… Nothing against Samuel and McCaffrey, but their times of 4.31 and 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine don’t compare to running the 100-meter dash in 9.98 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Bracy did that, earning a spot on the 2016 Summer Olympic team.
“No disrespect to McCaffrey or Fred Ross or Curtis Samuel,” Bracy said, including the undrafted free-agent signee from Mississippi State. “Those guys have the total package.
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Jaylon Smith in the second round last year knowing he probably wouldn’t be on the field until 2017. A year later, and they’re still waiting to see him in action.
His debut in team activities will have to wait a little bit longer than initially expected with the Cowboys allowing him to participate only in meetings and walk-throughs during rookie minicamp this week.
Jason Garrett said a few weeks ago that Smith would be on the field and taking part in drills, which was promising news. Unfortunately, Garrett was a bit overzealous in saying that because on Sunday, he hedged his news.
Runner's World, Newswire, Sweat Science blog, Alex Hutchinson from
This is going to take a little while to process.
Eliud Kipchoge’s eye-popping 2:00:25 marathon on Saturday morning in Italy fell just short of the two-hour goal he was aiming for, but far exceeded the expectations of most observers. Only three of the 24 running experts surveyed by Runner’s World earlier in the week predicted a time t
While Kipchoge’s run won’t count as a world record because of rule violations including the use of pacers who came in and out of the race multiple times, it has suddenly and undeniably changed how we view marathon times. A 2:02-flat in a record-eligible race? After today, why not? [video, 1:54]
Background Static stretching (SS) is a recovery intervention used for the reduction of muscle soreness postexercise. The effects of SS on elite young footballers have received little attention, and therefore the aim of this study was to assess the effects of SS on muscle recovery following competitive soccer matches in elite young footballers.
Methods Ten male participants (16±1 years) were recruited from an English Premier League professional soccer academy. Using a controlled crossover design, participants followed one of two recovery interventions (SS or passive recovery (PR)) immediately following completion of competitive soccer matches. Muscle oedema, creatine kinase (CK), countermovement jump with arms (CMJA) performance and perceived muscle soreness were assessed before, immediately after and 48 hours postmatch.
Results Competitive soccer matches significantly induced muscle damage, with time intervals of perceived soreness and CK showing significant increases (p<0.05), and CMJA showing significant decreases between prematch, postmatch and 48 hours postmatch for both SS and PR (p<0.05). Comparisons of the absolute effects of SS with PR only revealed significant decreases for CK 48 hours postmatch (p<0.05) as a result of SS intervention.
Conclusion The current study demonstrated competitive soccer matches induced muscle damage, which may have detrimental effects on future performance within 24–48 hours postmatch. Furthermore, there was limited evidence to suggest SS would assist in the reduction of muscle soreness postexercise. Therefore, it can be argued that SS is not a beneficial recovery option for elite youth soccer players. [full text]
Following a proper training plan is the best way to guarantee you achieve your running goals. The problem is, your plan can only ever tell you how hard a run should feel – it’s down to you to put that into practice. If you’re not pushing yourself hard enough – or, equally, if you’re pushing too hard – you’re not getting the most from your training plan. Here’s a breakdown of the effort levels you’ll find on your plan, and how to ensure you’re hitting them just right.
In 1991, when the marathon world record stood at 2:06:50 (Belayneh Dinsamo, Rotterdam, April 17, 1988), I published a paper in the Journal of Applied Physiology predicting that a “hypothetical best subject” could run the marathon distance in 1:57:58. A lot of people scratched their heads.
After last night’s scintillating 2:00:25 by Eliud Kipchoge, perhaps the head scratching has finally stopped. While Kipchoge didn’t succeed in Breaking2, he held 4:35-per-mile pace far longer than many experts had predicted. In the next marathon speed test, Kipchoge or someone else only has to run one second per mile faster. That’s not difficult to imagine, so here are some thoughts in the aftermath of Kipchoge’s sensational run.
In Jeff Luhnow’s five-plus years as general manager, the data-driven Astros haven’t been shy in their willingness to challenge convention.
Count this latest experiment among their most unconventional yet.
The Astros will put their lead analyst, Sig Mejdal, in uniform as a “development coach” for their short-season Class A affiliate this year. While simultaneously fulfilling his special assistant to the GM duties, Mejdal will be embedded with the upstate New York-based Tri-City ValleyCats, riding the buses, eating the clubhouse meals and even hitting pregame fungoes.
Despite access to a trove of learning resources – including textbooks, online references and homework assignments – some students routinely fall short of their performance expectations.
The solution may not be to work harder, but more strategically. That’s the key takeaway from new research led by Stanford scholars, whose study published in Psychological Science found that applying a strategic approach to studying helped college students improve their exam scores by an average of one-third of a letter grade.
New Scientist, Short Sharp Science, Michael Le Page from
Our body temperature might not ever get much hotter than 37°C. But it turns out that the insides of our cells can reach a scorching 50°C.
Our cells effectively burn food in oxygen to produce energy. Unlike a fire, this is a controlled process involving several steps, but it still generates a lot of heat.
But because respiration, as this process is known, happens inside tiny structures inside cells called mitochondria, measuring just how hot they get has not been possible. However, in the past year or so, several research teams around the world have developed dyes that fluoresce in different ways as temperatures change.
… [Sebastien Lagree] designed an exercise method that is currently licensed by over 300 fitness studios worldwide. But now, he’s teamed with BMW DesignWorks – the same designers behind the BMW ‘X’ series – and further developed that method with a high tech fitness machine that, quite frankly, looks terrifying.
That machine is called the Supra and it claims to be the world’s first digitally-controlled intelligent fitness machine that inclines and tilts from left to right, a feature that apparently helps cut his former 50 minute workout method in half. Lagree has dubbed the Supra the “future of fitness” and says thanks to its latest technological upgrades, the machine can now help users burn 400 calories in just 25 minutes.
… The secret behind the energy-saving sensors lies in signal processing. In order to grasp how the company’s unique ‘dynamic photodiode’ sensor works, we must first understand how sensors in most smartwatches currently work: Two diodes located on the back of the device – nestled against the wrist – emit light that penetrates the upper layers of the skin, and blood flow determines how much light is reflected back. A sensor placed between the diodes detects these light waves and transforms the information into electrical current, which is then translated into the pulse displayed on the watch.
Instead of converting the light into a current and then measuring the current’s amplitude, ActLight’s dynamic photodiode sensors turn the current into time. The sensors use the pulse of light to identify the moment at which the current is triggered. The result is a small reduction in energy consumption with every heartbeat, but repeated more than 50,000 times per day it adds up to considerable energy savings.
Computer vision is fascinating to me because a) it sounds intriguing and b) it’s a part of so many different things we use today (augmented reality, image search, Google Photos, cameras, those yellow first down lines we see watching football on TV, self-driving cars, selfie lenses, and more.) In this video, I talk with several researchers at Google to get an overview of the field today, a bit of its history, and a hint of its future.
… Last season, the data was provided to each team while Zebra also developed a football with Wilson Sporting Goods with an RFID tag that was used in NFL preseason games and Thursday Night Football games.
And in the future, the partnership could provide even more opportunities for Zebra Technologies and the NFL to work closely to expand the Zebra Sports Solution.
“Biometrics might be one of those (things),” Gustafsson said, noting that the solution can measure biometric data such as heart rate and temperature.”
… What is the primary difference, if any, from going from basketball to soccer, and back to basketball?
“First there’s the logistical differences of being in Rome, learning Italian, and working alongside very traditional Italian soccer culture. In contrast, basketball tends to have more use of data and technology, and as a sport is much more evolved in its use of analytics.”
“Since joining the Kings, I’m often asked ‘Coming from soccer, what can you do in basketball?’ Interestingly, it’s the same question I got when I went to Roma, with people asking me ‘Coming from basketball, what can you do in soccer?’, as the bulk of my research and work before joining Roma was in basketball.”
The theoretical purpose of a salary cap is to create competitive balance and prevent a league structured with haves and have-nots.
As Major League Soccer grows and with the introduction of Targeted Allocation Money, however, it will become more difficult for teams with frugal ownership groups to keep up. Multiple general managers and coaches have told FourFourTwo in recent months that MLS will start to see a separation between teams and ownership groups that spend at higher levels and those that don’t.
While some teams have been able to mask some lower spending with a healthy homegrown system or an ability to sell players to increase their pool of allocation money – the New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas are the best examples – the other powerhouse teams in the league are evidence that the balance of power is shifting toward those who spend more.