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.

No description available.

No description available.

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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.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine mean arterial pressure (MAP) and regional vascular conductance responses in young and aged Fisher-344 rats during orthostatic stress, i.e., 70° head-up tilt (HUT). Both groups demonstrated directionally different changes in MAP during HUT (young, 7% increase; aged, 7% decrease). Vascular conductance during HUT in young rats decreased in most tissues but largely remained unchanged in the aged animals. Based on the higher vascular conductance of white adipose tissue from aged rats during HUT, resistance arteries from white visceral fat were isolated and studied in vitro. There was diminished maximal vasoconstriction to phenylephrine and norepinephrine (NE: young, 42 ± 5%; old, 18 ± 6%) in adipose resistance arteries from aged rats. These results demonstrate that aging reduces the ability to maintain MAP during orthostatic stress, and this is associated with a diminished vasoconstriction of adipose resistance arteries. With advancing age the ability to tolerate orthostatic stress (17, 22) and perform exercise (11, 15, 34) is reduced. One possible mechanism for these age-related changes is a diminished arterial vasoconstrictor responsiveness, which could impair redistribution of cardiac output during exercise and limit reductions in vascular conductance during orthostasis. The ability to diminish vascular conductance in nonactive tissue is requisite during orthostasis to maintain mean arterial pressure (MAP) and sustain adequate brain perfusion. However, whether regional vascular conductance during orthostasis is altered by aging remains unknown. Head-up tilt (HUT) has been utilized extensively to study cardiovascular system responsiveness to orthostatic stress in humans and animals (8, 13, 14, 16, 26, 31). Postural changes from the supine position to the upright posture elicit a blood volume shift from the thoracic cavity to the lower limbs (29), which results in reduced venous return and, subsequently, decreased stroke volume. The resultant decrease in cardiac output must be offset by a decrease in peripheral vascular conductance (PVC) to maintain arterial blood pressure (29). Since there is a greater incidence of orthostatic hypotension with advancing age (16, 25, 31, 38), the primary purpose of the present study was to determine whether a diminished ability to maintain MAP during an orthostatic stress is manifest in aged Fischer-344 rats and to identify whether alterations in regional vascular conductance correspond to a putative orthostatic hypotension. Specifically, we hypothesized that with HUT, aged animals will demonstrate a diminished vasoconstriction in some tissues, as evidenced by higher blood flows and vascular conductance relative to that in young adult rats. The results indicated an inability of old rats to diminish vascular conductance in several tissues, including white adipose tissue, during HUT. Therefore, a secondary purpose was to test the hypothesis that aging diminishes myogenic and adrenergic vasoconstriction of resistance vessels from white visceral adipose tissue. The results from this series of experiments may indicate an underlying mechanism for the old age-related orthostatic intolerance. Given that adipose tissue makes up a greater proportion of body composition with aging in rats (7) and humans (1), a reduced vasoconstriction of resistance vessels from this tissue could have significant ramifications on the ability to decrease peripheral vascular conductance during orthostatic challenges and with exercise among the elderly.