Applied Sports Science newsletter – November 18, 2015

… It was clear to the Pistons early in offseason that their young center was primed to blossom. Drummond worked out on both coasts with multiple trainers under the watchful eye of the team.

“He did everything, but it was really driven by him,” Van Gundy said. “He wanted to work, and really all we did was made sure we had coaches with him all the time. Our staff spent a lot of time with him. [Assistant coach] Malik Allen and our assistant strength coach Jordan Sabourin were with him virtually all the time. He just worked on very basic things — footwork in the low post, things like that. He put in a lot of time, and he got himself in great shape.”

With so many elements of today’s sports world having become open books — “I don’t know why any jock is even on social media today,” NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley harrumphs — the players-only meeting is one of the few things that remains sacrosanct.

Word of such meetings surfaces all the time, especially when they’re held after games while reporters are kept waiting in the hallway. The slumping Houston Rockets held a players-only meeting Tuesday morning after their fourth straight loss. The Philadelphia Flyers have met behind closed doors twice already this year, and the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles convened when their seasons were teetering. Yet you’ll never find anyone tweeting real-time photos of their teammates clearing the air, set off by hashtags such as #getthemessage or #passthefreakingballmore.

Four years after his retirement, Ronaldo Nazario, the Brazilian soccer legend, showed he still has what it takes to wow a crowd in downtown Beijing on Monday.

He did not come as part of a professional team, but to help children play the beautiful game.

Dozens of sports reporters and hundreds of fans fixated their cameras and reverent gazes on the star as he announced a plan to open 30 soccer schools in China, with the first three located in Beijing, Shanghai and Mianyang in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The best way for goalies to defend against penalty kicks during a football match is to stay relatively still, but they almost always dive. Why? Action bias. We simply can’t stand doing nothing in the face of a challenge, even when it’s the smartest course of action. [video, 7:23]

The present review introduces innovative concepts of training periodization and summarizes a large body of findings characterizing their potential benefits and possible limitations. Evidence-based analysis of the traditional periodization model led to elaboration of alternative versions of athletic preparation. These alternative versions postulated the superiority of training programs with a high concentration of selected workloads compared with traditionally designed plans directed at the concurrent development of many athletic abilities at low/medium workload concentration. The training cycles of highly concentrated specialized workloads were coined “training blocks” by experts and practitioners; correspondingly, the alternative versions were termed “block periodized (BP) preparation systems” by their presenters. Ultimately, two BP training models were proposed: a concentrated unidirectional training model (CU) and a multi-targeted BP approach to athletes’ preparation. The first innovative version postulated administration of highly concentrated training means for enhancement of one leading fitness component, whereas the second version proposed the development of many targeted abilities within sequenced block mesocycles containing a minimal number of compatible training modalities. Both versions differ in their methodological background, duration and content of training blocks, possibilities of providing multi-peak performances, and applicability to various sports. In recent decades, many studies have evaluated the effects of both BP training versions in different sports. Examination of the training effects producing by the CU model in combat and team sports has found significant gains in various fitness estimates but not in sport-specific performances. Similarly, utilization of a CU program by elite swimmers did not lead to substantial enhancement of their peak performances. In contrast, studies of multi-targeted BP training programs have revealed their distinct superiority compared with traditional preparation in endurance, team, and dual sports, and strength/power training and recreational athletes (28 studies). It is suggested that the CU training strategy suits athletic disciplines demanding one fitness component like explosive strength in jumping performances. Unlike this limitation, the multi-targeted BP system prompted a beneficial increase of specific preparedness in sports and disciplines in which peak performances require the application of many targeted athletic abilities.

Most wearables today focus on an individual user but by widening the cast, there may not only be more fish to catch but greater potential for disruption.

The very populations being left out of wearable tech production phases are the same ones that will be driving the next generation of consumer electronics. These groups, experts say, are crucial to the development of effective wearables especially since the next consumer-base is a highly diverse America.

This is a story about socks.

But it involves some of the world’s most prominent athletes and brands. There are patents and investors and incalculable millions on the line. And it pulls back the curtain on a family dispute involving one of the most powerful men in sports.

You might not think much about high-performance athletic socks. But Jim Cherneski does. In the fall of 2007, Cherneski had an idea. He was the player-coach for Crystal Palace USA, a Baltimore-based minor-league soccer team, and for years he had grown tired of having his feet move inside his soccer cleats during games, no matter how tightly he tied his shoelaces or how much he reduced the size of the shoes he bought.

Commercial genetic testing designed to reveal athletic potential for sports is being called meaningless by a group of experts, who also warn about confidentiality risks.

The 22 experts from the fields of genomics, sports and exercise looked at direct-to-consumer genetic tests marketed online related to athletic talent and the published scientific evidence on the tests.

With a focus on being proactive and utilizing injury-prevention techniques, the Washington Nationals announced a new medical structure and expansion on Tuesday, with several personnel additions and changes. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

In an innovative shift, the Nationals are transitioning their medical department to one that utilizes a proactive model, with significant analytic input. This will allow the Nationals to hone in on predictive factors to thwart potential injurious situations, and increase performance, by maintaining the health and wellness of their players.

The Nationals are pleased to welcome Harvey Sharman, the Director of Sports Medicine/Science for the Leeds United Football Club, as Executive Director/Medical Services. He will work with a Medical Services advisory board to oversee all facets of the Nationals’ training staff, and strength and conditioning programming.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and UPMC Sports Medicine have announced a re-naming of the South Water Street campus to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. The re-naming also includes a renewal of a 15-year partnership between the organizations.

The UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, named for Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, will include state-of-the-art upgrades to the practice facilities for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rooney has had long-standing personal relationships with Steelers players and has helped the team win an NFL-best six Super Bowl championships.

n the sporting world it is inevitable that injuries are going to happen during a long term athletic career – whether they be chronic, acute, catastrophic, or just minor niggles. Whilst it is true that the risk of sustaining injury can be minimized through proper loading and mechanics, perfection in either of those categories is likely unattainable all of the time. So, the well-meaning elite athlete – who can generate massive amounts of force – needs to only make one mistake at an inopportune moment, and BANG … something blows up. We have all seen this happen many times in our careers, and if you haven’t … just keep doing what you’re doing. (See my previous two blog posts on reporting and debriefing to find insights on further strategies to minimize injury!)

One of the questions most frequently posed during our Apprentice Coaching Programs and Performance Therapy Programs goes along the lines of: ‘How do you go about bringing back athletes from injury in a responsible manner – whilst avoiding re-injury, and minimizing missed Plan A training time?’

Background

Protein turnover in skeletal muscle tissue is highly responsive to nutrient intake in healthy adults.
Objective

To provide a comprehensive overview of post-prandial protein handling, ranging from dietary protein digestion and amino acid absorption, the uptake of dietary protein derived amino acids over the leg, the post-prandial stimulation of muscle protein synthesis rates, to the incorporation of dietary protein derived amino acids in de novo muscle protein.
Design

12 healthy young males ingested 20 g intrinsically [1-13C]-phenylalanine labeled protein. In addition, primed continuous L-[ring-2H5]-phenylalanine, L-[ring-2H2]-tyrosine, and L-[1-13C]-leucine infusions were applied, with frequent collection of arterial and venous blood samples, and muscle biopsies throughout a 5 h post-prandial period. Dietary protein digestion, amino acid absorption, splanchnic amino acid extraction, amino acid uptake over the leg, and subsequent muscle protein synthesis were measured within a single in vivo human experiment.
Results

55.3±2.7% of the protein-derived phenylalanine was released in the circulation during the 5 h post-prandial period. The post-prandial rise in plasma essential amino acid availability improved leg muscle protein balance (from -291±72 to 103±66 ?M·min-1·100 mL leg volume-1; P<0.001). Muscle protein synthesis rates increased significantly following protein ingestion (0.029±0.002 vs 0.044±0.004%·h-1 based upon the muscle protein bound L-[ring-2H5]-phenylalanine enrichments (P<0.01)), with substantial incorporation of dietary protein derived L-[1-13C]-phenylalanine into de novo muscle protein (from 0 to 0.0201±0.0025 MPE).
Conclusion

Ingestion of a single meal-like amount of protein allows ~55% of the protein derived amino acids to become available in the circulation, thereby improving whole-body and leg protein balance. About 20% of the dietary protein derived amino acids released in the circulation are taken up in skeletal muscle tissue following protein ingestion, thereby stimulating muscle protein synthesis rates and providing precursors for de novo muscle protein synthesis.

EPL Muscular Injuries from 2004/05 to 2013/14 Premier League Seasons Data from PhysioRoom.com

Vicente Del Bosque sit’s back in a chair during an interview with journalist Sid Lowe and proclaims “There is no English football anymore, not authentic style”. He continues to explain that England’s constant change in footballing philosophy and foreign imports has meant that the soul of English football has been ripped out. He has a point. It is near on impossible to watch England without gritting your teeth and willing them to express themselves.

Interestingly enough when Steve McClaren was appointed England manager his first words were “Evolution, not revolution” – it’s easy to see why the current Newcastle manager didn’t inspire a great deal of hope with those opening words. More importantly, this phrase has bigger significance and is more of a reflection on the current state of English football. Although there has been a number of changes in philosophy over the years, from the adaptation of an academy system in 1998 to replicate France. Implementing a 433 passing style throughout all age groups to mimic Spain. Slowly but surely, England developed the narrow diamond formation to copy World Cup winners Germany.

Whilst these changes do not necessarily the conservatism noted in the title, the ways in which these ‘revolutions’ have been put in to place follow a structure so inflexible that changes haven’t felt as though they have been embraced. For example, academies have been established a la France, but the structured nature of these academies has started to kill off natural flair players.

… On the NBA map, Denver is in as unusual a place as there is. It’s smack in the middle — at least a two-hour flight to all but a few cities. And only the Utah Jazz shares the same time zone.

So here’s the problem as other teams see it: Denver has too much of an advantage in back-to-back games when the Nuggets are the second leg and said team is coming to play them from anywhere on the West Coast.

“When you come west to Denver, when going from Portland or Sacramento, Denver has home-court advantage,” said Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd, who has made that trek a number of times as a player and coach.