Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / John A. Harrington, Jr. / Clearly, the character of the relationship between humans and their environment has changed over time. Scholars have developed a geologic timeline and a timeline for life, but there is not a human-environment timeline. The proposed new geologic epoch of the Anthropocene is inadequate for encapsulating the diversity of the human-environment relationship throughout history and prehistory. This dissertation initiates conversation about developing an official human-environment timeline. Oriented from the perspective of a geographer, this exploratory research involved the qualitative analysis of human-environment events and ideas from a series of four geographic encyclopedias. A human-environment timeline emerged from this research, as well as a hierarchical typology of time periods: durations, duration revolutions, scenes, scene transitions, and intervals. The timeline was then interpreted according to four “ways of knowing”: normal science, cultural ecology, political ecology, and humanistic geography. This research supports inquiry into how time periods can be employed to better understand and communicate the human-environment relationship through time.

Introduction: The present study describes a 3 year model for physical training of young female football players. The aim was to investigate and describe how systematical training based upon The Spinal Engine Theory and periodisation of training over time could increase the players’ physical statues, hence prepare them for increased loading over time associated with elite football. Method: 12 out of 28 players completed 3 years of periodised training including annual plans of preparatory, competitive and transition phases. A testbattery including flexibility, stability, maximum strength and power tests was performed annually. Results: A significant increase in both maximum strength and power over time was visible using ANOVA within subjects tests. Post Hoc tests indicated that the change was visible after only one year and the trend continued. Discussion: The results and the model can aid future discussion regarding coaching education and loading of young players. Along with further research regarding psychological aspects as well the material can serve as a basis for how clubs can create a better support structure around our young players. / Den aktuella studien beskriver en 3 årig modell för fysisk träning av unga kvinnliga fotbollsspelare. Syftet var att undersöka och beskriva hur systematisk träning baserad på The Spinal Motor Theory och periodisering av träning över tid skulle kunna öka spelarnas fysiska status, därmed bättre förbereda dem för ökad belastning över tid och förbereda dem för kommande elitfotboll. 12 av 28 spelare genomgick hela 3 åriga modellen som inkluderade årlig periodiserad träning innehållande förberedande, tävling och övergångsfaser. Ett testbatteri som inkluderade flexibilitet, stabilitet, maxstyrka och power tester utfördes årligen. En betydande ökning av både maximal styrka och power över tiden var synlig vid analys av ANOVA (within-subject) tester. Post hoc tester visade att förändringen var synlig efter bara ett år och trenden fortsatte under kommande 2 år. Resultaten kan bidra till framtida diskussioner kring tränarutbildning och riktlinjer kring belastning av unga spelare. Tillsammans med vidare forksning kring psykologiska aspekter kan materialet ses som ett underlag för hur klubbar kan arbeta för att skapa en bättre stödstruktur kring våra unga spelare.

The purposes of this dissertation were to examine the effect of a protein and carbohydrate recovery beverage versus a placebo on weightlifting performance, its effect on muscle morphological changes and specific muscle protein accretion. The following are major finding from the dissertation: 1) Protein and carbohydrate recovery supplementation does not appear to have influence on performance measure in trained weightlifters. This finding may be associated with the short-term nature of this study and the trained population used. 2) Compared with placebo, a protein and carbohydrate beverage provided greater benefits on cross sectional area of type I and type II muscle fibers. Additionally, the block periodization protocol incorporating phase potentiation improved cross sectional area of both groups compared to baseline. 3) Finally, protein and carbohydrate supplementation provided greater benefits on total mTOR and myosin heavy chains 6 & 7. These findings indicate that a protein and carbohydrate beverage provide greater benefits compared with a placebo on cellular signaling, myosin heavy gene expression and muscle fiber increases in trained weightlifters. Improved cross sectional area and increased myosin heavy chains indicate positive adaptations to resistance training combined with supplementation and may indicate improved skeletal muscle qualities necessary for increased power output. The mTOR pathway is the master regulator of cellular growth and increases in total mTOR indicate a greater proclivity for cellular growth and greater activity resulting from resistance training may increase synthesis and accretion of muscle contractile proteins. This dissertation highlighted several benefits of recovery supplementation, however further longitudinal studies utilizing block periodization and well-trained athletes are necessary to fully elucidate benefits for strength and power athletes.

Fifteen well-trained males, mid-thigh pull peak force (IPF 4403.61 ± 664.69N) and isometric peak force allometrically scaled (IPFa 226.04 ± 25.81) were assigned to two groups: repetition maximum training (RM) and relative intensity training (RI) for a twelve-week training intervention. The main effect of time showed a statistically significant difference in mean sprint performance and IPFa at the different time points (p < 0.001). There was a larger magnitude of within-subject effect with respect to sprint performance pre – post with the RI group (ES = 1.06, 7.19%) as compared to the RM group (ES = 0.567, 4.23%, p < 0.001), as well as a larger magnitude of within-subject effect with respect to IPFa pre – post with the RI group (ES = 0.426, 7.51%) as compared to the RM group (ES = 0.270, 13.29%). Furthermore, there was a non-statistically significant, moderate between-group difference in the change in IPFa from pre-post in favor of the RI group (ES=.75), and a large between-group difference in the change in sprint performance pre-post in favor of the RI group (ES=1.50). Results lead investigators to suggest the utilization of RI training tactics for the development of sprint performance when minimal sprint skill training is available.

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Relevance of the topic. Lithuania is not a large country and sports talents are not emerging very often. It does not depend on the social or economic situation of the country (Schnabel et al., 1994; Cedaro, 2000; Carling et al., 2009). When giving the opportunity for the talent to achieve positive results in sports, the talented personalities have to be selected, the purposeful training program has to be concluded as well as the monitoring of the practical implementation of the program has to be performed (Regnier et al., 1993; Durand-Bush, Salmela, 2001; Abernethy, 2008; Vaeyens et al., 2008; Bailey et al., 2010; Burgess, Naughton, 2010; Philips et al., 2010; Ford et al., 2011). Therefore it is very important that the training of the athletes has to be conceptualized, so a small quantity of the talented athletes is developed as optimally as possible. Inaccurate training system prevents the athletes from revealing their own potential. Thus, only the consistent sports training system shall stimulate a more rapid improvement of the sports results, as it is harder to identify a talent than to develop it (Balyi, Hamilton, 1999; Raslanas, 2001; Malina et al., 2004; Balyi, Williams, 2009; Stafford, 2010). It was considered for a long time that success in sports depends solely on the athletes, who are physically strong and developed tactically (Krasilshchikov, 2011), however, due to increase of the competition between athletes (De Bosscher et al., 2006) and major political and... [to full text] / Temos aktualumas. Lietuva – nedidelė valstybė, kurioje sporto talentai iškyla ne taip dažnai. Tai nepriklauso nuo šalies socialinės ar ekonominės padėties (Schnabel et al., 1994; Cedaro, 2000; Carling et al., 2009). Norint išugdyti talentingą sportininką, siekiantį didelių sportinių rezultatų, reikia atrinkti gabias asmenybes, sudaryti kryptingą rengimo programą ir nuosekliai ją įgyvendinti praktikoje (Regnier et al., 1993; Durand-Bush, Salmela, 2001; Abernethy, 2008; Vaeyens et al., 2008; Bailey et al., 2010; Burgess, Naughton, 2010; Philips et al., 2010; Ford et al., 2011). Todėl labai aktualu konceptualizuoti sportininkų rengimą ir taikyti optimalius talentingų sportininkų ugdymo metodus. Netiksli rengimo sistema neleidžia sportininkams iki galo atskleisti savo galimybių, o nuosekli sportinio rengimo sistema gali paspartinti sportinių rezultatų gerėjimą, padėti atrasti talentą ir jį išugdyti (Balyi, Hamilton, 1999; Raslanas, 2001; Malina et al., 2004; Balyi, Williams, 2009; Stafford, 2010). Daugelį metų buvo manoma, kad didelių sportinių laimėjimų gali pasiekti tik fiziškai stiprūs ir gerai taktiškai pasirengę sportininkai (Krasilshchikov, 2011), tačiau vis didėjant konkurencijai tarp sportininkų (De Bosscher et. al., 2006) ir stiprėjant sporto sektoriaus politinei bei komercinei reikšmei (Green, Oakley, 2001) kyla būtinybė kurti kiekvienos sporto šakos daugiamečio rengimo programas (Balyi, Hamilton, 2004; Balyi, Williams, 2009; Stafford, 2010). Jaunųjų sportininkų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]