Do you want to feel better, run faster and have more fun? Let’s be honest – who doesn’t? Fortunately, it turns out that there’s a way to have all three! David and Megan’s aptly named coaching group, SWAP (Some Work, All Play) does exactly what it promises – celebrates the process of running while keeping things enjoyable. Both incredible athletes in their own right – David is a two-time national champion and Megan a four-time national champion – the SWAP team boasts an impressive cast list of athletes including former CCC winner Clare Gallagher and 2-time world’s toughest mudder champion Amelia Boone. Proof that David and Megan’s counterintuitive philosophy, that slowing down is the key to speeding up, really does work!
In general, motor skills are tasks that require voluntary control over movements of the joints and body segments to achieve a goal. Some prominent examples include riding a bicycle, walking, reaching for your coffee cup, jumping, running, and weightlifting. The learning and performance of these skills are what movement scientists refer to as motor learning and control, or skill acquisition. Whether it is achieving full extension of the knee after ACL reconstruction surgery, learning how to walk again, or increasing your shooting proficiency in basketball, the study of motor learning and control plays an integral role in both the performance and rehabilitation of these skills.
This article is a general introduction to the science and philosophy of motor learning and control. After defining several key terms, we review the stages of learning and present two theories of motor control, all whilst paying tribute to those who introduced this very science to the world.
Would you study a medical degree if you weren’t going to be a doctor at the end of it?
Canberra United coach Heather Garriock posed that rhetorical question in response to being told 65 per cent of women’s national leagues coaches in Australia were male.
Fansided, Beale Street Bears blog, Christian Dudley from
… Whether it is Hammon, Bird, Catchings, Toliver, or a different woman in sports, this is a tremendous movement in the world of sports. It is one of many reasons why the NBA is so great and continues to be a world leader in the professional sports world. For the Memphis Grizzlies, this may open yet another door for their success this decade.
Blood lactate concentration rises exponentially during graded exercise when muscles produce more lactate than the body can remove, and the blood lactate-related thresholds are parameters based on this curve used to evaluate performance level and help athletes optimize training. Many different concepts of describing such a threshold have been published. This study aims to compare concepts for their repeatability and predictive properties of endurance performance. Methods
Forty-eight well-trained male cyclists aged 18–50 performed 5 maximal graded exercise tests each separated by two weeks. Blood lactate-related thresholds were calculated using eight different representative concepts. Repeatability of each concept was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and intra-subject CV and predictive value with 45 minute time trial tests and a road race to the top of Mont Ventoux was evaluated using Pearson correlations. Results
Repeatability of all concepts was good to excellent (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.89–0.96), intra-subject CVs were low with 3.4–8.1%. Predictive value for performance in the time trial tests and road race showed significant correlations ranging from 0.65–0.94 and 0.53–0.76, respectively. Conclusion
All evaluated concepts performed adequate, but there were differences between concepts. One concept had both the highest repeatability and the highest predictability of cycling performance, and is therefore recommended to be used: the Dmax modified method. As an easier to apply alternative, the lactate threshold with a fixed value of 4 mmol/L could be used as it performed almost as well. [full text]
What if instead of a bulky headset or cumbersome glasses to give you the futuristic augmented reality overlay of computer information on the real world, you could just wear contact lenses?
That’s what Silicon Valley startup Mojo Vision is aiming to let you do, people familiar with the matter say. The company, which just announced that it’s raised $50 million, describes its technology as “invisible computing,” a world that serves up “information when you need it” and lets you connect with others “at a glance, anytime, anywhere, and all while looking like you.”
“We see a world that’s eyes up and hands-free,” the company says on its website.
Justin Markel and Quinton Lasko know what it’s like to be competitive athletes and the cost of being injured on the field. Now, the Purdue University alumni have turned their passions for sports and engineering into a new technology they hope will be an athlete’s solution to worrying about preventable non-contact injuries.
The issue affects many individuals and families in the United States – with more than 8.6 million sports- and recreation-related injuries reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Markel, Lasko and other researchers at Purdue developed an insole sensor to provide a practical method of measuring the full range of forces on the foot. Their capacitive force sensor uses parallel plates to measure 3D forces on the foot and then transmit the data to a central hub computer or tablet.
Ground reaction force measurements are a fundamental element of kinetic analyses of locomotion, yet they are traditionally constrained to laboratory settings or stationary frames. This study assessed the validity and reliability of a new wireless in-shoe system (Novel Loadsol/Pedoped) for field-based ground reaction force measurement in hopping, walking, and running. Twenty participants bilaterally hopped on a force plate and walked (5 km/hr) and ran (10 km/hr) on an instrumented treadmill on two separate days while wearing the insoles. GRFs were recorded simultaneously on each respective system. Peak GRF in hopping and peak GRF, contact time (CT), and impulse (IMP) in walking and running were compared on a per-hop and step-by-step basis. In hopping, the insoles demonstrated excellent agreement with the force plate (ICC: 0.96). In walking and running, the insoles demonstrated good-to-excellent agreement with the treadmill across all measures (ICCs: 0.88–0.96) and were reliable across sessions (ICCs within 0.00–0.03). A separate verification study with ten participants was conducted to assess a correction algorithm for further agreement improvement but demonstrated little meaningful change in systemic agreements. These results indicated that the Novel Loadsol system is a valid and reliable tool for wireless ground reaction force measurement in hopping, walking, and running.
… Another project FIFA are working on involves improving the way data is stored. Clubs currently deal with a range of different providers (in-house and externally) which makes it difficult to compare information when players move clubs or join up with their national teams as the statistics can differ.
In collaboration with FC Barcelona’s Innovation Hub, FIFA announced on Friday that they are launching a system which “will change the way we understand the monitoring data that football teams collect during training and matches.”
Holzmueller explained: “What we’re trying to achieve is that we have a gold standard in place [to monitor player performance]. At the moment, it’s not clear if one system is better than another.
The latest evidence demonstrating the influence of textiles’ continuous evolution on the quality of human lives is a new technology being developed and commercialized by Textile-Based Delivery Inc. (TexDel), Conover, N.C. TexDel has created a proprietary system that embeds active ingredients in traditional filament yarns such as nylon and polyester, which when made into garments using standard textile practices, results in a controlled manner of delivering the active ingredients into the wearer’s body.
Jordan Schindler, TexDel founder and CEO, first considered the concept of using textiles as a delivery mechanism while a student at the University of Washington. “I had issues with acne and learned from my dermatologist that dirty pillowcases were a leading cause of blemishes, so I set out to create a pillowcase that when in contact with the skin could treat blemishes instead of causing them,” Schindler said. The result of this initial effort, branded Nufabrx®, was the development of a technology and a fabric infused with active ingredients — including lavender, lemon balm and winter green oil — that could be released in a controlled manner. This initial effort also led Schindler on a journey where, as the old saying implies, “it is a profound truth that one thing does lead to another.”
Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Horizons from
A glucose-powered biofuel cell that uses electrodes made from cotton fiber could someday help power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. The new fuel cell, which provides twice as much power as conventional biofuel cells, could be paired with batteries or supercapacitors to provide a hybrid power source for the medical devices.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Korea University used gold nanoparticles assembled on the cotton to create high-conductivity electrodes that helped improve the fuel cell’s efficiency. That allowed them to address one of the major challenges limiting the performance of biofuel cells – connecting the enzyme used to oxidize glucose with an electrode.
… Last month, a startup company in the Netherlands called Noviosense quietly published data on human testing of its tear glucose sensor. The study was small—only six participants—but the results, published October 12 in the journal Biomacromolecules, look promising.
“These are the best results I have seen yet” on tear glucose, says John L. Smith, a former executive for blood glucose meter maker LifeScan, who has devoted the latter part of his career to evaluating noninvasive glucose-sensing technologies as a consultant. “But substantial improvement is still needed for it to be good enough for monitoring.”
Coming from Smith, that is high praise. Smith is a well-known skeptic of wearable, needle-free glucose monitors.
Nike House of Innovation 000 continues the athletic brand’s redefinition. As a company that prides itself on the innovative design of its foot and athletic wear, Nike has chosen to design its retail locations to reflect a new generation in sports performance. The House of Innovation maintains a foundation in flexible design, allowing the retailer to provide its patron with an immersive brand experience.
The store concept is described as “one floor, one world.” Each floor, inspired by the sounds and movement of New York, highlights different collections within the Nike brand. The retail program of each floor gets more specific as the levels increase. The 68,000 square-foot, six-level destination is the second Nike House of Innovation. The first was opened in Shanghai last month. These stores are the first of a new generation of sport retail experiences for Nike, numbered sequentially around the globe.
Previous injury in the last 12 months is the main risk factor for future running-related injuries (RRI) during training and competition environments. However, the relationship between a recent versus old previous injury and a new RRI has not been established yet, nor a separate analysis by different types of runners. Methods
An online questionnaire was sent to 6000 participants of a running event (10 km, 21 km and 42 km), 10 days following the event. The questionnaire included the following information: the presence and topography of new RRIs during the race, old previous injury (from 12–4 months before the race), recent previous injury (from 3–0 months before the race), running experience, training factors and socio-demographic characteristics. Univariate binomial regression analysis was applied to assess different associated factors, and multivariable binomial backward regression (p < 0.05) was used to analyse the relationship between the new and previous injury.
Results
A total of 868 surveys were analysed (10 km, 32.6%; 21 km, 52%; 42 km, 15.4%). The median age was 38 years (IQR 31–46), and 63.5% were males. Previous injury was reported by 30.3% and 27.6% for old and recent, respectively. The majority of runners were categorised into the advanced group (42.9%), having more than 5 years of running experience. During the race, 7.0% reported a RRI, with 36.1% located at the knee. The multivariable analysis showed an association only between new injury and recent injury. Conclusion
The delineation of recent and old previous injuries should be considered in running epidemiological research. [full text]
Medium, Multiple Views: Visualization Research Explained, Jessica Hullman from
When you hear the term “visualization research,” what comes to mind? Many people think of Tufte when they think about deep reflection on visualization. For example, ask any visualization researcher how many times their description of what they do has been met with a comment about how great Tufte’s books are. We agree, Tufte’s books are great resources! His guidelines, like maximizing the data-ink ratio or avoiding chart junk, are helpful maxims when you are starting to design a visualization and become aware of the large space of possibilities, even to show a simple data set. Yet Tufte’s suggestions can break down in many realistic design scenarios. Have you ever tried to follow Tufte’s advice to a T? You might end up with something like the “ghost” chart to the right. Is it really superior to the original chart on the left?