Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-47). / vii, 77 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105). / x, 105 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-28). / ix, 77 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 99 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

While warm-up is one of the more generally accepted elements of the strength and conditioning portfolio, direct evidence as to its optimal application in enhancing sports performance is sparse. Today, there is a trend to look at warm-up as performance preparation (Jeffreys, 2007a, Verstegen, 2004), with the aim of maximising performance from the outset of, and throughout, competition and training. Given that the majority of team sports can involve high intensity exercise from the start, then a warm-up needs to be able to ensure that athletes are capable of maximal performance at the outset of a game, and do not have to use the first minutes of a game to progress to a point where they are capable of maximal performance. Performance has been shown to be optimised by theinclusion of high intensity activities in warm-up procedures (Faigenbaum, et al., 2005; Burkett, et al., 2005). However, while warm-up procedures are common, there is great variability in their application, and the inclusion of high intensity activities is not uniform (Jeffreys, 2007b). For this reason, many team sport warm-ups may not currently be optimal in terms of optimising speed and power performance. Indeed, the trend is currently for team sport warm-ups to become very skill based, and the inclusion of maximal intensity exercises may be on the decline rather than being increased. Jeffreys, (2007b) has previously asserted that all warm-ups should consist of a potentiation phase, over and above a general phase. This potentiation phase should consist of a progressive series of exercises, until maximum effort is achieved. Additionally, Tillin and Bishop, (2009) have suggested that post activation potentiation (PAP) may provide a mechanism by which a super-maximal performance can be achieved via the use of a carefully selected and applied pre-conditioning activity. While previous studies have indicated the potential of PAP to enhance factors affecting power performance, such as the rate offeree development, studies on the direct effects on performance are limited, and the conclusions mixed (Tillin and Bishop, 2009). This series of studies addressed this lack of research, and investigated the application of warm-up methods to the acute enhancement of performance. To maximise the benefits of these studies to coaching practice, specific measures of performance were selected as the dependent variable throughout, so that all conclusions drawn could be applied directly to performance. Similarly, competing athletes were selected as subjects for all studies, and all studies were carried out in the athlete's training environment to maximise ecological validity and to ensure transferability of the results directly into enhancing sports performance. The results of study one clearly support the use of a potentiation phase in warm-up. Investigating the effects of three warm-up protocols (general, sprint potentiated and jump potentiated) on 10 metre sprint performance, significantly superior (p<0.05) 10 metre sprint scores were found with a potentiated warm-up (both jump and sprint) than were achieved via general warm-up alone. It also supported the specific nature of PAP with sprint potentiation able to elicit significantly (p<0.05) superior sprint performance than a jump potentiated warm-up. Studies 2-6 looked at the potential of exploiting PAP based protocols, as an addition to a basic potentiation phase within a warm-up. A range of methods were used that worked on either a kinematic basis where biomechanically similar movement patters were loaded (loaded CMJ's, sprint resisted running and sprint assisted running) or a kinetic basis where high forces were elicited (squats, MVC's). The results of these studies showed no significant (p>0.05) benefit of any of these activities on either sprint or jump performance. These studies evaluated the acute effects of sprint resisted running, sprint assisted running, loaded jumps, maximal voluntary contractions and heavy squats superimposed onto the warm-up protocol of study 1 on speed and/or jump performance. No significant performance enhancements were found in any of the studies, indicating that none had the potential to acutely enhance performance. In conclusion, the results of these studies recommend that all warm-ups include apotentiation phase, where a series of specific exercises are increased in intensity until maximum intensity is achieved. The use of additional activities, aimed to induce an additional PAP based effect on subsequent enhanced performance cannot be recommended for warm-ups for youth athletes.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the attentional focus strategies used by triathletes during the three stages of an Olympic distance triathlon, (b) if level of experience influences the attentional focus strategies used by triathletes, and (c) whether there is a relationship between athletes finishing times and the attentional strategies used in each stage of the race. Triathletes (N = 160) completed the Triathlon Attentional Focus Inventory, which measured association and dissociation during the swim, bike, and run. One-way ANOVAs revealed significant differences between the athletes' level of experience and the attentional strategies used, as well as differences between the athletes overall race time and the attentional strategies used during each stage of the triathlon. Athletes with more experience associated more during the race, whereas athletes with less experience dissociated more throughout the race.

While many studies have examined the effects of mental training programs on anxiety and concentration as they pertain to performance, none have examined the effects simultaneously as they relate to performance. Few studies have examined mental training programs, especially individualized mental imagery scripts, as they relate to the athlete's attentional profile and level of trait anxiety. The purpose of this study was to determine if a mental training program alters attentional profiles and trait anxiety. Additionally, this study determined if a mental training program had a transfer effect on performance. The following null hypotheses were examined: 1) There would not be a significant difference in attentional profiles before or after a mental training program; 2) there would not be a significant difference in trait anxiety scores before or after a mental training program; 3) there would not be a significant difference in an athlete's performance before or after a mental training program. The subjects (N = 20) in this study were comprised of Ball State University Women's Softball members. The age range of the subjects was between 18 and 23. The instruments used in this study were the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Styles Self-Assessment (TAIS-SA) (Nideffer, 1980) for attentional styles and the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) (Martens, 1977) for competitive traitanxiety. Batting performance was recorded by the investigator as the subjects took batting practice (from a pitching machine) during the normal course of practice. Each subject was given a log sheet and was asked to keep a record of the number of times she used the mental training program per week. This study was a pretest, posttest design, and dependent t-tests (p < .05) were calculated for the six subscales of the TAIS, the SCAT, and performance. There was a statistically significant difference from the pretest to the posttest on the levels of anxiety as measured by the SCAT and on hitting performance. While all scores on the six subscales of the TAIS-SA changed, they were not statistically significant. / School of Physical Education

Running economy is well established as a primary determinant of endurance running performance. However, there is a lack of clarity about the preferred measurement of running economy, its primary limiting factors and the most robust methods enhance running economy in highly trained athletes. Therefore, this thesis investigated the running economy of highly trained runners, exploring the reliability and validity of measures of running economy to deduce its most appropriate quantification, the application of innovative methods to enhance our understanding of an athlete s running economy, and a novel training method to enhance running economy. Chapter 3 revealed that energy cost and oxygen cost were shown to provide similarly high levels of reliability (typical error of measurement ~3%) for highly trained endurance runners when assessed using a short-duration incremental submaximal exercise protocol. In chapter 4, the analysis of a large cohort of highly trained endurance runners revealed that energy cost increased in a stepwise manner with increments in running speed (P<0.001), however oxygen cost remained consistent (P=0.54) across running speed; indicating that oxygen cost might not be an appropriate measure of running economy. Chapter 5 demonstrated that the inter-individual variation in the magnitude of changes in energy cost between different gradients (i.e. from flat running to uphill/downhill running) in highly trained runners was low. However, a disparity between the energy saving of running on a -5% gradient (-17%) and the additional energy cost of running on a +5% gradient (+32%) was evident. The cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of a large cohort of highly trained runners in chapter 6 revealed a small (r=0.25) and moderate (r=0.35) association between energy cost and maximal oxygen uptake, respectively. Finally, chapter 7 demonstrated that eight weeks of supplementary downhill run training at vLTP in existing training programmes does not enhance running economy in already well trained runners (1.22 vs 1.20 kcal kg-1 km-1; P=0.41), despite a significant increase (+2.4%) in the velocity at lactate turnpoint. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that energy cost, expressed as kcal kg-1 km-1, provides a reliable and valid method to quantify running economy in trained distance runners. However, further investigation is required to identify robust training methods to enhance running economy in this already highly trained population.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education