Essentials of Sport Science

• Interdisciplinary Support Team (IST)


  A group of practitioners working alongside professionals to help athletes achieve their goals
• Athlete Centered Approach


  A multidimensional and reciprocal approach to athlete support tailored to each athlete's specific needs
• Genetic Ceiling


  The innate genetic potential of every athlete
• External Stimuli


  Stimuli such as exercise prescription that elevate an athlete's performance
• Internal Stimuli


  Psychological and emotional components that motivate athletes to elevate their performance
• Integrated Support Team (IST) - Members


  Practitioners with unique scopes of practice, educated, certified, and required to undergo professional development
• IST Operational Characteristics


  1. Clear roles and objectives

  2. Structured training schedule

  3. Interdisciplinary expertise

  4. Operational culture

  5. Infrastructure

  6. Equal importance of each discipline
• What is a Sport Scientist?


  The bridge between various professions within the IST and coaching staff
• Empiricism


  The use of empirical evidence for making vital decisions and reaching sound conclusions
• Rationalism


  The use of critical thinking and logical reasoning to evaluate true beliefs
• Skepticism


  Possessing a skeptical attitude and constantly questioning accepted beliefs and conclusions to examine evidence
• Training Load


  The quantification of exercise stress into a numerical value, expressed as 'Arbitrary Units' (AU)
• Internal Training Load


  How an athlete responds to a given external training load, quantifiable using physiological or perceptual responses
• External Training Load


  What the athlete has done, quantifiable using video analysis or wearable technology
• Training Impulse (TRIMP)


  A method to quantify a session into a 'DOSE' of physical effort, designed using endurance athletes
• Summated HR Zone (Edwards TRIMP)

  A modified calculation for deriving a TRIMP that accounts for high-intensity exercise, using five heart rate zones
• Polar Training Load


  A load calculation based on modeling an individual's estimated energy metabolism, reflecting the non-fat energetic cost of exercise
• Proactive Approach to Exercise Prescription

  Developing normative data and a 'playbook' for coaches, using wearable technology for real-time monitoring, and communicating with the coach during sessions
• Oxygen Consumption (VO2)


  A valid measure of exercise intensity, with a largely accepted relationship between VO2 and steady-state work rate
• Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)


  A method to quantify exercise stress as a training load, using a scale to denote heart rates ranging from 60-200 bpm
• Sessional Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE)


  A method to quantify the training load for a session using RPE, demonstrated correlations with Edwards Training Load and Banister's TRIMP
• Profile of Mood States (POMS)

  A questionnaire designed to evaluate the mood of an athlete, based on the association between mood states and sport performance
• Hooper & Mackinnon


  A questionnaire designed for athletes in an overtrained state, with a score > 5 in FATIGUE rating for 7 consecutive days
• Reliability


  The consistency or repeatability of a measure, assessed through test re-test reliability
• Key Performance Indicator (KPI)


  A quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of a team or athlete in meeting a performance objective
• Benchmarking


  The comparison of an athlete's performance against an established standard, based on age, maturation, and playing position
• Z-Score


  A standardized form of ranking representing how many standard deviations and the direction of the score from the mean
• Percentiles


  A statistical measure that displays the athlete's value as a percentage within a group of results
• Performance Machine


  Involves the athlete being at the centre, with each individual cog representing coaches and IST members, each helping the machine to function optimally
• Athlete-Centred Paradigm


  Targets the specific physiological, psychological and motor learning requirements that are unique to that individual
• What do Sport Scientists do?


  Use basic science and undertake applied research to influence training and performance decisions
• What is the creed of a Sport Scientist?


  Utilize the components of scientific methodology and critical thinking to influence performance outcome
• 3 Components of Scientific Methodology


  1. Empiricism

  2. Rationalism

  3. Skepticism
• Homeostasis


  The biological process where organisms adjust internal functions to maintain stability in response to external changes
• What does exercise do to homeostasis?

  Perturb or stress it's condition
• Load


  A weight or source pressure by someone or something
• How is a load applied?

  To a human's biological system over varying time periods with varying magnitude
• Heart Rate Monitor


  - Most used/analyzed

  - Tells us cardiovascular demand
• Physiological Measures


  1. Heart Rate

  2. Oxygen Consumption

  3. Blood Lactate
• Subjective Measures


  1. RPE

  2. Questionnaires