The Roles of a Performance Scientist in Elite Sports

>> April 09, 2017

The primary roles of performance scientist are to help athletes and coaches optimizing sports performance, by understanding a wide range of factors that contribute to performance enhancement (or even decrement). 

Such roles usually facilitated by a multidisciplinary sports science (e.g., applied physiology, biomechanics, biochemistry, psychology,  motor control, data science, among others) and use of technologies.

In short, a performance scientist is a major expert in sports science and sports performance. Of note, a performance scientist may be distinctive from a  high-performance manager, an individual usually  manage and oversee the high-performance program and development for a particular or a group of sports.

Both performance scientist and high-performance manager are seen synonymous due to several concurrent roles that they might be required to do. For example, in some institutions, the same person, e.g. head of sports, may have to carry out all the roles needed to be done by different individuals.

Regardless of the above, athletes require the best support from the different area of sports performance (training, monitoring, performance issues, etc.) in order to maximize  performance. This is where a performance scientist can play his/her roles to support athletes.

Think about this ...

In a major competition, you might have observed athletes who were unable to get out of blocks smoothly, could not accelerate properly, unable to maintain good  technique throughout competition, lacking of speed endurance and 'dies' towards the end, not being explosive and powerful enough, no physical capacity compete with others, lost by one hundred of a second to an opponent in major games and missing the gold medal, multiple mistakes, obvious difference in body composition, lack of movement coordination, recurrent injury, and so on.

Here, a performance scientist can play an important role here. But how?

First, a performance scientist will look into aspects that can be optimized, modified, or addressed. Thus, all the available information will be used to determine "what needs to be done." This can be achieved through a series of physical, physiological, psychological, and biomechanical assessments – body composition, strength, power, speed endurance, stride length, and frequency, etc., or assessments of performance during a competition.

This is usually done by a high-performance team (of sports scientists) led by the performance scientist, which involves strength and conditioning specialist, physiologist, biomechanist, nutritionist, psychologist, physiotherapist, physician, etc. in conjunction with the coaching staff, technical director, and manager (see Figure). Information or viewpoints from these experts or scientists can help a performance scientist to develop a more objective, fruitful and "well supported" work plan.

A group of scientist and medical personnel will then work in parallel based on the work plan that has been developed earlier. This integrative way of working with athletes can provide a better understanding of performance, more objective, effective, transparent process in terms of working strategy, which can also eliminate intervention bias (e.g. typical question; does he needs more physical or mental training?).

An integrated approach is different from the classical multidisciplinary methods, which involves experts of different sports science and medical areas who are working with one athlete at the same time, but they work according to what they feel would work purely from the perspective of their own field. Another typical multidisciplinary approach is when a group of scientists (different field) works together during the beginning of a programme (e.g. talent identification or sports science services) but makes their own directions when explaining their findings or making a recommendation. This is not more helpful for people (i.e. coaches) to have a good intervention strategy.

Structure of the high-performance team
Note that in this Figure, performance scientist (who is an expert in sports science and performance) is grouped together with technical coach (as well as chief coach and technical director) who is an expert in sports-specific performance, and also sports/team manager who involves in the management aspect of athletes.

Work plan and intervention ideas

The work plan is used to guide the intervention process using an integrated approach. This includes, for examples, what to do in terms of strength training (by strength and conditioning specialist, and how a nutritionist can support this intervention), what exercises to choose for specific muscle strengthening (by strength and conditioning specialist, and how a biomechanist can provide insight on athlete's gait and motor coordination/technique), and how a group of three scientists (of different expertise) works together to provide a training recommendation as a result of their physiological (strength and power), biomechanical (i.e. kinetic and kinematic), and motor coordination assessments (i.e. technique).

Further, this is extended to ... a) how a biomechanist and skill acquisition expert can work together to improve an athlete's skills ... b) how a psychologist can incorporate a mental rehearsal skill to help improve motor coordination and behavioral performance (i.e. motor control)  ...c) how athletes can benefit from a combination of tactical insights (i.e. by performance analyst) and skills to deal with pressure (i.e. by a psychologist) to improve on decision making and strategy/tactical.

During a competition (e.g. sprinting start), experts will observe and assess athletes to provide related information such as changes in the angular displacement of joints, motor coordination or technical accuracy, as well as the behavioral aspects (e.g. anxiety and emotional); and how this information is used for intervention by both strength and conditioning specialist and technical coach; and monitored over time by the aforesaid sports scientists to see if athletes have improved.
Illustration of an integrated approach for a fitness assessment programme and how to explain the data and intervention strategy to the coaching staff. Of note, the intervention strategy here is based on the information (e.g. gaps or weaknesses) from the physiological and kinematic tests. In addition, the overall recommendation includes supplement intake and diet plan to support the main intervention. This is one of the various examples.

Having said that, successful athletes rely not upon only good support. Before we even think about high-performance support, the biggest gains that athletes can have are actually from their discipline, motivation, training consistency, if being free injury, have access to proper recovery, have nutritious meals, and so on.

Athletes must have a positive mindset and belief that would steer them to become better athletes, but we can't deny that a good coach can help to facilitate the process. A good practice environment (people and facility), proper management, good support services, sports science, and medicine are essential in high-performance sports.

Read more...

Fast Sprinting Tips

>> March 10, 2017

QUICK SPRINT TIPS

The net work-done at hips increase when the speed increases.

In other words, the contribution of hip strength and power are more crucial towards the maximal speed phase.

The net energy-absorbed by quadriceps and hamstring increases when the speed increases.
*Quads at the initial swing, and hamstrings at the terminal swing (a specific type of contraction here - isometrics).

This gives you an important idea for a practical application in the weight room.

To bridge the gap (science-practical) a little bit, see below.

Strength your hamstring with isometric type exercise, rather than eccentric all the times.

Increase the ability of the hip flexors and extensors to produce force, and also increase the ability of the hams and quads (knee flex/extend) to absorb the forces that are produced from hips.

What are the exercises to use?
Squat, hip thrust, kettlebell swing, clean are among others.

These are some important keys for better sprint performance, in contrast to the popular belief that quadriceps strength is the only or primary focus of sprint training.

These notes are also important for injury perspective.

Read more...

Zaidatul Husniah runs 11.36 Malaysian fastest 100m time in any conditions

>> March 04, 2017

Olympic representative Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli missed the national record mark when her time of 11.36s that she set today (4 Mar 2017) during the 7th series of AGN League at Pretoria, South Africa was wind-assisted (+2.5 m/s), or over the allowed limit of +2.0 m/s.

She was in second place behind South African top sprinter, Allysa Conley whose personal best (PB) is 11.23s, ran down the 5'2" Malaysian in the last 10 metres to record 11.34s in this meeting.

Husniah ran 11.36 the Malaysian fastest time in any conditions

Husniah set her PB of 11.62s two years ago at the 2014 ASEAN University Games at Palembang.

Another two Malaysians Komalam Shally Selveratnam and Siti Fatimah Mohamad also did very well as both achieved the times of 11.65s and 11.68s, respectively.

For a record, 11.36s is the fastest time ever recorded by a Malaysian woman under any conditions. G.Shanti holds the national record of 11.50s since 1993.

Meanwhile, South African sprint sensation Akani Simbine clocked sub10 at 100m (9.93s, +2.0m/s), the fastest on African soil, and then sub20 at 200m (19.95s) in the same morning (Saturday).

Clarence Munyai registered a new African junior record at 200m with a time of 20.10s to erase the previous record by 0.06s that was held by Riaan Dempers since 1995.

In the 100m, Munyai also set a new personal best of 10.20s that was one hundreds of a second short from Akani Simbine's South Africa U20 record.

Results of other Malaysian athletes at Pretoria today (4 March 2017):

100m
10.47 Khairul Hafiz Jantan
10.66 Jonathan Nyepa
10.73 Haiqal Hanafi

11.36w Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli
11.65w Komalam Shally
11.68w Siti Fatimah

200m
21.53 Jonathan Nyepa

23.80 (PB) Husniah Zulkifli
24.37 Komalam Shally
24.67 Siti Fatimah Mohamad

400m
48.03 Muhammad Azam Masri
47.62 Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap

55.53 Shereen Samson Vallabouy
56.42 Faizah Asma Mazalan


AdrianSprints.com 

Read more...

Zaidatul Husniah Sets 11.36s 100m National Record at South Africa

Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli breaks G.Shanti's 24-year old national record with a time of 11.36s today (4 Mar 2017) during the 7th series of AGN League at Pretoria, South Africa.

She was in second place behind South African top sprinter, Allysa Conley whose personal best (PB) is 11.23s and sets 11.34s in this meeting.

Husniah, Fatimah, Komalam sets PBs in 11.36, 11.65, 11.68, respectively

Husniah's previous PB is 11.62s from the 2014 ASEAN University Games at Palembang.

Another two Malaysians Komalam Shally Selveratnam and Siti Fatimah Mohamad also did very well as both achieved new PBs with times of 11.65s and 11.68s, respectively.

Southeast Asian Rankings (2016/17) as at 4 March 2017
11.36 ..... Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli (MAS)
11.64 ..... Le Tu Chinh (VIE)
11.65 ..... Komalam Shally (MAS)
11.68 ..... Wanwisa Kongthong (THA)
11.68 ..... Siti Fatimah Mohamad (MAS)

*record pending for ratification

Read more...

Results Perak All-Comers 2017

>> February 28, 2017

Ipoh, 25-26 Feb 2017 "Perak Track and Field All-Comers 2017"
-best results as follows;

MEN
100m (26): Nixson Kennedy 10.6h (and 10.6 as 1h5), Muhammad Aqil Yasmin 10.6h, Muhammad Aiedel Sa'adon 10.6h, Mohd Izzuddin Yahaya 10.6h

200m (25): Muhammad Aqil Yasmin 21.3h, Mohammad Solihin Jamali 21.6h, Muhamad Shahrul Samali 21.7h

400m (26): Muhammad Ilham Suhaimi 48.1h, Mohd Izzuddin Yahaya 48.3h, Quek Lee Yong 48.5h, Muhammad Saiful Safwan Saifuddin 48.6h, Kwong Kar Jun 48.7h

1500m (25): 1r1 Prabudass Krishnan 3:59.1, 1r3 Ahmad Luth Hamizan 4:00.1h

110mH (25): Mohd Rizzua Haizad Muhammad 14.9h (and 14.96 as 1h1)

400mH (26): 1r2 Mohamed Farhan Hafsyam 54.3h, 1r1 Ruslem Zikry Putra Rosely 54.4h

High Jump (25): Norshafiee Mohd Shah 2.15

Long Jump (25): Abdul Latif Romly 7.40, Lukman Hakim 7.21

Triple Jump (26): Muhammad Nazri Mustafa 14.49

Shot Put (26): Adi Alifuddin Hussin 16.00, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli 15.74

Discus Throw (25): Abdul Rahman Lee 47.54

Hammer Throw (26): Michael Sia Suk Dak 44.62

10000m Walk (26): Lo Choon Sieng 44:11.0h

4x100m (25): SSTMI Team B 41.5h (and 41.5h as 1h2)


WOMEN
100m (26): Nor Aliyah Abdul Rahman 12.1h

200m (25): Nor Aliyah Abdul Rahman 24.6h

1500m (25): Savinder Kaur 4:55.3h

5000m (25): Yuan Yufang 18:05.43, Sheela Samivellu 18:48.82

100mH (25): Raja Nursheena Raja Azhar 13.7h (and 14.26 as 1h2), Nur Syafiqah Anis Abu Bakar 13.9h (and 14.35 as 1h1)

High Jump (26): Nur Syahirah Mohd Osman 1.66

Long Jump (26): Noor Shahidatun Nadia Mohd Zuki 6.16

Triple Jump (25): Kirthana Ramasamy 12.69

Shot Put (25): Bibi Nuraishah Ishak 12.55

Discus Throw (26): Yap Jeng Tzan 44.28

Hammer Throw (25): Nur Fazirah Jalaluddin 50.51

5000m Walk (25): Elena Goh 26:24.18

Read more...

The Trend Through the Years in Sprints

>> February 15, 2017

Sprinting has grown immensely. The first winner of the Olympics did not run faster than 12.0 hand-time.

Four years later at the 1900 Olympics, two men have equaled the world record of 10.8 (hand-timed), which they achieved during the heats.

Both the winners of the 1932 and 1936 Olympics have recorded 10.3h.

In the 1960s, 10.3 hand-timed in men's 100m means you are world-class.

In the 1960s and 1970s, if you wish to run the 100m in less than 10s, altitude was a must. The idea was deemed very crucially during that time. Hence, a good selection of racing venues would be necessary.

Ben Johnson won a 100m bronze in the 1984 Olympics with a time of 10.24s. What is a 10.24s at present?

In the 1990s 10.1 electric means world-class.

Actually, you won't find so many athletes who could achieve a sub-10.10, and if you did, these athletes must be well renowned already.

To run the 100m in 2000 Olympics, you would just need a 10.38s result. Before the year 2000s, there were only 20+ sprinters who have run sub-10s.


As indicated in the All-Time best for the 100m as of 2003, there were less than 40 sprinters who have done sub-10s.

Ten years later on the lists, more than 100 sprinters listed to have broken the 10s barrier.

Asafa Powell alone has totaled more than 100 races in under 10s.

Bolt, Gay, Blake, Powell, Gatlin have run 9.58, 9.69, 9.69, 9.72, and 9.74s, respectively.

A 10.12s is the current Olympic and Worlds standard.

I was tempted to "document" the trend of changes through the years that might be relevant to this evolution. Here we go.

Before the 1980's - Complete genetics
  • Most sprinters in the past were "born sprinters", which means they would rely upon the genetics for their successes. 
  • The various limitations and limited high-performance culture did not allow them to train under the most effective environment and system that are available today.
  • Some athletes did benefit from better coaching from the great coaches in the past.

1980s - Strength and muscles
  • Because of the understanding that muscles that you would build could help generate higher force and power.
  • The use of steroid facilitated this practice.
  • "To run fast in sprints, you must develop muscles" (kind of mindset).
  • Anyone running sub-10s was linked to steroids.

1990s - Strength and power
  • Some good coaches started to realize it is the ability to maximize power output that matters than how much strength you have. 
  • A combination of muscles (strength) and power was thought to be essential.
  • Lack of understanding regarding the environment factor, that bigger athlete can deal better whenever the race is against the winds (headwinds).
  • Many people confused between strength and power during these days (unable to differentiate).
  • To break 10s in the 100m, you must develop muscles (kind of mindset).
  • 9.90 seconds was the limit of human performance, otherwise steroid (kind of mindset).
The early 2000s - Power
  • It was thought that fast turnover or cadence of legs is more crucial than having big muscles.
  • Tim Montgomery who broke WR in 9.78s in 2002, helped "confirmed" this belief.
  • Human now can run sub-9.85 but it must be under a highly favorable condition, otherwise, that must be associated with steroids (kind of mindset)
The late 2000s - Rate of force development
  • People started to think more critically, it is how much force you can produce in a short amount of time that could help you to run faster.
  • Sprinters in these days are generally not bigger in muscle sizing than those in the 1990s and 1980s.
2010s - Orientation of the force application
  • Marginal gains sort of thing - small things that can make a difference.
  • It's not only force and power, but it is how do you use it to make you a better sprinter.
  • The technique of force application can determine how properly and effectively the body can be propelled forward.
  • Efficiency in terms of using your "fuel" (strength and power) to "drive" quicker and faster.

Read more...

Designing a Test Battery for Pole Vault

>> February 06, 2017

The main goal of pole vaulting is to jump over a crossbar with the help of a pole. The direction of a complete pole vault movement changes from horizontal to vertical. Here, pole vaulters produce forces, velocities, and energies during run-up and take-off, and also exerts force and strain energy on the pole to influence/control the trajectory (flight/curve).

There are four main phases in the pole vault, a) run-up, b) take off, c) pole bending, and d) pole straightening, which occurs in a continuous chain. The phases consider the ‘energy exchange’ between the vaulter and the pole.

The torques (i.e. forces) applied to the pole during take-off/plant have a direct influence on the final performance because it increases the bend and thus the strain energy stored in the pole.

Hence, higher forces applied allows a higher pole grip while being able to get the pole vertical prior to clearance.

Pole Vault Testing
Assessment is an integral part of any training programme. It is crucial to consider the specific element of sports when designing training programme because the demands vary greatly from one discipline/event to another. Such consideration can help one to determine appropriate tests as well. The suggested tests for pole vault is as outlined (see below). These can be done once prior to, and after each training block, or 3-4 times a year.

In addition, weekly or monthly monitoring programme can also be done using some of the tests, for examples, the countermovement jump and power push up are excellent tools for monitoring the athlete’s current fitness/power level.

Anthropometric
Skinfolds
Flexibility
Shoulder rotation test
Sit and reach modified
Back hyperextension
Strength
Power clean
Half squat
Hexagon deadlift
Incline press   
Hand grip test
10kg or 20kg (male) max pull up
Power 
Long jump (10-12 steps)
Squat jump     
Countermovement jump
Drop jump (30cm)
Bench throw
Power push up (force plate)
5-second pull up for repetition
4-kg med ball backward throw
Speed 
30 m sprint (standing and three points)

The lists above are not meant to be done altogether, but these are the possible choices in a test battery for pole vault. You can decide which ones and how many tests that are required. For an idea, most probably you will need 3-4 strength tests and 4-5 power tests.

Read more...

Can Random Signal and Noise (Stochastic Resonance) Improve Human Function and Athletic Performance?

>> November 26, 2016

For this unique topic, the best for me to start is by explaining how vibration can improve athletic performance.

I think that the Soviet coaches and scientists were the first to use vibration as a means to improve functional movements or even athletic performance. This could be traced back in the 1960s, when coaches in the Eastern Bloc started to use "contraction" type exercises such as oscillation training in their training ("secretly") to gain performance advantage in different circumstances (e.g. rehabilitation, normal training, conditioning).

Oscillation training involves a powerful muscular contraction, which enhances muscular strength and power. So this is basically sort of "vibrating the muscle" areas under tension (loaded) you wish to develop, or so.

Fast forward, in the 1980s, Vladimir Nazarov assessed the feasibility of vibration to maintain strength and muscle mass among cosmonauts. The reason for this was when in space, the reduced gravitational force might affect bone density, strength, and muscle mass. As a result, cosmonauts might be susceptible to having bone fractures, muscle atrophy, and weakening of strength very quickly upon returning to earth.

It is not practical to have "gym" in space and what can possibly be done is to use vibration for the said purposes. This way the duration of stay in space could be extended as well.
The commercially available vibratory platforms, and their types of vibration, from left: Power Plate (sine wave), Galileo (sine wave), and SRT (stochastic resonance)

Effects of vibration on performance


Vibration has been used to elicit a stretch reflex in the muscles in order to "potentiate" the following performance. Of note, any preconditioning stimulus (such as using heavy resistance as well as vibration) could have the potential to improve subsequent tasks (performance). This is called "post-activation potentiation".

More recently, a training study provided evidence supporting the suitability of vibration training (Perez-Turpin et al., 2014). The authors described its effectiveness that provided rapid gains in performance, more than conventional training (i.e. increased leg strength and jump performance in 6 weeks).

According to the authors ... activation of muscle spindles from vibration could stimulate alpha motor neurons and promote stretch reflexes. They further clarified that long-term vibration training gained via neural adaptation was similar to the effects of resistance training, that is the enhancement of motor unit firing, motor unit synchronization, synergist muscle contraction, antagonist muscle inhibition, and adaptation of the reflex response.

They postulated that strength increases following vibration training are of hormonal modulation (ie. changes), that is essential for muscle hypertrophy and force production.

Stochastic resonance vibration 

Basically, there are two main types of vibration: sinusoidal and stochastic resonance vibration (see "vibratory platforms" above).

The sinusoidal has a constant vibration frequency, which distinguishes its "character" from stochastic resonance, which has random vibration frequencies.

Most of (if not all?) the previous studies investigating vibration and performance (jump, power, speed, sprint, agility, strength, etc.) have used the sinusoidal type vibration.
This Image shows Sine Wave-type vibration; the repetition of each vibration shows a linear combination of Sinusoidal waves in harmonic motion

This Image shows the noise and signal of Stochastic Resonance
However, the nature of the sine wave is that the stimulus is constant and therefore, predictable by the body. This is not collateral with training aims that appreciate the idea of progressive overload and variety in order to create a new stimulus required for improvement.

The fact is that humans can easily habituate (or adapted) with constant information or stimulus!

In contrast, stochastic resonance is a phenomenon in which noise is added to improve response, through vibration. The generated vibration contains random noise, which can promote unpredictable stimulus (i.e. random signal and noise), and as a result, will increase sensory sensitivity. In short, the cells are more easily excited under stochastic conditions.
Vibratory Shoe Insoles... "Stochastic resonance was delivered to the soles of the feet via controlled vibratory stimuli. Vibrations were generated by piezo-electric actuators mounted within the insoles and driven by a control unit (black box) secured to the outside top of the shoe "...Junhong Zhou et al., 2016.
The potential use of stochastic resonance training to improve athletic performance

To date, stochastic resonance is mostly used in a rehabilitation setting, such as restoration of normal functions of patients (stroke, Parkinson disease, etc.) and musculoskeletal pains - back, knee, neck, shoulder, arm, ankle, foot, and hip (see Elferig et al., 2011).

Stochastic resonance vibration has also been used to improve postural control in the older adult using 'vibratory shoe insole' (see above), apart from enhancing the perception of information essential to support motor performance, while offsetting a reduced sensory sensitivity through injury, aging and so on (see Davids et al., 2004).

Bear in mind that our body has a certain level (threshold) of detection capability and this is influenced by various factors (aging, injury etc.).

Aging people are synonymous with aging-associated diseases, illnesses, and injuries. With aging as well, sensations may be changed, which is increased weak sensory signals, which in turn, decrease detection capability.

Hence, stochastic resonance can be exploited in order to increase the detection capability (i.e. it adds up to the body's existing or present signal, that is weak due to, for example, injury/aging).

The "noise" can be mistakenly understood as the perturbation (i.e. undesirable), but the stochastic resonance should be viewed as "essential noise," see below.

In order to improve the transmission of neural signals (and detection capability), the noise must be optimal, not too high, and not too weak. If the noise is too strong for example, it cannot be discriminated against the"general noise."
Stochastic resonance is observed in added random noise (optimal/good), in contrast to high noise (detrimental)
From the above, it seems that the perception of information can be increased by the noise as a result of sensitization of the weak sensory signal (sub-threshold signal), which could have potential in sports performance settings.

If the detection capability can be amplified by an added signal to improve human function; it certainly has the potential to improve certain areas of sports performance. German scientists and athletes have been trying to utilize stochastic resonance to improve sports performance (watch SRT Zeptor Vibration Training below; SRT = stochastic resonance training/therapy).


In addition, if vibration can be used to potentiate or improve athletic performance, a combination of vibration and random noise (i.e. stochastic resonance) for athletic performance enhancement seems promising.

Further research is necessary to understand its roles for performance enhancement (e.g. jumping, strength, and speed) and in which way it can be utilized to improve training quality.

Read more...

ASIAN LEADERS (Men)

To be updated

STATISTICS

STATISTICS

ASIAN LEADERS (Women)

To be updated

Statistics


ARCHIVES

Copyright © 2009-2018, AdrianSprints.com . All Rights Reserved . Policy . Term of Use
Sports Top Blogs Sports blogs & blog posts Free Web Stats

Back to TOP