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Science for Sport
Melbourne, Australia
Online learning resource for all things related to sports science.
ARTICLES
Contents of Research Review
Background & ObjectiveWhat They DidWhat They FoundPractical TakeawaysReviewer’s CommentsAbout the ReviewerComments
Background & Objective
Heavy exercise from training and competition combined with life stress such as travelling, emotional status, and pressures to succeed can all have an effect on the innate and acquired immunity in athletes. In this review article, Neil Walsh provides new insights and evidence-based recommendations for coping with the various challenges that athletes encounter on immune health, including: heavy exercise, life stress, sleep disruption, environmental extremes, and nutritional deficits.
What They Did
Neil provides the background and overview of stress-immune interactions, identifying particular key factors that can lower ...
Contents of Blog Post
Introduction to AndreasA comprehensive performance programReturn to play protocolSpeed trainingEccentric trainingIn-season monitoringWeight-bearing and non-weight-bearing trainingAbout the AuthorsComments
Introduction to Andreas
AR: Andreas, thank you for being part of this hamstring management series. Can you explain how your role has evolved over time and how you actually manage all the aspects related to performance and rehab at Borussia Dortmund?
Andreas Beck: I’m working in professional football since 2007. Before that, I studied sports science and sports medicine in Frankfurt am Main. While studying, I worked in the fitness industry as a coach: I had my own business as a personal trainer ...
Contents of Blog Post
IntroductionEnsure everything is valid and reliableAlways check equipment and the environmentBe clear with your test selection and sequenceChoose your words carefullyConclusionReferencesAbout the AuthorComments
Introduction
Fitness testing is an inherent component of every level of sport from youths, recreational exercisers to senior athletes. Fitness testing provides data that helps shape the decision-making process of individual athlete training goals. For coaches, fitness testing is paramount as it gives a baseline or starting point of an athlete’s physical journey, with the end destination being fulfilling their maximum athletic potential (Haff & Triplett 2015). Fitness testing can help identify talent by finding athletes ...
By Eric Curry27th January 2020 | 4 min read
Contents of Blog Post
IntroductionCreate a routine and stick to itOptimize conditions for sleepBedroom equipmentNappingAvoid technology and blue light exposure before bedIncrease bright light exposure during the dayAvoid caffeine in the eveningMaintain a relaxed state before bedConclusionReferencesAbout the AuthorComments
Introduction
Sleep is a homeostatically controlled behavior resulting in reduced movement and sensory responsiveness (Allada & Siegel 2008). Although the true function of why humans sleep remains unclear, there is no doubt of its importance for human cognitive and physiological function (Fullagar et al. 2015).
Typically, to feel refreshed and energetic upon waking up most adults require approximately ...
OBJECTIVE Knee injuries, specifically anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are extremely common and potentially career ending. Females are also approximately 3 times more likely to injure their ACL than males. Structured neuromuscular control training programmes have been shown to significantly reduce ACL injury in females (up to 50%). The purpose of this study was to determine the common and effective components of ACL neuromuscular training (NMT) programmes as well as to create a user -friendly tool to assess the quality of current ACL NMT programmes.
WHAT THEY DID A literature search was performed using PubMed and EBSCOhost in January ...
Understanding the mental health of athletes is the first step to their development and success
INTRODUCTION It is widely known that physical activity and sport has a considerable impact on the health of the general population and athletes alike. Furthermore, numerous studies have reported on the psychological benefits of organised sport within children and young adults. High levels of mental health issues amongst young adults suggests a need for intervention strategies to change this trend. Typically, young adults are more comfortable about discussing their mental health issues with peers or a trusted adult and within the sports environment (this ...
OBJECTIVE A warm-up routine has been suggested to be critical in increasing preparedness for subsequent effort and thus maximising performance. An active warm-up consists of using physical activity, while a passive warm-up depends on the use of external means. However, the effectiveness of the warm-up routine appears to be dependent on many factors: such as the type of sport, athlete fitness and experience, tasks to be performed, environmental conditions, and constraints imposed by event organisers. The aim of this systematic review was to analyse research findings on the effects of warm-up, post-warm-up (time between the end of a ...
OBJECTIVE Team ball sports, such as football and rugby, are extremely demanding and can, therefore, lead to a remarkable level of fatigue. While different sports have been investigated, no previous research has systematically reviewed the differences in sports and markers of fatigue. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the post-match recovery of different performance and biochemical markers typically used to monitor fatigue/readiness in team ball sports. WHAT THEY DID Twenty-eight studies were included for analysis. The most common performance measures used were the countermovement jump (CMJ) and sprint tests, while creatine kinase (CK), ...
OBJECTIVE The usage of gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, and/or laptops are associated with melatonin suppression and consequently a disturbance in sleep (e.g. delayed sleep). In order to reduce short-wavelength light emissions, gadget manufacturers have now developed apps that reduce these emissions of the display in an attempt to reduce the effects on sleep and circadian health. As a result, the goal of this study was to test the efficacy of the “Night Shift” app (see App link below) on melatonin responses. WHAT THEY DID Twelve participants were exposed to 4 different conditions: 1) a dim ...
OBJECTIVE It is well established that sleep is one of the pillars for good recovery from exercise. In order to enhance sleep quality and duration, different sleep hygiene strategies (e.g. removal of electronic devices prior to sleep time) are implemented by practitioners and sports scientists. However, limited research has investigated the effects of electronic devices use on sleep quality and quantity in athletes. This study investigated the effects of electronic device use on athlete’s sleeping patterns. WHAT THEY DID Seventy well-trained, Australian athletes (44 females and 26 males, 32 team-sports athletes and 38 individual-sports athletes) ...
OBJECTIVE Many believe that ‘talent’ runs in the family, but unfortunately, few studies have objectively examined this common belief. Whilst it is well-known that genetic factors provide the blueprint for a good athlete, there are many other factors such as opportunities, nurture, education, and health and wellbeing that also play a part. This study examined how a parent's previous involvement in sport as a child athlete is related to the eventual level of competitive sport attained by their children. WHAT THEY DID This study included a sample of 229 athletes which were split into the following ...
OBJECTIVE Quantifying training loads outside of practice is especially important for coaches who want to manage strength and power development. Most monitoring calculations used for monitoring load within the weight room are either volume or barbell speed, however, neither provides sufficient or precise enough information for coaches. The objective of this study was to see whether the inclusion of displacement of the barbell to the typical calculation of volume load added enough value to warrant the extra work associated with collecting the information. WHAT THEY DID The researchers tracked the volume load (VL) of eight national ...
OBJECTIVE Rather than a piece of experimental research, this article nicely collates evidence regarding the effectiveness of prebiotics and probiotics on athletic performance and explains the mechanisms by which they have their effect. WHAT THEY DID This article explains how the collection of microorganisms in our digestive systems (known as the microbiota) contribute to a large variety of functions in our body. These functions include things such as inflammation, homeostasis, and the synthesis of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, GABA, and serotonin, which are crucial in neuromuscular control. Furthermore, the authors present evidence for the effect of ...
OBJECTIVE Cross-education is the phenomenon whereby the exercise of one limb can induce strength gains in the contralateral untrained limb. The aim of this study was to review the current research findings regarding cross-education (CE) following unilateral strength training and determine the overall magnitude of the contralateral strength gains.
WHAT THEY DID The databases MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed were searched for randomised controlled trials focusing on unilateral resistance training from inception to December 2016. Inclusion criteria included: (1) participants randomly assigned to unilateral training and to a control group receiving no ...