Assessing Athletic Motor Skill Competencies in Youths: A Narrative Review of Movement Competency Screens
Leading health organizations and long-term athletic development models have identified the need to develop movement competencies in children and adolescents. The athletic motor skill competencies (AMSCs) have been identified as key skills that form the foundations of all athletic movements. The AMSCs form an integral part of the long-term athletic development of youth, and improving these qualities should be central to coaches working with young individuals. Multiple movement competency screens assess some aspects of the AMSC spectrum, but there is no consensus regarding which screens may be most appropriate for a given co...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Considerations for the Physical Preparation of Freestyle Snowboarding Athletes
This article, therefore, offers practitioners strategies to address the unique considerations surrounding cultural qualities, injury prevention, unstable surface training, skill acquisition, and recovery strategies for the effective implementation of strength and conditioning interventions for snowboarding athletes. (Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal)
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Article Source Type: research
A Review of Striking Force in Full-Contact Combat Sport Athletes: Methods of Assessment
With striking force playing such a critical role in the success of full-contact combat sports such as mixed martial arts, taekwondo, and boxing, coaches and scientists must be able to track this performance metric accurately and reliably. This review will cover practitioner understanding of key kinetic variables used in the assessment of striking important concepts relating to the validity, reliability, and reporting of meaningful performance changes in the assessment process, a critique of the methods used to monitor changes in striking forces, and provide practical recommendations for practitioners in the field. This und...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Effect of Active Recovery Protocols on the Management of Symptoms Related to Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review
Active recovery offers an efficient method to relieve delayed onset muscle soreness and recover from exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). The main aim of this systematic review is to identify and compare different active recovery protocols after EIMD. Six databases were searched, and 17 eligible studies were selected. Results showed alleviation of soreness, prevention of muscle strength loss, improvement in flexibility, and a decrease in inflammation after one or more recovery protocols such as isolated muscle contractions, aqua exercise, yoga, and combined jogging and running. A better strategy should focus on preventio...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
An Agility Training Continuum for Team Sports: From Cones and Ladders to Small-Sided Games
Agility is a key and complex concept within team sports performance. Because of its multidimensional nature, agility benefits from perceptual and cognitive skills as well as physical capacity (e.g., ability to exert acceleration, deceleration, and changes of direction). Agility should be integrated in different and complementary ways in team sports training. From more analytical to more ecological tasks, there is a need to comprehend the respective adaptations and identify how to integrate such a spectrum and, eventually, combine them in the training process and manage it accordingly to the player's needs. Based on this pr...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Article Source Type: research
Practical Strategies for Integrating Strength and Conditioning Into Early Specialization Sports
Early sport specialization involves physically immature children participating in intensive year-round training and/or competition for a single sport. The lack of sport exposure and diversification during the developmental years may underlie the increased risk of overuse injuries, blunting of motor skill development, psychosocial issues, overtraining syndrome, burnout, and potential dropout from sport. With increasing number of youth choosing, or being encouraged, to specialize at an early age, we aim to provide evidence-based recommendations for the integration of strength and conditioning into the development programs of...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Multidirectional Speed in Youth Soccer Players: Theoretical Underpinnings
This review provides a definition for multidirectional speed (MDS) and evaluates its technical and mechanical underpinnings. This review explores each component of MDS while considering unique aspects of youth physiology and epidemiology. With a theoretical understanding of MDS, practitioners will be more informed on the planning and periodization of MDS training methods in soccer. MDS comprises linear speed, change of direction speed, curvilinear speed, contextual speed, and agility, which each have distinct physiological, biomechanical, and neurocognitive distinctions that can either be differentiated or harmonized to op...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Strength Training for Long-Distance Triathletes: Theory to Practice
Concurrent training, commonly acknowledged as a training method where strength and endurance training are completed complementary to each other, is a strategy often implemented in endurance cyclists' and runners' programs to improve physiological determinants of success such as exercise economy. Although concurrent training methods and strategies have been examined to a large extent in endurance cyclists and runners, literature examining optimal concurrent training methods to improve physiological variables in long-distance triathletes is minimal, leaving optimal programming relatively unknown. This practical applications ...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - February 1, 2022 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
The Challenge of Managing Stress Versus Distress
Being aware of factors that contribute to stress that can lead to “distress” is the first step in optimizing an athlete's environment for optimal training and performance. Distress is the body's inability to successfully cope with external stressors. Whether from a physical perspective of “too much too soon” or nonfunctional overreaching in a conditioning program or from environmental challenges of heat or from psychological challenges related to depression, awareness, assessment, and actions are needed to ensure an athlete's health and wellness. Factors such as nutritional deficiencies and reduced recovery between...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Inside the Box Source Type: research
Occupational Challenges to the Development and Maintenance of Physical Fitness Within Law Enforcement Officers
Law enforcement officers must perform physically demanding tasks as part of their job duties. Consequently, law enforcement officers must possess an adequate level of physical fitness to perform these activities safely and effectively. Ironically, most of an officer's shift time is sedentary. This, in addition to other occupational challenges, may make it difficult for officers to develop and maintain fitness across the occupational life span. This is concerning when considering that physical fitness is associated with their occupational task performance. In this column, the unique challenges law enforcement officers exper...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Special Populations Source Type: research
Strength and Conditioning Program Design Considerations for Law Enforcement Officers
Many essential occupational tasks performed by law enforcement officers are physically demanding. There are numerous challenges with developing and maintaining physical fitness within this population. These challenges can lead to a steady decline in health and fitness over the occupational life span and have a devastating impact on officer safety and wellness. The purpose of this column is to discuss physical training program considerations when working with law enforcement professionals and provide potential solutions to these barriers. (Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal)
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: One on One Source Type: research
Green Tea and Black Tea for Exercise Recovery: A Systematic Review
The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effect of green tea and black tea supplementation on exercise recovery indicated by oxidative stress, inflammation, muscle damage, and muscle function. An online search was conducted using PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and CINAHL. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed, randomized controlled trials with parallel or crossover design including healthy participants that received acute or chronic supplementation with green tea or black tea, independently or in combination, taken before, during, or after exercise. Sixteen studies were included with a total of 375 trained or untra...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Understanding the Scientific Evidence and Regulatory State of the U.S. Dietary Supplement Industry: Considerations for Health and Fitness Practitioners
As dietary supplement use and the supplement industry continue to grow, practitioners in the health and fitness field are often asked by patients and clients for advice on dietary supplement use. Finding scientifically sound and unbiased information to disseminate can prove challenging because dietary supplement utilization and supplement claims are not regulated in the same manner as medications. This narrative review briefly summarizes the dietary supplement industry's state, including the applicable regulation and government oversight, and provides official position statements on dietary supplement utilization. Current ...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
Effects of Ammonia Inhalants in Humans: A Review of the Current Literature Regarding the Benefits, Risks, and Efficacy
Ammonium inhalants (AIs) are used to improve athletic performance, but their use has preceded the research process. Oftentimes, strength-based athletes use AIs to postpone acute fatigue or increase arousal. Despite the widespread use of AIs, the amount of research examining its physiological effects, efficacy, and safety is low compared with other ergogenic aids that have been extensively researched. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to provide sports science researchers, strength and conditioning professionals, medical professionals, and other practitioners with the most up to date information about the benefits, r...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Review Source Type: research
The 20-m Multistage Fitness Test and 2.4-km Run: Applications to Law Enforcement Fitness Assessment
Aerobic fitness tests are common in testing protocols for law enforcement candidates, recruits, and officers because of the importance of aerobic fitness for academy survivability and job task performance. Two popular tests are the 2.4-km run and 20-m multistage fitness test (20MSFT). The differences, strengths, and limitations for both tests are discussed in this article, with a focus on the pacing required in each test. The 2.4-km run typically uses an internal pacing strategy, while the 20MSFT features an external pacing strategy because of the audible beeps that increase the running speed in the test. For the 2.4-km ru...
Source: Strength and Conditioning Journal - December 1, 2021 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Article Source Type: research
