The Prevention of Sports Injuries

[PHargis]

Hig, I could not get it to come up so here it is:

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Story published: 02-13-2009 ??? Print Story ??? E-mail Story to a Friend

 

 

Updated February 12, 2009 09:07:12 PM

ETSU program revolutionizes athletes??™ training

 

By Joe Avento

Press Sports Writer

javento@johnsoncitypress.com

 

Hidden in what used to be a couple of racquetball courts in East Tennessee State??™s Memorial Center, several scientists are revolutionizing the way athletes train.

Along the way, they??™re hoping to revolutionize the way coaches coach as well.

 

ETSU??™s Center of Excellence for Sports Science and Coach Education held an open house for the media on Thursday, and after an extensive tour, it was apparent how much was going on inside the former racquetball courts.

 

Run by the husband-wife team of Mike and Meg Stone along with Mike Ramsey, this is sports science at its finest. When athletes come through these halls, they no longer run just for the sake of running, lift just for the sake of lifting or train just for the sake of training.

 

These scientists are taking the guesswork out of working out and infusing a whole lot of knowledge. They??™re assuming nothing and not taking anything for granted. They check everything from an athlete??™s hydration levels to body-fat composition. The athletes are tested and given workouts specifically designed for their particular sports.

 

It??™s all in an effort to attain peak performance, and the folks here say it??™s not being done this way anywhere else.

 

???We want to be a role model for the rest of the country when it comes to sports science,??? said Ramsey, an assistant professor with a doctorate in exercise physiology. ???There is not another program in the country doing what we have going on. There are other programs, but there is no true sports science program working with athletes.???

 

 

The athletes are the keys to the program. About 90 percent of ETSU??™s athletes work with the program, according to Mike Stone, the director of the sports science lab and the former head of sports physiology for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

 

Ramsey said other programs study regular people ??“ Joe the Plumber??™s name was referenced a couple of times on Thursday ??“ but none concentrate solely on athletes.

 

???You can do pretty much anything with an untrained person,??? Ramsey said. ???There??™s a lot of research going on with training people who aren??™t athletes.???

 

The program has established a relationship with ETSU??™s department of athletics. Both are benefiting.

 

The athletes don??™t have to become scientists themselves to reap the benefits of the program.

 

???They really simplify things for us to understand everything that??™s going on,??? said Troy Mendez, an outfielder on the ETSU baseball team. ???It takes a lot of knowledge to understand what??™s going on. They do all the numbers and we just play.???

 

Mendez says he can see the results when he??™s on the field, adding he??™s had more doubles than singles in preseason scrimmages.

 

???We??™ve definitely seen lots of improvement in explosiveness and strength,??? he said. ???What it??™s done for us on the field has been great. Our power numbers are way up. Our coach has been very excited about this program.???

 

The program has worked with Olympic hopeful boxer Charlie Watson and former world champion sprinter Zhana Pintusevich-Block.

 

Research projects are underway, some in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

 

The whole thing started almost three years ago when the Department of Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Science began working with the athletic department. The program became known as the Sports Performance Enhancement Consortium. The Center of Excellence was opened last October.

 

???It??™s grown almost too fast,??? said Mike Stone, who has a doctorate in exercise science and was named the 1991 national sports scientist of the year. ???It??™s about to overwhelm us.???

 

ETSU also plans on offering a doctorate program in sports science, the first of its kind in the country.

 

???It is going to happen,??? Mike Stone said. ???Because of the economic climate we??™ve had to put it off for a year. It will happen either 2010 or 2011. We??™ve already had people knocking the door down to get into the program.???

 

Meg Stone, the director of the program, knows a thing or two about peak performance. The two-time Olympian from Scotland set the NCAA women??™s shot put and discus records while competing for Arizona in 1981 ??“ and those records still stand. She was also the first woman to be head strength coach for a Division I men??™s athletic program, at the University of Arizona.

 

???If you perform yourself, yeah that feels good,??? Meg Stone said. ???But when you see somebody else you worked very closely with perform well, I don??™t know which one is more satisfying. It??™s great to help a young athlete develop.???

 

The science isn??™t just for athletes. Coaches can learn from the program, and that??™s one area Meg Stone stresses. The group runs a ???Coaches College??? each December. It??™s an opportunity for coaches of any sport on any level to learn about sports science. The college has grown from 35 participants to 91 to 150 last year.

 

???We??™ve gotten the word out,??? she said. ???We??™re growing.

 

???To me it??™s one of the most important focuses of my life ... when a man or woman steps on a field of play to be conditioned and well enough coached to be able to fulfill their potential. I??™m a wee bit passionate about that. We??™re on a mission to get that accomplished.???

 

 

 

 

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Top AP Video Headlines

[The Highlander]

Well, the link works for me, but that doesn't mean I did it right! Thanks for copying it here.

 

The Highlander

[McMinn Central Maniac]

Honestly, just wondering if you're involved in the medical field at all? If so, question - can an athlete "over train"? Is running until total exhaustion a good idea, at the point where the athlete is literally only trying to stay on their feet?

 

Athletes can definitely over-train. I incorporate short duration, but highly intense workout methods with respect to both weight training and conditioning. I am involved with Chargerette basketball, so I feel that it best fits our style of play, and it best mimics the game of basketball in general. After all, basketball is primarily a series of short bursts of intense activity (at least in MC's style of play.)

 

With respect to your question, several consecutive days of extremely intense training will not give the athlete's body an opportunity to repair itself. At the basic level, training tears down muscle. Overtraining doesn't allow the body to recover and as a result, get stronger, quicker, more durable, etc.

[PHargis]

Athletes can definitely over-train. I incorporate short duration, but highly intense workout methods with respect to both weight training and conditioning. I am involved with Chargerette basketball, so I feel that it best fits our style of play, and it best mimics the game of basketball in general. After all, basketball is primarily a series of short bursts of intense activity (at least in MC's style of play.)

 

With respect to your question, several consecutive days of extremely intense training will not give the athlete's body an opportunity to repair itself. At the basic level, training tears down muscle. Overtraining doesn't allow the body to recover and as a result, get stronger, quicker, more durable, etc.

Give and example. Several...................Duration.......................Intense................

........Basic? So one might follow relate it to just working out instead to a speicific sport and those looking might be able to relate it to their need, Or just relate it to what you want to relate it to as far as sport is concerned.

[McMinn Central Maniac]

Give and example. Several...................Duration.......................Intense................

........Basic? So one might follow relate it to just working out instead to a speicific sport and those looking might be able to relate it to their need, Or just relate it to what you want to relate it to as far as sport is concerned.

 

 

Because I am a volunteer assistant at McMinn Central and serve as strength and conditioning coach, I must adhere to TSSAA guidelines with regard to strength program. One of the guidelines is that any strength and conditioning program MUST NOT be sports specific. It must be a program that can benefit any student who should undertake the endeavor. As a result, I don't do any drills that use basketballs except during the season. Offseason workouts don't involve the use of a basketball.

 

My workouts never last more than an hour, but there a few breaks in action. Most rest periods are 30-45 seconds. I use a lot of supersets and giant sets to maintain intensity and get a lot of work done in a minimal amount of time. I look for intensity and efficiency rather than quantity. I prefer total body training unless an athlete has a specific deficiency that needs extra attention. I don't feel comfortable getting any more specific than that.

 

If you are in the McMinn County area, I will be helping McMinn Central girls' assistant Joe Young and possibly former Meigs girls' head coach Jason Powell with the Triple Threat camp this summer. Some of the stuff I do in the offseason will be featured on Tuesday and Wednesday of each camp session. As of yesterday, the camp will be held at McMinn Central high school this year. It usually coincides with the TSSAA dead period the last week of June and first week of July.

[PHargis]

You answered the inquiry as I thought you would as far as the TSSAA is concerned but giving an example, however broad, qualifying it, might not put you in jeopardy by any means. Certainly if you might not want to answer, please don't.

[McMinn Central Maniac]

You answered the inquiry as I thought you would as far as the TSSAA is concerned but giving an example, however broad, qualifying it, might not put you in jeopardy by any means. Certainly if you might not want to answer, please don't.

 

 

I generally do either giant sets of three to four exercises back-to-back-to-back with minimal rest in between. I usually will pair a leg exercise with a front or push muscle group and then a back or pull muscle group. I only go heavy (6 rep max) in the summer. I usually train in the 8-10 rep range in preseason and then in the 12 range during the season. I work plyometrics (mostly jumping and bounding) in with some supersets or at the end of a weight training session.

 

As far as conditioning goes, I do a lot of minimal rest work in the weightroom which is also beneficial cardiovascularly. I prefer sprints, and quick change of direction work with regards to conditioning. Like I said, intensity over duration works best for most sports with the exception of some track events. A lot of recent studies indicate that interval training consisting of short, high intensity bursts followed by a rest or low intensity period twice as long as the high intensity period is better at cutting fat while maintaining muscle.

[PHargis]

I generally do either giant sets of three to four exercises back-to-back-to-back with minimal rest in between. I usually will pair a leg exercise with a front or push muscle group and then a back or pull muscle group. I only go heavy (6 rep max) in the summer. I usually train in the 8-10 rep range in preseason and then in the 12 range during the season. I work plyometrics (mostly jumping and bounding) in with some supersets or at the end of a weight training session.

 

As far as conditioning goes, I do a lot of minimal rest work in the weightroom which is also beneficial cardiovascularly. I prefer sprints, and quick change of direction work with regards to conditioning. Like I said, intensity over duration works best for most sports with the exception of some track events. A lot of recent studies indicate that interval training consisting of short, high intensity bursts followed by a rest or low intensity period twice as long as the high intensity period is better at cutting fat while maintaining muscle.

I have noticed as I read this that this exercise program could be for a regular student or athletei, for an older person or younger person or a male or female and i suppose could be built to to the sets he suggests but seems to be a real good exercise program balanced for good health and cardio.i

[PHargis]

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[PHargis]

Bump