Sunday, February 22, 2009

International Youth Conditioning Association Summit -February 20-22

Wow! What a great time I had in Louisville over the weekend. I have probably attended 50 conferences in the last 10 years but have never been so moved and inspired by the folks at the IYCA. I have more energy and passion than ever [if that is possible] and truly believe I was meant to work with youth, not just to be better athletes, but to make a difference.
Make no mistake, the IYCA is a business, but they transcend the boundaries of traditional organizations by creating a movement, a revolution, a warrior-attitude. I am proud to be an IYCA member and look forward to representing their mission.
Besides receiving great information, I had the pleasure to meet and speak with Carlo Alvarez, the strength coach for St. Xavier high school. This guy is just as intense as me! Great guy, and a great mind.

Adrenaline Sports thanks you for allowing us to train, develop and inspire the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

popular 'sport science' to return in March

Fox Sports Network’s “Sport Science” will start its second season on March 22.

The series, hosted by creator and executive producer John Brenkus, tests the limits of athletic abilities and challenges assumptions about athletes and sports under the scientific guidance of Dr. Cindy Bir.

Mr. Brenkus will welcome many new athletes into the “Sport Science” lab this season, including NFL stars Ray Lewis, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Vernon Davis and Tank Johnson; NBA stars Stephon Marbury, Kevin Love, Amare Stoudemire and Luke Walton; and Major League Baseball’s Matt Kemp and James Loney of the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitcher Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres.

The season’s first episode will test what generates more power, natural adrenaline or an adrenaline shot, with MMA fighter Houston Alexander agreeing to be injected with a dose of epinephrine.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

strength training helps running economy in long distance running

Running economy can be quantified as the oxygen consumption at a given intensity of exercise.
A greater running economy or efficiency of movement can result in a lower energetic cost
when running at sub-maximal speeds, thus allowing the runner to move faster over a given
distance. One method for improving running economy is the implementation of a strength
training regime. However, little data exists comparing different types of strength training regimes on running economy. Sixteen well trained runners were randomly divided into two resistance training interventions, explosive or heavy resistance training. Each training intervention was performed twice per week for the duration of the study. Both groups performed exercise that targeted the lower leg musculature including
the leg press, parallel squat, leg extension, leg flexion, and calf raise. The explosive training
group performed three sets of 12RM in each exercise, while concentrating on performing the
concentric portion of each lift as explosively as possible. The heavy weight training group
performed three sets of 6RM in each exercise. In addition to the strength training regime, the
subjects performed one high intensity aerobic exercise session (2 x 20 minutes at 60% VO-
2max) and three sub-maximal aerobic sessions (45 – 60 minutes at 60 – 70% VO2max). When
comparing the two training interventions the heavy weight training was the only intervention
to result in improvements in running economy. Additionally, the heavy weight training resulted
in a greater increase in 1RM strength and countermovement vertical jump performance when
compared to the explosive resistance training group. The most important finding of this investigation is that heavy resistance training can improve running economy. However, this study should be viewed with some caution. The explosive exercise intervention is somewhat misleading in that it does not contain the set and repetition characteristics typically seen in a strength training plan that targets explosive movements. In fact the repetition scheme selected should probably be considered a high volume or an endurance lifting session. In this light the results of this study become even more interesting in that high volume lifting is typically recommended for endurance athletes. However, the results of the current study seem to suggest that lower volume, higher intensity strength training aimed at increasing maximal strength seems to result in greater improvements in running economy.
Guglielmo, L.G., Greco, CC, and Denadai, BS. Effects
of strength training on running economy. Int
J Sports Med 30:27 – 32. 2009.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

the dangers of multiple concussions

If you play contact sports, concussions are a huge risk...take it from me-head trauma is nothing to shrug off. Multiple concussions have affected my speech patterns such that I routinely say the opposite of what I mean. Click here for the study summary.

Monday, February 2, 2009

tv watching habits among teenagers lead to bad habits later

Teenagers who spend too much time in front of the television may be setting themselves up for a lifetime of bad eating habits, researchers found.

High-school students who watched more than five hours of TV each day had a higher intake of snack foods, fried foods, fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and trans-fats five years later, Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota, and colleagues reported online in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

For more on this study, please click here