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PURPOSE: Controlling and monitoring volume load (VL) and training intensity (TI) is essential to managing injuries, fatigue and the recovery-adaptation process in competitive athletes. Conventional calculations of VL (sets x reps x load) and TI (VL/reps) give no consideration to barbell displacement during resistance training exercises. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the inclusion of displacement in VL and TI calculations would provide substantial benefits over conventional calculations of VL and TI. METHODS: Eight trained weightlifters (5 male, 3 females, 173.6 cm and 88.6 kg), 7 of which were national level, participated in the study. For each subject, a V-scope 120 was used to measure the concentric phase displacement of 24 different exercises performed during the study. VL, TI, VL with displacement (VLwD) and TI with displacement (TIwD) were calculated on a daily basis (VLwD= VL x displacement, TIwD = VLwD/reps). Loads and repetition counts were recorded for each exercise performed over 21 weeks of training which allowed for the calculation of VL, VLwD, TI and TIwD across several training phases. RESULTS: VL correlated strongly to VLwD (r=0.98) while TI also correlated strongly with TIwD (r=0.88). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that if exercise selection remains consistent, measuring VL and TI without displacement can illustrate workloads similar to measuring VL and TI while factoring in displacement.

Athlete monitoring and proper strength and conditioning should serve not only to manage fatigue and increase athletic performance but decrease injury rates as well. In cooperation with the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Sport Science Program, the Sports Performance Enhancement Consortium (SPEC) provides athlete monitoring and strength & conditioning services to ETSU Athletics. Since October 2008, the SPEC program has provided evidence based monitoring and strength and conditioning (S&C) services to ETSU baseball. This represents the first investigation of the potential for the SPEC program to influence injury rates among Division I athletes at ETSU. The number of spring season game-time injuries and athletic exposures were determined for ETSU baseball during the 7-year period from 2004-2010. Injuries were classified as Game-Time Injury (GTI) and/or Training Related Game-Time Injury (TRGTI). In order to qualify as a GTI, the injury must have occurred during and as a direct result of playing in a game. GTIs include contact and non-contact injuries. Injuries that may have been influenced by the strength and conditioning program were classified as TRGTI. During spring seasons from 2004-2010, these injuries included strains, sprains, dislocations (non-contact), inflammation, and impingements. Classification as a TRGTI required all of the following criteria to be fulfilled, 1) the injury must have occurred during and as a direct result of playing in a game, 2) the injury must not result from contact, 3) the injury must have been potentially related to and/or prevented through training. For the purposes of this investigation, only injuries sustained during spring season games were considered. A single athletic exposure (A-E) was defined as 1 athlete participating in 1 competition where the potential for injury existed and was not dependent upon the length of time an athlete participated in the competition. For the purposes of this investigation, only A-Es occurring during spring season games were considered. A-Es for practice sessions were not available. Injury rate is defined as the number of injuries divided by the number of A-Es. In this investigation, injury rate is expressed at injuries per 100 A-Es. Since ETSU Baseball injury data is available for the last seven spring seasons, and only two seasons have included SPEC involvement, a description of total injuries and injury rates can be provided. Of the 7 seasons reported, the 2009 and 2010 spring seasons were associated with the lowest GTI, TRGTI and game-time injuries (total injuries and training related injuries) and lowest injury rates (total injury rate and training related injury rate). During the spring 2010 season, not a single TRGTI was reported. If significant injury reductions can be achieved through the SPEC program over a broad range of sports, it may suggest that programs similar to SPEC could be used in sport at a variety of levels to increase performance and reduce injury rates and decrease the costs associated with the treatment of sport related injuries.

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Abstract available in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Abstract available in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

No description available.

Cerebral hypoxia has been proposed as a mechanism by which prenatal ethanol exposure causes fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in children, but no study had tested this hypothesis using a chronic exposure model that mimicks a common human exposure pattern. Pregnant sheep were exposed to ethanol, 0.75 or 1.75 g kg−1 (to create blood ethanol concentrations of 85 and 185 mg dl−1, respectively), or saline 3 days per week in succession (a ‘binge drinking’ model) from gestational day (GD) 109 until GD 132. Fetuses were instrumented on GD 119–120 and studied on GD 132. The 1.75 g kg−1 dose resulted in a significant increase in fetal biventricular output (measured by radiolabelled microsphere technique) and heart rate, and a reduction of mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance at 1 h, the end of ethanol infusion. The arterial partial pressure of CO2 was increased, arterial pH was decreased and arterial partial pressure of O2 did not change. Fetal whole‐brain blood flow increased by 37% compared with the control group at 1 h, resulting in increased cerebral oxygen delivery. The elevation in brain blood flow was region specific, occurring preferentially in the ethanol‐sensitive cerebellum, increasing by 44% compared with the control group at 1 h. There were no changes in the lower dose group. Assessment of regional differences in the teratogenic effects of ethanol by stereological cell‐counting technique showed a reduced number of cerebellar Purkinje cells in response to the 1.75 g kg−1 dose compared with the control brains. However, no such differences in neuronal numbers were observed in the hippocampus or the olfactory bulb. We conclude that repeated exposure to moderate doses of ethanol during the third trimester alters fetal cerebral vascular function and increases blood flow in brain regions that are vulnerable to ethanol in the presence of acidaemia and hypercapnia, and in the absence of hypoxia.