Applied Sports Science newsletter – September 27, 2017

Applied Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for September 27, 2017

 

Going green for the team

metro, Philadelphia, Evan Macy and Sam Newhouse from

… “I took initiative this offseason to try and diet and lose weight,” Okafor said Monday at a Sixers media event, regarding his new vegan diet.

Okafor, boasting a lean, 253-pound frame, is down 20 pounds from last season. “It wasn’t easy. The first drastic change I made was my diet. I became a vegan. I did it gradually. First I got rid of dairy and meat and my favorites, like cheese,” he said.

 

Sports science guru David Tenney creates void as big as his legacy in leaving Sounders for NBA

The Seattle Times, Geoff Baker from

… In a way, it’s surprising it didn’t happen sooner. Tenney’s departure with five games to go in the regular season leaves the Sounders – battling for first place and on the road against red hot Real Salt Lake on Saturday – with a void as big as his legacy.

Originally hired as a fitness coach, Tenney implemented groundbreaking technology like the Catapult GPS and Omegawave systems. The Catapult system measures player movement during training while Omegawave gauges heart rate variability and readiness before and after games.

 

Biomarkers in Sports and Exercise: Tracking Health, Performance, and Recovery in Athletes

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research from

Biomarkers in sports and exercise: tracking health, performance, and recovery in athletes. J Strength Cond Res 31(10): 2920–2937, 2017—Biomarker discovery and validation is a critical aim of the medical and scientific community. Research into exercise and diet-related biomarkers aims to improve health, performance, and recovery in military personnel, athletes, and lay persons. Exercise physiology research has identified individual biomarkers for assessing health, performance, and recovery during exercise training. However, there are few recommendations for biomarker panels for tracking changes in individuals participating in physical activity and exercise training programs. Our approach was to review the current literature and recommend a collection of validated biomarkers in key categories of health, performance, and recovery that could be used for this purpose. We determined that a comprehensive performance set of biomarkers should include key markers of (a) nutrition and metabolic health, (b) hydration status, (c) muscle status, (d) endurance performance, (e) injury status and risk, and (f) inflammation. Our review will help coaches, clinical sport professionals, researchers, and athletes better understand how to comprehensively monitor physiologic changes, as they design training cycles that elicit maximal improvements in performance while minimizing overtraining and injury risk. [full text]

 

The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life: the new sleep science

The Guardian, Rachel Cooke from

Matthew Walker has learned to dread the question “What do you do?” At parties, it signals the end of his evening; thereafter, his new acquaintance will inevitably cling to him like ivy. On an aeroplane, it usually means that while everyone else watches movies or reads a thriller, he will find himself running an hours-long salon for the benefit of passengers and crew alike. “I’ve begun to lie,” he says. “Seriously. I just tell people I’m a dolphin trainer. It’s better for everyone.”

Walker is a sleep scientist. To be specific, he is the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute whose goal – possibly unachievable – is to understand everything about sleep’s impact on us, from birth to death, in sickness and health. No wonder, then, that people long for his counsel. As the line between work and leisure grows ever more blurred, rare is the person who doesn’t worry about their sleep. But even as we contemplate the shadows beneath our eyes, most of us don’t know the half of it – and perhaps this is the real reason he has stopped telling strangers how he makes his living. When Walker talks about sleep he can’t, in all conscience, limit himself to whispering comforting nothings about camomile tea and warm baths. It’s his conviction that we are in the midst of a “catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic”, the consequences of which are far graver than any of us could imagine. This situation, he believes, is only likely to change if government gets involved.

 

From Needs to Goals and Representations: Foundations for a Unified Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development.

APA PsycNET, Carol Dweck from

Drawing on both classic and current approaches, I propose a theory that integrates motivation, personality, and development within one framework, using a common set of principles and mechanisms. The theory begins by specifying basic needs and by suggesting how, as people pursue need-fulfilling goals, they build mental representations of their experiences (beliefs, representations of emotions, and representations of action tendencies). I then show how these needs, goals, and representations can serve as the basis of both motivation and personality, and can help to integrate disparate views of personality. The article builds on this framework to provide a new perspective on development, particularly on the forces that propel development and the roles of nature and nurture. I argue throughout that the focus on representations provides an important entry point for change and growth.

 

The Development and Validation of a Subjective Assessment Tool for the Hip in the Athletic Population

American Journal of Sports Medicine from

Background:

No validated functional assessments are available that are designed specifically to evaluate the performance and function of the athletic hip. Subsections of some validated outcome assessments address recreation, but a full assessment dedicated to athletic hip function does not exist. Current hip scoring systems may not be sensitive to subtle changes in performance and function in an athletic, younger population.
Hypothesis:

The patient-athlete subjective scoring system developed in this study will be validated, reliable, and responsive in the evaluation of hip function in the athlete.
Study Design:

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.
Methods:

Based on the results of a pilot questionnaire administered to 18 athletic individuals, a final 10-item questionnaire was developed. Two hundred fifty competitive athletes from multiple sports completed the final questionnaire and 3 previously validated hip outcome assessments. Each athlete was self-assigned to 1 of 3 injury categories: (1) playing without hip/groin trouble; (2) playing, but with hip/groin trouble; and (3) not playing due to hip/groin trouble. The injury categories contained 196, 40, and 14 athletes, respectively. Correlations between the assessment scores and injury categories were measured. Responsiveness testing was performed in an additional group of 24 injured athletes, and their scores before and after intervention were compared.
Results:

The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic (KJOC) Athletic Hip Score showed high correlation with the modified Harris Hip Score, the Nonarthritic Hip Score, and the International Hip Outcome Tool. The new score stratified athletes by injury category, demonstrated responsiveness and accuracy, and varied appropriately with improvements in injury category after treatment of injuries.
Conclusion:

The new KJOC Athletic Hip Score is valid, reliable, and responsive for evaluation of the hip in an athletic population. The results support its use for the functional assessment of the hip in future studies.

 

New heat lab at UConn will test limits of athletes, soldiers

Associated Press, Pat Eaton-Robb from

Douglas Casa acknowledges his new heat laboratory at the University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute could be viewed by some as a torture chamber.

He’ll be testing athletes, soldiers and others (sometimes for hours at a time) on a treadmill, stationary bike or cooling tub in an environment that can be controlled to reach temperatures of up to 110 degrees and 90 percent humidity.

“The difference is, everyone being tested here is a volunteer,” he said. “And we’re saving lives.”

 

How Real-Time Sensors Can Reduce Sports Injuries

RTInsights, Joe McKendrick from

While pro sports are an early example of how real-time sensors can prevent injuries, lessons learned can be applied to employees performing a range of jobs

Football is a rough-and-tumble game, with aggressive tackling and blocking that results in frequent injuries. Hockey is also just as physical, but also adding long sticks to the interaction. With increasing evidence that many players – at ages as young as 10 or 12 years old – are suffering head concussions while playing, injuries that can result in lifelong impairments.

Could real-time sensors help decrease the amount of physical harm seen in football and other physically demanding sports? Researchers are exploring just that possibility.

 

Apple, Fitbit to Join FDA Program to Speed Health Tech

Bloomberg Technology, Anna Edney from

A federal agency that regulates apples wants to make regulations on Apple Inc. a little easier.

The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees new drugs, medical devices and much of the U.S. food supply, said Tuesday that it had selected nine major tech companies for a pilot program that may let them avoid some regulations that have tied up developers working on health software and products.

“We need to modernize our regulatory framework so that it matches the kind of innovation we’re being asked to evaluate,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

 

State-Level Implementation of Health and Safety Policies to Prevent Sudden Death and Catastrophic Injuries Within Secondary School AthleticsOrthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine – William M. Adams, Samantha E. Scarneo, Douglas J. Casa, 2017

American Journal of Sports Medicine from

Background:

Sudden death and catastrophic injuries during sport can be attenuated with the implementation of evidence-based health and safety policies. However, the extent of the implementation of these policies within secondary school athletics is unknown.
Purpose:

To provide an assessment of the implementation of health and safety policies pertaining to the leading causes of sudden death and catastrophic injuries in sport within secondary school athletics in the United States.
Study Design:

Descriptive epidemiology study.
Methods:

A rubric for evidence-based practices for preventing the leading causes of death and catastrophic injuries in sport was created. The rubric comprised 5 equally weighted sections for sudden cardiac arrest, head injuries, exertional heat stroke, appropriate medical coverage, and emergency preparedness. State high school athletic association (SHSAA) policies, enacted legislation, and Department of Education policies were extensively reviewed for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. States meeting the specific criteria in the rubric, which required policies to be mandated for all SHSAA member schools, were awarded credit; the weighted scores were tabulated to calculate an aggregate score. States were then ranked from 1 (best) to 51 (worst) based on the aggregate score achieved.
Results:

The median score on the rubric was 47.1% (range, 23.00%-78.75%). States ranked 1 through 10 (from 78.75% to 56.98%) were North Carolina, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Dakota, Missouri, Washington, Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Georgia, respectively. States ranked 11 through 20 (from 56.03% to 50.55%) were Arkansas, New York, Mississippi, West Virginia, Oregon, Illinois, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, and District of Columbia, respectively. States ranked 21 through 30 (from 49.40% to 44.00%) were Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Mexico, Alabama, Maine, Rhode Island, Indiana, Nevada, and Utah, respectively. States ranked 31 through 40 (from 43.93% to 39.80%) were Ohio, Delaware, Alaska, Vermont, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Idaho, and South Carolina, respectively. States ranked 41 through 51 (from 38.73% to 23.00%) were Michigan, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Montana, Iowa, California, and Colorado, respectively.
Conclusion:

State scores ranged from 23.00% to 78.75% for the implementation of evidence-based best practices for preventing the leading causes of sudden death and catastrophic injuries (sudden cardiac arrest, traumatic head injuries, exertional heat stroke, and exertional sickling) in sport. Continued advocacy for the development and implementation of policies at the secondary school level surrounding sudden death and catastrophic injuries is warranted to optimize the health and safety of these student athletes.

 

Nutrition Planning: optimal fueling for endurance exercise

CORE, Asker Jeukendrup from

… Pro tips

It is wise to use the early parts of a race when the gastrointestinal tract is working well to absorb both carbohydrate and fluid. Later in the race, even though you may be thirsty, your gut may not absorb as much. Don’t drink excessively, and use common sense. The goal should be to lose a little weight (1-2 kg, 2-4lbs or ~2-3% of body weight) at the finish line.

It is important to note that if bloating occurs and fluids seems to accumulate in the stomach there is no point ingesting more fluids. Reducing your run intensity a bit and giving the stomach some time to pass fluid on to the intestine for absorption will relieve bloating.

 

BCAA supplements are just hype – here’s a better way to build muscles

The Conversation, Lee Hamilton, Brad Schoenfeld and Kevin Tipton from

… Supplement companies sell many products that contain just BCAAs, based on various findings about their importance, which mostly come from animal tests. Indeed, our own work suggests that leucine is particularly potent for activating the body’s protein synthesis machinery. Many people take this to mean that consuming isolated BCAAs will therefore generate a growth response as great as from an equivalent amount of food, without the additional calories or logistical problems of taking a meal to the gym.

Yet recent work from our respective research teams suggests otherwise. We know for example that you can achieve a substantial increase in protein synthesis from 20g of whole egg protein, which is around three large eggs, or from 20g of whey protein. (Though to get the maximum possible response after a full body workout, our research on whey suggests it may be necessary to consume as much as 40g.)

 

Pareja’s project at a crossroads as Dallas’ season spirals out of control

ESPN FC, Graham Parker from

… So what’s gone wrong? There’s a popular answer that suggests that offseason signing Cristian Colman has turned out to be a bust, but that’s neither fair nor wholly accurate. Colman’s link-up play, if not his form in front of goal, has been fair to middling, and hardly out of line with the form of the rest of the team during this run.

What Colman has been is rather too anonymous for a team struggling for consistency; historically, when the team’s been in tight spots as a creative force, there was always the option of the blunt force of Blas Perez as an attacking weapon to get the ball to, while the team regrouped. Colman has not been anything like that kind of practical, or even totemic, figurehead.

 

How Financial Security for Minor Leaguers Would Benefit Everyone

FanGraphs Baseball, Michael Hattery from

… In their pursuit of a competitive edge, teams have looked beyond the traditional player-development staff and budget. The Indians, for example, hired James Harris last offseason to lead player development. On the one hand, the hire made perfect sense: Harris’s core competencies are biometrics and nutrition. On the other hand, Harris had little experience in baseball, having served as chief of staff to former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. The Philadelphia Phillies, meanwhile — as part of their own efforts to improve development and player performance — earmarked $1 million towards healthier meals for the team’s prospects.

These individual examples illustrate the pursuit, within organizations, of a competitive developmental advantage. Which leads to a question: what additional avenues could be pursued to create a short-term competitive edge?

 

The football exchange rate

21st Club Limited, Omar Chaudhuri from

Football’s global reach means the sport is uniquely positioned as having many high-quality leagues dotted around the world. Therefore unlike in the NBA or NFL – which are effectively closed leagues – understanding how performance translates across leagues is one of the single biggest challenges a club can face.

This is particularly true when looking at performance data. If a player is the most effective ball winner in Uruguay, would he sustain this output in Spain? How would a player with impressive chance creation rates in the Austrian Bundesliga expect to see his numbers change in the Italian Serie A?

 

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