued that VO2 max should be considered a new “vital sign” for doctors to regularly measure.

So what determines your VO2 max? Intuitively, we often think of the lungs and heart. And the heart is undoubtedly important: When you train, your heart gets bigger and stronger, capable of pumping more oxygen-rich blood with each beat to the farthest reaches of the body.

But it’s not the only possible bottleneck. Blood flow through your arteries and veins is also a factor, as is the diffusion of oxygen from tiny capillaries into the muscles. And in the muscles themselves, how fast can your mitochondria, the cellular “powerhouses” that fuel aerobic exercise, make use of oxygen?

[table of contents] From the issue’s editorial by Tim Meyer:

it is a common feature of recent changes in the support of football teams that technical/measurement opportunities exceed by far what can be seriously interpreted on the basis of scientific evidence. Companies are more interested in technical developments per se than in the solid investigation what their true meaning is. It is important that we (the community of scientists in football) do not try to benefit from that situation in the sense that we produce simple (company supported) studies that only use such tools and parameters and hereby somehow deliver a justification for their uncritical utilization in routine settings. Instead we should try to explain to the companies that they will only be successful in the long term when their measurements can be applied on the basis of solid knowledge about their true meaning and limitations. This, however, may need more complex longitudinal and interventional studies. And it is one of the main reasons why this journal particularly supports such investigations.

Skeletal muscle contracts either by shortening or lengthening (concentrically or eccentrically, respectively); however, the two contractions substantially differ from one another in terms of mechanisms of force generation, maximum force production and energy cost. It is generally known that eccentric actions generate greater force than isometric and concentric contractions and at a lower metabolic cost. Hence, by virtue of the greater mechanical loading involved in active lengthening, eccentric resistance training (ECC RT) is assumed to produce greater hypertrophy than concentric resistance training (CON RT). Nonetheless, prevalence of either ECC RT or CON RT in inducing gains in muscle mass is still an open issue, with some studies reporting greater hypertrophy with eccentric, some with concentric and some with similar hypertrophy within both training modes. Recent observations suggest that such hypertrophic responses to lengthening vs. shortening contractions are achieved by different adaptations in muscle architecture. Whilst the changes in muscle protein synthesis in response to acute and chronic concentric and eccentric exercise bouts seem very similar, the molecular mechanisms regulating the myogenic adaptations to the two distinct loading stimuli are still incompletely understood.

Thus, the present review aims to, (a) critically discuss the literature on the contribution of eccentric vs. concentric loading to muscular hypertrophy and structural remodeling, and, (b) clarify the molecular mechanisms that may regulate such adaptations.

We conclude that, when matched for either maximum load or work, similar increase in muscle size is found between ECC and CON RT. However, such hypertrophic changes appear to be achieved through distinct structural adaptations, which may be regulated by different myogenic and molecular responses observed between lengthening and shortening contractions. [full text]

INTRODUCTION:

We tested the linear critical power ([Formula: see text]) model for discrete incremental ramp exercise implying recovery intervals at the end of each step.
METHODS:

Seven subjects performed incremental (power increment 25 W) stepwise ramps to subject’s exhaustion, with recovery intervals at the end of each step. Ramps’ slopes (S) were 0.83, 0.42, 0.28, 0.21, and 0.08 W s-1; recovery durations (t r) were 0 (continuous stepwise ramps), 60, and 180 s (discontinuous stepwise ramps). We determined the energy store component (W’), the peak power ([Formula: see text]), and [Formula: see text].
RESULTS:

When t r = 0 s, [Formula: see text] and W’ were 187 ± 26 W and 14.5 ± 5.8 kJ, respectively. When t r = 60 or 180 s, the model for ramp exercise provided inconsistent [Formula: see text] values. A more general model, implying a quadratic [Formula: see text] versus [Formula: see text] relationship, was developed. This model yielded, for t r = 60 s, [Formula: see text] = 189 ± 48 W and W’ = 18.6 ± 17.8 kJ, and for t r = 180 s, [Formula: see text] = 190 ± 34 W, and W’ = 16.4 ± 16.7 kJ. These [Formula: see text] and W’ did not differ from the corresponding values for t r = 0 s. Nevertheless, the overall amount of energy sustaining work above [Formula: see text], due to energy store reconstitution during recovery intervals, was higher the longer t r, whence higher [Formula: see text] values.
CONCLUSIONS:

The linear [Formula: see text] model for ramp exercise represents a particular case (for t r = 0 s) of a more general model, accounting for energy resynthesis following oxygen deficit payment during recovery.

Using a mixture of tests, athletes can analyze the quality and state of muscles, preventing injury and increasing performance. In this episode, we look at how this innovation is helping Rhythmic Gymnasts and Figure Skaters in their training routines.

German technology conglomerate Siemens and German sporting club FC Bayern Munich have agreed to a three-year partnership that will focus on developing software and cloud-based services for an array of purposes, notably safety and security technologies for local public transportation, building technology and power engineering.

Siemens systems litter the club’s two arenas — Allianz Arena for soccer and the Audi Dome for basketball — so this partnership will only deepen that technological infrastructure with modern, cloud-based amenities in the aforementioned areas. The partnership also calls for Siemens systems to be implemented at FC Bayern’s offices and training grounds on Säbener Strasse in Munich. And digital technologies can improve the fan experience.

Siemens Healthineers will also be the exclusive healthcare technology partner of FC Bayern, equipping training facilities and the Allianz Arena with ultrasound and X-ray systems that help players with medical checkups and support recovery from injuries.

Aim To examine the epidemiology and in-event treatment frequency of injury at the 2011–2016 Australian Open tournaments.

Methods Injury incidence was defined as a medical consultation by a tournament physician and in-event treatment frequency as the mean total number of follow-up medical/physiotherapy consultations (2013–2016 tournaments only). Data were collated by sex, injury region and type and reported as frequencies per 10 000 game exposures. Incidence rate s± 95% CI and rate ratios were used to test effects for injury, sex and year.

Results Female players experienced more injuries than male players (201.7 vs 148.6). The shoulder (5.1±1.1 injuries per year), foot (3.2±1.1), wrist (3.1±1.5) and knee (3.1±1.1) were the most commonly injured regions among females. Knee (3.5±1.6), ankle (2.3±1.3) and thigh (2.3±1.5) were the most prevalent male injuries. Upper arm injuries and in-event treatment frequency increased by ≥2.4 times in both sexes over the 5-year period. Muscle injuries were most frequent. There was a greater than twofold increase in men and women with stress fractures over the 5-year period. The torso region, including the neck, thoracic spine, trunk and abdominal, lumbar spine, hip and groin, pelvis/buttock, attracted high in-event treatment frequencies in both sexes.

Conclusion Investigation of injury at the Australian Open suggests that females are more commonly injured than males. Upper and lower extremity injuries affected females while lower limb injuries were more prominent in males. There was an increasing rate of in-event treatments of upper limb and torso injuries as well as stress fractures during the observation period.

… Speaking at the event in the Bernabeu’s VIP suite, Perez suggested that he had learned from past experiences and was now blending young Spanish talent with international signings like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

“We are working without rest in the present and thinking about the future, with what we have learned from the past,” Perez said. “We are looking for the best for Real Madrid which makes the highest demands from us.

“For some years now Real Madrid has brought in young talented players, with a lot of potential, and today we are presenting one of these players, 20-years-old, who has more than enough talent to play for Real Madrid. Today we welcome Jesus Vallejo.”

… It’s been about a much wider range of spending needs that Wyoming athletics officials felt was necessary for the program to be competitive at least in the Mountain West Conference — and especially in football. The Cowboys had gone 4-8, 5-7, 4-8 and 2-10 before an 8-6 breakthrough that included an MWC division title last season, their third under coach Craig Bohl.

Facilities were a part of it. That is how Wyoming secured $20 million in state matching funds toward a $44 million training facility that includes specific features for football but will be used by all athletes and includes a nutrition center. In addition, there were about $15 million in matching funds toward a $30 million renovation of the basketball arena.

But, as athletics director Tom Burman said: “We realized we needed operational dollars.

The road to MLB now goes through amateur baseball showcases run by organizations like Perfect Game. Sometimes they can be a boon for players. But are they worth it?

Every summer, thousands of teenage baseball players travel to amateur showcases and tournaments in hopes of being seen by coaches and scouts. In many cases, they pay hefty registration fees for this privilege. They—and their parents—assume that money is well spent, especially if they come from parts of the country that are not traditional hotbeds of baseball talent.

Over the last 15 years, the baseball showcase industry has ballooned into a multi-million-dollar juggernaut. But is the cost of exposure for amateur baseball players really justifiable?

… As risky as free agent deals can be, in most cases, top-tier free agents return solid value at the beginning of their contracts, with the risk coming as they age towards the end of their contracts. Meanwhile, the first overall pick is the only pick in the MLB draft to produce more than 15.0 WAR on average for their careers. Once you get to pick number seven, the average is already below 10.0 WAR, per Baseball-Reference.

And with the freedom to compete for every amateur player, and not just those who happen to fall to them due to draft orders and arcane free agent compensation rules, competitive advantages in scouting and development can be leveraged even harder. If a team’s scouts believe enough in a player, that team can get him.

Compare that to the current draft system, in which the institution of slot values and a capped bonus pool make it harder for teams to put extra investment into amateur talent.