Sunday, February 15, 2009

Changing Location

Hi for anyone that follows this blog I have moved to

www.athleticdevelopment.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there

Regards

Craig

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Periodisation

What are your thoughts re periodisation. Mine are that we must periodise (plan) in everything we do. There is often controversy about what structure to use with linear periodisation being the traditional method and also non linear also being noted as effective. The simple difference is that in a linear format we would have a phase of strength training being say 3 days/week all body with 4 sets of 6 repitions and we would maintain this set rep ratio but increase the intensity by increasing the load. In a non linear Monday we may do 3 sets of 8-10/Wednesday may be 4 x 6 and Friday may be 4x12 and this philosophy could transfer to conditioing work as well e.g long intervals mixed with shorter intervals. What is best well at the end of the day its what you see works/what your data says and only experience will help you. Also athletes adapt differently. There is motivational aspects related to non linear that are positive in that the workout is always different but it must be carefully planed. Also just ensure whatever session you are running you know where it fits into the entire plan

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Sydney FC Coach sacked

What can I say the strength coach now the head coach. Dont want to be to critical as all reports suggest he is a nice guy but you must cover all your bases when preparing teams and coaching isnt related to being a great player but to how much work you are willing to put into it. Learn off the greats be a student of the game and you can do it but too often in our country in football we just dont work hard enough. I hope all goes well for the coach in the future and the future looks bright for Sydney FC with a European coach lets see what happens in the athletic development/sports science side of things but I am sure they will make some good decisions. There is some very good people there with many saying the present assistant Tony Popovic is going to be an outstanding coach of the future. One thing is for sure The A League needs Sydney FC to be firing on all cylinnders

More Research

Just continuing with our look at research here is another study with elite youth. Please remember we are only looking here at the abstract and you should always read the entire paper. Too often people read the abstract only and go for it where as I have stated previously it is important to analyse the entire article.


Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research:Volume 23(1)January 2009pp 163-169
Relationship Among Repeated Sprint Tests, Aerobic Fitness, and Anaerobic Fitness in Elite Adolescent Soccer Players


[Original Research]
Meckel, Yoav1; Machnai, Oren1; Eliakim, Alon1,2
1Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel; and 2Child Health and Sport Center, Pediatric Department, Meir General Hospital, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Address correspondence to Yoav Meckel, meckel@wincol.ac.il.
Abstract
Meckel, Y, Machnai, O, and Eliakim, A. Relationship among repeated sprint tests, aerobic fitness, and anaerobic fitness in elite adolescent soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 23(1): 163-169, 2009-The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among aerobic fitness, anaerobic capacity, and performance indices of 2 different repeated sprint test (RST) protocols in a group of 33 elite adolescent soccer players (age range 16-18 years). All participants performed 4 tests: an aerobic power test (20-m shuttle run), the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT), and 2 different RST protocols (12 × 20 and 6 × 40 m). Significant correlations (p <>r = 0.618strong), total sprint time (r = 0.709), and performance decrement (PD; r = 0.411) of the 2 RST protocols. A significant negative correlation was found between the PD in the 12 × 20-m RST and calculated peak V̇o2 (r = -0.60, p < r =" -0.32," p =" 0.09).">r = -0.42 and -0.45, respectively) and with the total sprint time of the 12 × 20-m protocol (r = -0.47). There were no correlations between other indices of the WAnT and the 2 RSTs. Despite identical total work, different RST protocols represent different physiological implications. The aerobic system plays a significant role in the maintenance of intensity level during a soccer game, which is characterized by short bursts of activities. Anaerobic performance of repeated brief efforts imposes different physiological stress than a single prolonged activity and, thus, may reflect different physiological capabilities. Therefore, anaerobic testing procedures should consist of specific protocols that mimic the athlete's specific

This article highlights a problem with sport science research. The authors are claiming significant relationships be reporting r's which are correlations. I would never report an r at best it must be an r squared and we should know that these are very weak relationships because in effect where they have reported a significant r of 0.61 if we square that it comes to approx 0.36 which tells us that only 36% of this relationship is explained where over 60% is not so you can see it is very weak. Also the wingate test is performed on a bike which is again non specific in saying all this I do believe that the repeated sprint test is very valuable and should be used in testing protocols - I would lokk at work conducted by Bangsbo in this area