Training & Conditioning 14.6

September 2004 Vol. XIV, No. 6 $5.00

More Than a Fad Using Pilates for Rehab ◆ Agility for HS Athletes ◆ New Ideas in

Nutrition Education

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CONTENTS

P.21

Training & Conditioning • September 2004 • Vol. XIV, No. 6

F E AT U R E S ◆ Tr e a t i n g t h e A t h l e t e ◆

More Than a Fad..........14 Pilates has taken the fitness world by storm, but it may also have a place in the athletic training room. This article explains how Pilates techniques can be implemented into a traditional rehab program.

By Christine Romani-Ruby ◆ Optimum Performance ◆

High School Moves..........21 By now, coaches understand that agility is an important component of athletic achievement in most sports. But how do you begin to train agility at the high school level?

By Vern Gambetta

P.27

◆ Nutrition ◆

Fun with Food Coloring..........27 A look at some of the newest ideas in educating your athletes about sports nutrition (including color-coding their food choices).

By Greg Scholand ◆ Management ◆

Delegate, Congregate, Educate ..........37 These three activities should constitute your fall gameplan for a sound staff development strategy.

By Guillermo Metz

P.37

D E PA R T M E N T S ◆ Sideline ◆

Nutrition on the Road..........3 ◆ Nutrition Roundup ◆

Research from the ISSN..........4

By Christopher Mohr ◆ C o m e b a c k A t h l e t e Aw a r d ◆

This Issue’s Winner..........8 Nomination Form..........13

P.42

◆ Competitive Edge ◆

Sticks and Weights..........42 Short, but intense, workouts have helped Wake Forest win the past two NCAA Division I field hockey titles.

By Mike Tolloti Advertisers Directory..........58 Nutritional Products..........50 Pilates Equipment Spotlight..........54 Web News..........55 Leg Strengthening..........56 More Products..........62 Catalog Showcase..........63

CEU Quiz: Now also for NSCA credits..........64

On the cover: At California University of Pennsylvania, Christine Romani-Ruby, MPT, ATC, helps a football athlete rehab using Pilates.

Story begins on page 14. Photo by David Savarino.

Great Ideas For Athletes...

TRAINING & CONDITIONING • September 2004 • Vol. XIV, No. 6

Editorial Board Marjorie Albohm, MS, ATC/L Director of Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Research, Orthopaedics Indianapolis Jon Almquist, ATC Specialist, Fairfax County (Va.) Pub. Schools Athletic Training Program Brian Awbrey, MD Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Instructor in Orthopaedics, Harvard Medical School Jim Berry, MEd, ATC, SCAT/EMT-B Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer, Myrtle Beach (S.C.) High School Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD Director, Sports Medicine Nutrition Program, University of Pittsburgh Medical Ctr. Health System Christine Bonci, MS, ATC Asst. A.D. for Sports Medicine, Women’s Athletics, University of Texas Cynthia “Sam” Booth, ATC, PhD Manager, Outpatient Therapy and Sportsmedicine, MeritCare Health System

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Debra Brooks, CNMT, LMT, PhD CEO, Iowa NeuroMuscular Therapy Center Cindy Chang, MD Head Team Physician, University of California-Berkeley Dan Cipriani, MEd, PT Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physical Therapy, Medical College of Ohio Gray Cook, MSPT, OCS, CSCS Clinic Director, Orthopedic & Sports Phys. Ther., Dunn, Cook, and Assoc.

Bernie DePalma, MEd, PT, ATC Head Athl. Trainer/Phys. Therapist, Cornell University Lori Dewald, EdD, ATC, CHES Athletic Training Program Director and Associate Professor of Health Education, University of Minnesota-Duluth Jeff Dilts Director, Business Development & Marketing, National Academy of Sports Medicine David Ellis, RD, LMNT, CSCS Sports Alliance, Inc. Boyd Epley, MEd, CSCS Asst. A.D. & Dir. of Athletic Perf., University of Nebraska Peter Friesen, ATC, NSCA-CPT, CSCS, CAT, Head Ath. Trainer/ Cond. Coach, Carolina Hurricanes

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Brian Goodstein, MS, ATC, CSCS, Head Athletic Trainer, DC United

Vern Gambetta, MA Director of Athletic Development, New York Mets Joe Gieck, EdD, ATC, PT Director of Sports Medicine and Prof., Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Virginia

Request No. 101 2 ◆ T&C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆ A T H L E T I C B I D . C O M

Gary Gray, PT President, CEO, Functional Design Systems

Publisher Mark Goldberg Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel

Maria Hutsick, MS, ATC/L, CSCS Head Athletic Trainer, Boston University

Circulation Director Mark Shea

Christopher Ingersoll, PhD, ATC, FACSM Director, Graduate Programs in Sports Medicine/Athletic Training University of Virginia

Associate & Assistant Editors R.J. Anderson Dennis Read Kenny Berkowitz Greg Scholand David Hill Laura Smith

Jeff Konin, MEd, ATC, MPT Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine, James Madison University Tim McClellan, MS, CSCS Director of Perf. Enhancement, Makeplays.com Center for Human Performance Michael Merk, MEd, CSCS Director of Health & Fitness, YMCA of Greater Cleveland Jenny Moshak, MS, ATC, CSCS Asst. A.D. for Sports Medicine, University of Tennessee Steve Myrland, CSCS Owner, Manager, Perf. Coach, Myrland Sports Training, LLC Instructor and Consultant, University of Wisconsin Sports Medicine

Art Directors Karen Ires Suzanne Lynch Production Manager Kristin Ayers Assistant Production Manager Kristi Kempf Production Assistant Jonni Campbell Prepress Manager Adam Berenstain Prepress Assistant Steve Rokitka IT Manager Mark Nye Business Manager Pennie Small

Mike Nitka, MS, CSCS Director of Human Performance, Muskego (Wisc.) High School

Special Projects Dave Wohlhueter

Bruno Pauletto, MS, CSCS President, Power Systems, Inc.

Administrative Assistant Sharon Barbell

Stephen Perle, DC, CCSP Associate Prof. of Clin. Sciences, University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic Brian Roberts, MS, ATC Director, Sport Performance & Rehab. Ctr. Ellyn Robinson, DPE, CSCS, CPT Assistant Professor, Exercise Science Program, Bridgewater State College Kent Scriber, EdD, ATC, PT Professor/Supervisor of Athletic Training, Ithaca College

Advertising Materials Coordinator Mike Townsend Advertising Sales Associates Diedra Harkenrider (607) 257-6970, ext. 24 Sheryl Shaffer (607) 257-6970, ext. 21 T&C editorial/business offices: 2488 N. Triphammer Road Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 257-6970 Fax: (607) 257-7328 info@MomentumMedia.com

Chip Sigmon, CSCS Strength and Conditioning Coach, Carolina Medical Center Bonnie J. Siple, MS, ATC Coordinator, Athletic Training Education Program & Services, Slippery Rock University Chad Starkey, PhD, ATC Associate Professor, Athletic Training Educ. Program, Northeastern University Ralph Stephens, LMT, NCTMB Sports Massage Therapist, Ralph Stephens Seminars Fred Tedeschi, ATC Head Athletic Trainer, Chicago Bulls Terrence Todd, PhD Co-Director, Todd-McLean Physical Culture Collection, Dept. of Kinesiology & Health Ed., University of Texas-Austin

Training & Conditioning (ISSN 1058-3548) is published monthly except in January and February, May and June, and July and August, which are bimonthly issues, for a total of nine times a year, by MAG, Inc., 2488 N. Triphammer Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850.

T&C is distributed without charge to qualified professionals involved with competitive athletes. The subscription rate is $24 for one year and $48 for two years in the United States, and $30 for one year and $60 for two years in Canada. The single copy price is $5.

Copyright© 2004 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Training & Conditioning, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, NY 14852-4806.

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Five Tips for Eating Well On the Road Suzanne Nelson Steen, D.Sc.,R.D. Eating on the road can be a challenge for athletes who need adequate energy, carbohydrates, protein and fluids for training, events and competition. Here are some guidelines for choosing high-performance foods and fluids while traveling.

4. Choose foods with carbohydrates for performance Low-carb foods, while easy to find, are not the best choices for athletes who need carbohydrates for speed, strength, stamina and performance.

5. Look for the right foods and preparations in restaurants Athletes should look at the menu for the right combination of foods and the types of preparations. They need to fill 2/3 of their plate with high carbohydrate options for energy such as whole grains, fruits, veggies and legumes and the rest with high protein foods such as chicken, turkey, lean beef, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds.

1. Prevent dehydration by drinking the right fluids It’s easy to become dehydrated while traveling, especially on airplanes. To prevent it: - Drink at regular intervals throughout the day.

- Carry sports drinks and water with you.

- Limit caffeinated or alcoholic beverages as they are diuretics and promote fluid loss.

2. Take nutrient-dense foods on your trip Words such as fried, crispy, This is especially important creamed and au gratin all when traveling to a foreign suggest high fat content. country, where familiar foods Better choices are steamed, can be hard to find. Pack: No matter where you’re traveling to broiled, stir-fried and - Sports bars, granola bars compete, it’s important to choose foods poached.

- Dried or regular fruit, nuts and that will fuel optimal performance. trail mix - Pretzels or baked chips - Whole grain crackers, bagels, breads, rolls, muffins Conclusion - Peanut butter and jelly Being on the road for competition poses many challenges.

- Cans/packets of tuna or chicken Finding a nutritious meal is no exception. No matter where you’re - Nutrition shakes traveling to compete, it’s important to choose foods that will fuel optimal performance. With the assistance of a nutritionist, team 3. Make a trip to the local grocery or convenience store meals can be planned that focus on high performance food and Quick meals/snacks can be prepared in a hotel room if there is a fluid choices at fast food franchises, restaurants, and grocery and microwave and/or refrigerator available. Some easy to prepare convenience stores. meals are: Breakfast A bowl of cereal, milk and a banana, or A bagel with peanut butter, orange juice or Cottage cheese, canned peaches, orange juice

Lunch Turkey sandwich, apple, oatmeal raisin cookies, and milk or Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, baby carrots, granola bar, cranberry juice

Dinner Roast beef and cheese sandwich chocolate chip cookie, juice or Cheese/chicken quesadilla with salsa, lemonade or Salad with romaine, tomatoes, carrots, tuna, cheese, apple and milk

Suzanne Nelson Steen, D.Sc. ,R.D., is the Director of Husky Sports Nutrition Services for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

For sample menus, please visit www.gssiweb.com.

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Nutrition Roundup

By Christopher Mohr CONFERENCE REVIEW

A CLOSE LOOK AT NO2

This summer, the International Society of Sports Nutrition held its first conference, which it plans to continue to do annually. I had the opportunity to attend this conference and will highlight some of the more pertinent research findings for those working with competitive athletes.

“Effects of Arginine-Alpha-Ketoglutarate Supplementation on Body Composition and Training Adaptations” was presented by Bill Campbell, et al.

Arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) has recently grown in popularity in the dietary supplement world. It is more commonly known as NO2 and is purported to increase nitric oxide synthesis, thereby enhancing blood flow, oxygen delivery, and glucose uptake. All could lead to enhanced muscle mass and strength during training.

While sales have recently surged, it has not really undergone scientific scrutiny—until now.

The purpose of this study was to examine how an AKG supplement would affect muscle strength and overall muscle mass during training. Thirty-five resistancetrained males were matched for fat free mass and assigned to either take an NO2 supplement or a placebo. Subjects ingested 12 grams of the product per day for eight weeks during standardized training. At 0, 4, and 8 weeks, body composition was measured and subjects performed one repetition maximum (RM) bench press, an isokinetic endurance test, a cycling anaerobic capacity test, and a max cardiopulmonary exercise test on a treadmill.

There were no significant differences between groups in body mass, fat free mass, or percent body fat.

There were also no significant differences in average power or total work. On the other hand, changes in 1 RM bench press, sprint peak power, time to peak power, and rate to fatigue were all significantly greater in those taking the NO2 supplement than in those taking the placebo.

However, no mechanism was suggested and this is the only study on NO2 to date.

Take home message: NO2 supplementation (AKG) did not affect body composition, but did change 1 RM strength and sprint power in response to training. However, I suggest athletes wait for more studies of this supplement before taking it since one study does not make a truth.

ADDING PROTEIN POST-EXERCISE

“Early Post Exercise Carbohydrate + Protein Ingestion Enhances Exercise Performance Six Hours Later” was presented by John Berardi, Eric Noreen, and Peter Lemon.

We know that glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate) is necessary for optimal performance, and that carbohydrate should be the primary source of fuel ingested post-exercise. But protein has also shown some benefits during exercise recovery. Typically the research showing an improvement with the addition of protein comes from the increase in protein synthesis. However, few studies have compared the actual performance outcomes from an isocaloric carbohydrate-only drink to a carbohydrate-protein drink. This study did just that.

In this short, 24-hour study, 22 participants completed a 60-minute cycling time trial. One and two hours post exercise, subjects received a carbohydrate beverage (1.2 g carbohydrate/kg bodyweight), carbohydrate/protein beverage (0.8 g carbohydrate and 0.4 g protein/kg bodyweight), or placebo. Four hours later, each participant consumed a solid meal which was identical to their breakfast. This was to ensure that the total calories consumed were identical among subjects and allowed researchers to focus on the macronutrient differences in the recovery drinks rather than the caloric differences throughout the day.

After recovery from the meal, participants repeated the earlier cycling and measurement protocols. It turned out that those consuming the carbohydrate-protein supplements improved total cycling distance and power when compared to the groups consuming carbohydrate alone or a placebo.

Take home message: A carbohydrate/protein supplement is better than carbohydrate alone post-exercise after cycling. Moreover, enough research is available to suggest a similar beverage for enhanced recovery during all activities. My current recommendation: one to two cups of fat-free chocolate milk, which provides both carbohydrate and protein, and is inexpensive.

Christopher Mohr, MS, RD, LDN, is a doctoral student in Exercise Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a registered and licensed dietitian and was a Sports Nutritionist at the University of Massachusetts for two years.

4 ◆ T&C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

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CAFFEINE AND METABOLIC RATE

“Effect of JavaFit Extreme on Metabolic Rate, Substrate Utilization, and Cardiovascular Safety” was presented

by Ron Mendel, Jennifer Hofheins, and Tim Ziegenfuss.

This study was conducted to examine a new “designer” coffee, JavaFit Extreme, on metabolic rate, substrate oxidation (how fuels are used in the body), and cardiovascular hemodynamics. JavaFit Extreme contains 4.4 grams of Arabica beans, with a total of 670 mg composed of garcinia cambogia extract, citrus aurantium extract, caffeine USP, and chromium polynicotinate.

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After baseline testing of metabolic rate, substrate oxidation and heart rate, blood pressure, and ECG, subjects were provided brewed JavaFit Extreme of different amounts. All measurements were again conducted over a three-hour timespan to see how the coffee affected them. No negative effects were found for heart rate, blood pressure, or ECG. However, metabolic rate increased by 8.9 percent and 25.6 percent with 1.5 and 2.0 tablespoons, respectively, of coffee provided. These data indicate JavaFit Extreme has dose-dependent thermogenic properties in healthy subjects.

In my humble opinion, it would have been nice to see another group who consumed plain old coffee, to see if there were any differences among subjects in either group.

Moreover, since this was an acute trial, it would be interesting to see if these changes carried over to a change in body composition with chronic use.

Take home message: JavaFit Extreme (and plain old coffee) does increase metabolic rate because of the caffeine.

Of course when you load it up with sugar and cream, any positive attributes will be negated. In addition, too much caffeine is banned by the NCAA, so overloading on the stimulant is not a good idea.

ZINC AND MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTATION

“Effects Of ZMA Supplementation on the Relationship of Zinc and Magnesium to Body Composition, Strength, Sprint

Performance, and Metabolic and Hormone Profiles” was presented by Colin Wilborn, et al.

Zinc and magnesium deficiencies negatively affect serum testosterone levels, impair immune function, and subsequently decrease strength in athletes. Seen as addressing these deficiencies, a supplement by the name of ZMA (zinc and magnesium aspartate) has grown in popularity.

The purpose of this study was to assess plasma zinc and magnesium status on strength, body composition, and markers of anabolic/catabolic status and to determine if ZMA influences these relationships. Twenty-six males participated in this study and were assigned to either a ZMA supplement or a placebo.

Blood tests revealed that the experienced weight lifters in this study had normal zinc and magnesium status. Not surprisingly, ZMA supplementation non-significantly increased plasma zinc levels and did not affect magnesium levels. In addition, zinc levels did not correlate to body composition, hormone profiles, strength, or sprint performance variables.

Take home message: Zinc and magnesium deficiencies are rare in an otherwise healthy population. Despite the popularity of this supplement, ZMA supplementation appears to have limited value on body composition, hormonal profiles, and performance in athletes with normal zinc and magnesium status. ◆

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The VersaPulley—3-D to the Core

by John Weatherly

I

n a presentation at the 2004 NSCA National Conference, Michael Griffith called 3-D or multiplanar exercise and functional training “the biggest training and rehab concept to hit the industry in the past decade (1).” This article is about an exceptional tool for 3-D multiplanar functional training called the VersaPulley.

VersaPulley is a high-low pulley configuration that functions on the principles of rotary inertia. It is used by elite athletes at Mark Verstegen’s Athletes’ Performance Training Centers, J.C. Santana’s Institute of Human Performance, and the U.S. Olympic Ski Team among other top facilities. Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) and with the Firefighter Research Organization are investigating the VersaPulley with more studies looming on the horizon.

Both top performance specialists and the scientific community realize the uniqueness of the VersaPulley.

Application of the VersaPulley VersaPulley uses MV2 Technology (mass times velocity squared) rotary inertia that produces 100% responsive resistance. Adjust speed/force to train the force-velocity curve from high force-low velocity to high velocity-low force multijoint, multiplanar 3-D movements with Maximal Rate of Force Development (MRFD). Energy from the concentric muscle action is stored and dished right back in the eccentric muscle action. This acceleration/deceleration loading in integrated or 3-D movements on the VersaPulley is specific to sports and not possible with conventional equipment. Adaptations are highly specific and depend on movement demands, muscles involved, contraction type, range of motion, intensity, and speed (1,2,3,4,5). Exercises on the VersaPulley have the acceleration characteristics of the Olympic style lifts, allow movement across all three planes, and require proportional dissipation of eccentric forces which may be the most important aspect for injury prevention. This reactive power enables us to stop, start, and change directions quickly. This is typical of how we move in sports and activities of daily life (1,2,3,4,5).

How it Works Most training and rehab focuses on up and down or uniplanar movement (1,2,4,5). We don’t move just up and down or sit in a machine playing sports or in daily activity.

Dr. Squat himself, Fred Hatfield, was advocating “compensatory acceleration” squats over two decades ago and the VersaPulley can certainly be used for this great up and down 1

Athletes' Performance Training Centers Athletes’ Performance has used the VersaPulley with MV2 Technology for several years especially during the Major League Baseball and NFL Combine Prep sessions. Mark Verstegen says, “This is a versatile and practical technology. This revolutionary new piece of equipment will change how we are able to train athletes, limited only by our knowledge and what our athletes need to achieve.”

John Weatherly holds degrees in exercise science and has assisted with conditioning programs for professional baseball, basketball players, and at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He is a former research assistant to current USOC Head of Sports Physiology Dr. Michael Stone. John currently consults with the exercise industry and Athletes in Action Power.

Mark Verstegen is Founder and President of Athletes’ Performance (www.

AthletesPerformance.com) with Training Centers at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ and at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. He and his staff work with world-class athletes in a variety of sports. Mark is also the Director of Performance for the NFL Players’ Association and author of the the book Core Performance published by Rodale Press. He also founded the International Performance Institute in Bradenton, FL.

2

References 1. Griffith, Michael. 3-d to the core.

Presentation at the 2004 NSCA National Conference. July 15, 2004. Minneapolis, MN.

application. However, the real value of the VersaPulley is for multijoint movements across multiple planes.

For the hip rotators, legs and trunk, rotational rows, lunges to the side and front, and diagonal presses are examples of standing closed chain exercises across multiple planes that utilize reactive power and MRFD through the kinetic chain on the VersaPulley. The VersaPulley, wallmounted VersaPulley, and portable mini-VersaPulley are unique innovative tools for functional “3-D to the Core” applications. Shown in Photos 1 and 2.

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2. Ives, J.C. and G.A. Shelley.

Psychophysics in functional strength and power training: Review and implementation framework. J. Strength Cond. Res. 17: 177-186, 2003.

3. Newton, Robert. Neuromuscular adaptations to high velocity exercise.

Presentation at the 2004 NSCA National Conference. July 16, 2004. Minneapolis, MN. 4. Santana, J.C. The essence of band and pulley training companion guide.

Optimum performance systems. Boca Raton, FL. 2002.

5. Verstegen, M. Rotary training.

Presentation at the 2003 NSCA Sport Specific Conference. Jan. 9-10, 2003. New Orleans, LA.

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Swelling Quads An overstrenuous workout leads to bilateral compartment syndrome.

By R.J. Anderson t was Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2003, and Kristin Giardina was getting ready to go to work. In addition to being a full-time student at Belmont University and starter on the women’s soccer team, Giardina also worked part-time at a Chili’s restaurant in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

A junior who would be the team’s top returning defender as well as its captain in the fall, she had just completed a strenuous weightlifting session with the rest of her teammates.

The workout followed an especially difficult session held the day before— one that included drop sets to exhaustion on the leg press.

Tuesday also marked only the second time Giardina had worked out since returning from winter break, which she figured was the reason she was sore. Very sore. So sore that it was nearly impossible for her to lift her legs high enough to step into the bathtub.

That night at work, Giardina was in so much pain that she only lasted about half a shift before leaving. “When I got home I couldn’t sleep because my legs hurt so bad,” she says. “Then, later that night, I noticed my urine had turned a dark color, and I knew I needed to see the athletic trainers in the morning.”

Giardina met with the Belmont athletic trainers on Wednesday morning and they made an appointment

I

8 ◆ T&C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

Soccer player Kristin Giardina overcame a rare case of compartment syndrome and rhabdomyolysis to anchor Belmont University’s defense her senior year.

with Andrew Gregory, MD, FAAP, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and Team Physician at both Vanderbilt and Belmont. After attending her morning classes, Giardina, who could barely bend her knees due to the pain and swelling in her quadriceps, met with Gregory. He sent her straight to the emergency room.

Gregory diagnosed Giardina with bilateral compartment syndrome. “It’s a condition in which muscles, in this case the left and right quadriceps, swell to the point that the muscle’s blood supply becomes constricted,” says Gregory. “The muscle swells so much that blood can’t get to it, and eventually the muscle starts to die.”

Gregory says that in Giardina’s case, the condition was a result of

ATHLETICBID.COM

overexertion. “She basically exercised her quad until she couldn’t do any more,” he says. “She had been off for winter break and hadn’t done intense conditioning. When she came back, she just pushed it too far.”

Surgery was scheduled for midnight, with Philip Kregor, MD, a surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, performing the operation. Kregor made an incision in the fascia in each of Giardina’s quads, allowing the muscle to swell outside the lining, which reinstated blood flow to the muscle. The incisions in the fascia would remain open for five days, requiring Giardina to remain in her hospital bed until they were stitched.

R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Training & Conditioning.

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Comeback Athlete Compartment syndrome is considered very rare, and neither physician had ever seen the condition in a patient’s quadriceps. “I had seen it once in a basketball player, and that was in the calf muscle,” says Gregory. “But in that case, the player had been struck in the calf by another player’s leg, so it was more an acute trauma than an overuse injury, as was the scenario with Kristin.”

It turns out the compartment syndrome was only the beginning of Giardina’s troubles. As a result of the damage to her quadriceps, she was also experiencing rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition where protein from the muscle leaks into the patient’s blood stream, damaging the kidneys. It was rhabdomyolysis that caused Giardina’s urine to darken.

“That was the real danger,” says Gregory. “Kristin actually had some shutdown in her kidneys and there was concern that she was going to have to go on dialysis—we actually made arrangements to do so, but luckily she didn’t get to that point.”

The bilateral compartment release surgery ultimately proved successful.

However, after the operation, Giardina experienced a pneumonia-like illness that extended her stay in the hospital. To make matters worse, Kregor predicted that while she would one day return to full strength, it was unlikely Giardina would make it back in time for her senior season. Her spirits were crushed.

During her nine-day stay at the hospital, Giardina was visited nearly every day by Gregory, who monitored her status closely. Christy Recinella, MEd, ATC, Athletic Trainer for the Belmont women’s soccer team at the time, was also a frequent visitor to the hospital, providing Giardina with support and companionship.

Once discharged from the hospital, Giardina spent nearly four days using a walker to get around. After she was able to walk on her own—albeit only short distances—Giardina began working with Recinella in the athletic training room on basic rehabilitation exercises consisting of quad sets, straight-leg raises, ankle pumps, and flexibility exercises. Giardina says that

Award Winner

Kristin Giardina Belmont University

◆ Sport: Soccer ◆ Injury: Bilateral Compartment Syndrome, Rhabdomyolysis ◆ Comeback Team: Andrew Gregory, MD, FAAP Philip Kregor, MD Danielle Santangelo, MA, ATC Christy Recinella, MEd, ATC

Recinella worked hand-in-hand with her to facilitate the program.

“Because it was such a rare condition, there was no set protocol for a rehab program,” says Giardina. “So we just went by how I felt from day to day.

If my legs got tired, I would tell the athletic trainers and they would let me rest. They trusted my judgement and didn’t try to push me too hard.”

After two months, Giardina was cleared to begin more aggressive rehabilitation by adding light weights and more repetitions. Four months postsurgery, she began jogging, and it was at this point that Danielle Santangelo, MA, ATC, took over as Athletic Trainer for the women’s soccer team and began supervising Giardina’s rehab.

Most of Giardina’s rehab took place in the athletic training room using ankle weights and light dumbbells, and Santangelo says they did a lot of stretching and core work. But

Giardina was hesitant about lifting weights again. “The first time we went back in the weightroom as a team, it was really tough,” says Giardina. “I didn’t want to be there, but I knew that I had to face any fear that I had. I think if I hadn’t worked out with the rest of the team, it would have taken away from the team unity. And as captain, I definitely did not want to do that.”

Despite the frustration of rapid fatigue and constant soreness, Giardina gradually worked her way back until she restored full function. On Aug. 15, she was cleared to participate in the fall soccer season, starting with preseason workouts. “At first it was kind of tough,” says Giardina. “I was having trouble getting my touch back. My teammates played all spring together, so of course they had some chemistry with each other that I had lost a bit.”

Santangelo adds that double sessions, as well as Nashville’s hot summer days, made it imperative that they approach Giardina’s rehab conservatively, especially since her condition was one brought on by overexertion.

“We wanted her to do at about 40 percent of what everyone else was doing,” says Santangelo. “We gradually built her up and listened to how she was feeling. If she was really sore, we would back off that day, or if she felt okay, we just kept plugging along. We were also careful to keep her hydrated, and to do everything we could do to prevent heat injuries or cramping.

“Kristin really wanted to be out there all the time, especially since she was the leader of the team,” Santangelo adds. “But she knew that she needed to be smart and hold back a little bit so she could get herself back into shape and to make it through the whole season.”

Other than one minor setback—a muscle hernia where the fascia incision had been, which sidelined Giardina for two days—the preseason proved relatively uneventful. Once the regular season began, Santangelo continued to bring Giardina along slowly, allowing her to play about 20 minutes in the first half of each game. Five games into the season, Giardina was back to starting at her center back

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Comeback Athlete position, where she would anchor the defense for the rest of the season.

Santangelo says that after watching her run during the preseason, she knew Giardina would be able to play, but she didn’t realistically expect her to play 90 minutes per game, especially with only a day or two between contests. “Kristin didn’t require too much time off during practices in between games,” says Santangelo. “And really, the only extra work we did with her was 10 minutes of extra stretching before and after games and 20 minutes of leg massage after games.”

A biology major with minors in athletic training and mathematics, Giardina graduated magna cum laude this past May and is slated to attend physical therapy school at Belmont in August. “My injury really solidified my career goal of becoming a physical therapist,” says Giardina. “I know first-hand the frustration of wanting to do more and not being able to. It made me realize that I want to help other people the way I was helped.”

Helping people is something Giardina has already done. “The conditioning work that led to Kristin’s injury was very general—it was probably too much too soon and not individualized enough,” says Santangelo. “It’s definitely something we discussed, and it has been addressed program-wide. In that respect, this instance benefited the rest of the athletic department and all of our athletes. Now we do a lot more baseline max testing and have our athletes utilize partners who are on their same level as far as training goes.”

Gregory, too, thinks that a couple of important lessons came out of the athletic department’s experience with Giardina. “One, when someone comes back and they haven’t been doing much conditioning, you have to build them back up,” says Gregory.

“You have to start slowly again, even though they are an elite athlete at the college level. And two, you have to listen to the athlete. If they say they’ve had enough, then you have to trust that they are being honest with you and not just trying to get out of the work.” ◆

Nomination Criteria and Procedures he Comeback Athlete Award Program serves to honor those outstanding athletes who have successfully returned to competition in their sport following a serious injury. It also serves to recognize those people who worked with the athlete behind the scenes: the physician who set up the treatment plan, the physical therapists and athletic trainers who oversaw the rehabilitation process, and the strength coach and sport coach who helped the athlete regain his or her competitive form.

T

CRITERIA FOR NOMINATIONS:

Training & Conditioning honors a comeback athlete every other issue, regardless of level of play or gender.

So send in your nominations as soon as you have a candidate you feel fits the bill!

TO NOMINATE AN ATHLETE:

Please fill in the form below, attaching a 500- to 1,000-word description of the athlete’s rehab program, which includes the following points: • The athlete’s injury, including cause and severity.

• The physician’s initial medical assessment and treatment protocol.

• The details of the rehabilitation program.

• The details of the athlete’s conditioning program prior to returning to competition.

• The degree of success the athlete achieved upon returning to competition.

• Dates of when the above occurred.

• Names, titles, and phone numbers of those physicians, athletic trainers, other sports medicine professionals, and coaches who played a major role in the athlete’s comeback.

✁ Comeback Athlete Nomination Form Name of Athlete: ___________________________________________ Your Name: _______________________________________________ Your Affiliation: ____________________________________________ Your Phone No.: ___________________________________________ Your Address:______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Send nominations to: Comeback Athlete Award, Training & Conditioning 2488 N. Triphammer Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850 If you have any questions, feel free to call us at (607) 257-6970, ext. 18

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More Than a Fad © DAVID SAVARINO

Pilates has taken the fitness world by storm in recent years, but it may also have a place in the athletic training room. This article explains how Pilates techniques can be implemented into a traditional rehab program.

By Christine Romani-Ruby dds are, you have heard about Pilates as a core conditioning and rehabilitation method. You have heard of professional athletes such as Jason Kidd, Tiger Woods, Curt Schilling, and Ruben Brown giving some of the credit for their success to Pilates. You have seen the unusual equipment or watched athletes perform the advanced gymnasticslike movements.

Still, you’ve been wondering how Pilates relates to you as an athletic

O

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trainer. Though Pilates may seem like just another fitness trend, it is also becoming a popular method for rehabilitating athletes.

The Pilates method is based on a set of principles that incorporate many familiar concepts of athletic training and sports conditioning. For many athletic trainers, Pilates simply takes a slightly different approach to things they’re already doing. Pilates centers on a series of exercises, and most of these exercises mirror or build on techniques athletic trainers are familiar with. The Pilates machines are designed to enhance those exercises.

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But machines are not required to utilize Pilates. Many of the exercises and movements can be taught on a mat with props simulating the effects of the Pilates machine. As a result, athletic trainers can blend Pilates into their therapeutic exercise regimen as they feel comfortable, choosing the exercises Christine Romani-Ruby, MPT, ATC, is an Assistant Professor in the Physical Therapy Assistant Program at California University of Pennsylvania, where she also teaches in the Athletic Training Education Program.

She is also a co-founder of PowerHouse Pilates in Monongahela, Pa.

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TREATING THE ATHLETE

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that make the most sense for them and their athletes.

Pilates exercises can easily be incorporated into traditional rehabilitation programs. Without abandoning other methods, Pilates exercises can be used as additional tools for reaching the goals your athletes have. Many times, the precision learned in Pilates will give traditional rehab exercises a whole new dimension.

As a certified athletic trainer and a Pilates instructor, I have seen the many ways these two disciplines interact. In this article, I look at some ways athletic trainers can incorporate Pilates exercises into their work by understanding the principles behind them and adapting some of their current procedures.

PILATES 101

The first Pilates principle is centering, which parallels the idea of core strengthening. Back in 1920, Joseph Pilates, founder of this method of exercise, concluded that all movement comes from a stable center, which he called the Powerhouse. He included the shoulder girdle, spine, and pelvic girdle in this Powerhouse, making these areas the focus of every Pilates exercise. These core areas are also a focus of many rehab efforts overseen by athletic trainers.

Concentration is the second principle. In Pilates theory, visualizing and engaging the mind should occur with every movement. Athletes gain kinesthetic, proprioceptive, and postural awareness through concentration. Pilates allows continued practice of these skills through its exercises and equipment.

The third principle is control.

Pilates states that all physical motion must be controlled by the mind. Motion without control leads to a haphazard and counterproductive exercise regimen. To the athlete, this is motor learning. Skills can be as simple as mastering the ability to manage the body’s momentum or as advanced as learning the footwork used by a defensive back.

The fourth principle is flow.

Pilates instructs athletes to move smoothly and evenly outward from a 16 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

strong center, as seen in the movements of a gymnast, golfer, or professional dancer. Pilates exercise develops the grace found in the best athletes— movements you admire in any sport.

The fifth principle is precision: concentrating on the right movements every time you exercise. The idea is the same as an athlete meticulously isolating one muscle for re-training or strengthening to produce a certain effect.

The remaining principle is breathing, and in Pilates a diaphragmatic breath is coordinated with every movement. The breath ensures relaxation and increased flexibility, and also engages the deep core muscles. (See “Say ‘Ha,’” below.)

Although not spelling them out as principles, Joseph Pilates underscored the importance of two other concepts: relaxation and stamina. He said his goal was for people to “learn to move without tenseness,” which is vital for athletes. Endurance at the end of the game is crucial in preventing injury and maintaining performance levels.

Through Pilates, athletes can develop the ability to use only the muscles required and to relax all others.

NEW MOVEMENT PATTERNS

Pilates can be especially useful when athletes have adapted to certain stretches and exercises. It may be difficult for them to change the way they perform ingrained movements, and they may even resist efforts to do so. By using Pilates, an athletic trainer can get an athlete to perform desired movements in a new way. I have found that if I introduce a new stretch or exercise, athletes often want to prove their mastery of it. This way, old habits can be broken and new movement patterns learned.

Pilates uses a lot of visual cues to help people perform the exercises correctly. I’ll tell students, “draw you ribs in and down,” “draw your shoulder blades down your back,” or “reach out of the top back of your head.” When I can, I try to relate these ideas in ways athletes may better understand by connecting them to their sport. Even silly examples can work, such as telling them to reach out of Pebbles’ ponytail

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(from the Flintstones) to help maintain the proper posture with the back of the head reaching toward the ceiling. (See “Pilates Posture” on page 17.)

Each exercise in the Pilates repertoire may (although it doesn’t have to) be performed on one of eight pieces of equipment that provide a specialized effect. Equipment resistance is provided by springs, which sometimes resist but often assist the movement. The body is directed to resist not only on the concentric movement against the springs, but also to resist the recoil of the springs on the eccentric return. In some Pilates exercises, the springs are used to re-align the body and provide consistent proprioceptive feedback.

TREATING SHOULDER PROBLEMS

The conditions that benefit most from Pilates are those that seem to defy diagnosis and leave athletic trainers searching for effective treatment methods. Many of these result from muscle imbalance and faulty posture. Too often, athletes adopt postures characteristic of their sport because of muscle imbalances. An example of this is the swimmer who develops a roundshouldered posture from the strength gained in the pectoralis major/minor and latissimus dorsi. This often leads to symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome or impingement syndrome.

Say “Ha” To take a Pilates breath, inhale through the nose, imagining the ribcage expanding to the sides and the air going into the lower lobes of the lungs. Exhale through the mouth, making a “ha” sound and drawing the navel to the spine to engage the transverse abdominis. This breath is often practiced as if pumping up and deflating a tire. Inhale five times and then exhale five times, for as many as 10 pumps.

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In these postural problems, the scapular force couple is disrupted. The levator scapulae and the rhomboids shorten, while the upper trapezius and the serratus anterior lengthen, creating poor scapulo-humeral rhythm. The pectoralis minor and the latissimus dorsi shorten, disrupting the glenohumeral joint axis and creating an anterior tilt of the scapula. To stand up straight, the athlete then lifts the entire ribcage, causing a lengthening of the external oblique. This can begin a downward spiral leading to very poor shoulder mechanics and chronic, unexplained pain. Key identifying factors of these syndromes are the previously described posture problems and an early and excessive elevation of the shoulder girdle during forward flexion or abduction of the shoulder.

Several Pilates exercises are extremely effective in correcting and preventing the poor mechanics associated with these postural problems. The first uses the Pilates ring to stretch the

TREATING THE ATHLETE

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Pilates Posture Stand with the legs in external rotation and heels together so that the second toe and patella point in the same direction.

The outsides of the thighs are imagined to wrap outward and the backs of the thighs zip together. The anterior triangle of the pelvis, made up of the anterior/superior iliac spine (ASIS) and the pubic symphysis, is positioned in the frontal plane.

The anterior angle of the 10th rib is stacked directly over the ASIS with the ribcage in the frontal plane. The scapulae are drawn down the back and the chest is open. The top back of the head reaches toward the ceiling so that the back of the neck is long.

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Figure One: Pilates ring exercise to stretch pectoralis minor.

Figure Two: Pilates ring exercise to increase the length of the latissimus dorsi, increase the strength of the external oblique, and retrain the serratus anterior.

Figure Three: Side-lying abduction.

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pectoralis minor without any risk of stress to the capsule. The Pilates ring—which is 15 inches in diameter and has a spring-like resistance— serves as a proprioceptive device to create the desired effect. The athlete is asked to stand in the Pilates posture holding the ring behind his or her back. He or she squeezes and releases the ring with light force while maintaining the Pilates posture and breathing. The athlete inhales on the squeeze to open the ribcage and then exhales on the release. Athletes with a tight pectoralis minor will tremble on the squeeze and feel like they can barely produce any force, which shows that the pectoralis minor is resisting the stretch. (See Figure One, at left.)

A second exercise is used to increase the length of the latissimus dorsi, increase the strength of the external oblique, and retrain the serratus anterior. The athlete maintains a Pilates posture and holds the ring in front of his or her body. The upper extremities are relaxed and positioned in slight external rotation to engage the scapular stabilizers and recruit the serratus anterior. The round shape of the ring assists with this position, as does the cue to grip the ring more with the pinky fingers, which also helps to increase external rotation.

To complete the exercise, the athlete performs bilateral forward flexion to a point where there is no scapular elevation. When the scapulae elevate, the athlete stops and starts again. The use of a mirror is often beneficial with this exercise, since the results are rapid and very visual. (See Figure Two, at left.)

The athlete then progresses to a closed-chain exercise, such as side-lying on one elbow and lifting the ribcage away from the floor until the scapula is in neutral alignment.

Positioning the ribcage on a fixed upper extremity encourages the proper scapular position. It is easiest to start on one elbow and then progress to

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being on an outstretched arm. The challenge can be easily increased by adding partial and full body weight.

Further progression is attained by using an unstable surface, such as that of the Reformer, one of the Pilates machines.

(The Reformer is shown on page 14 and in Figure Five, on page 19.)

KNEE INJURIES

Some other common conditions of muscle imbalance experienced by athletes include iliotibial band syndrome, patellofemoral syndrome, and chondromalacia. These all involve faulty mechanics due to muscle imbalance and poor posture. Surgeries for these are not very successful and treatment is often determined through trial and error. Pilates offers some exercise techniques that have proven to be extremely beneficial.

The first is side-lying abduction for strengthening of the gluteus medius. This exercise is not new to athletic trainers, but the precision used in the Pilates method is. The exercise is done with the top leg extended into a leg spring to align the pelvis not only in the saggital plane, but also in the transverse plane. The anterior/superior iliac spine (ASIS) is aligned, creating the appropriate length of the gluteus medius and adductors prior to and during the motion. The goal is to extend the muscles to the length they will reach during athletic activity.

The athlete is encouraged to keep stretching the leg into the spring throughout the entire motion of abduction. The spring resistance can be replaced by using rubber tubing or providing appropriate verbal cueing on the mat. (See Figure Three, at left.)

The second exercise used for these postural syndromes is leg circles, which stretch the iliotibial band and teach proximal stability and distal mobility.

The athlete lies supine with one leg extended to the ceiling and the pelvis in a neutral position. He or she then performs a leg circle motion with the hip in a neutral position. The goal is to hold the pelvis still. If the pelvis moves, the size and speed of the circle must be

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Figure Four: Leg circles.

reduced. (See Figure Four, above.)

A third exercise for these conditions requires using the Reformer. The balls of the feet are placed on the footbar with the athlete supine. The athlete does a leg press, a heel-cord stretch, and

TREATING THE ATHLETE

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a toe raise before returning the carriage by flexing the knees. This exercise not only strengthens and stretches the lower extremities, it also allows a comprehensive evaluation of the mechanics of the hip, knee, ankle, and foot.

The athletic trainer can stand above the athlete and cue him or her into proper mechanics. (See Figure Figure Five: The athlete uses the Reformer to do a leg Five, at right.) press, heel-cord stretch, and toe raise with the athletic For example, a com- trainer showing proper mechanics. mon dysfunction occurs when the femur internally rotates on asset to athletic trainers. Learning full extension. With the Reformer just a few of the exercises or being and some verbal cueing, the athlete introduced to a few pieces of equipcan learn to eliminate this improper ment will give the athletic trainer motion from the action of extension. many additional exercise options.

With the disappearance of the rotation The underlying principles of athletic there often comes a disappearance training and Pilates are similar— of pain. a strong core and proper posture As you can see, knowledge improve performance and provide of the Pilates repertoire can be an rapid return after injury. ◆

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HIGH SCHOOLMOVES

By now, coaches understand that agility is an important component of athletic achievement in most sports. But how do you begin to train agility at the high school level?

By Vern Gambetta gility is defined as the ability to recognize, react, accelerate, change direction, and stop quickly. In most sports, these actions need to occur in a time frame of about four seconds, which puts a premium on quickness and precision of movement.

In high school athletes, agility can vary greatly from one player to the

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next. So how do you train this age group in this very important component of athleticism?

Agility can be significantly improved through a systematic development program, and given the adaptability of the high school age athlete, there is a great deal of potential for improvement. However, there are some unique challenges to training agility in this age group.

In order to effectively train agility it is necessary to have a good base in

other areas. Without a good foundation of basic strength, core strength, balance, and body awareness, athletes will soon reach the point of diminishing returns with agility training.

Perhaps the most underrated benefit of a good agility program is injury Vern Gambetta, MA, is the Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets and President of Gambetta Sports Training Systems in Sarasota, Fla. He is a frequent contributor to Training & Conditioning and can be reached at www.gambetta.com.

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Baby Steps When a high school athlete is introduced to agility training, the work should consist of only very basic movements with the emphasis on learning. For example: • Start with “step and stick” in all three planes. Have your athletes step forward onto one leg and stick the landing.

Repeat to the side. Also include a step back at an angle to stress the transverse plane.

• Progress to a quarter eagle, which consists of a 90-degree jump to the right and a jump immediately back to the starting position. Repeat to the left.

When athletes can do that, have them run out at the conclusion of the drill. Then add a stop.

• Next, have them run forward, then turn 360 degrees, and keep running forward. Repeat this three to four times in 40-yard increments.

• Have your athletes run forward, bend, and touch the ground with their right hand. Repeat with the left hand.

prevention. Mastering the ability to start and stop quickly and change direction under control go a long way toward preventing many common injuries.

THINK LONG-TERM

When developing a comprehensive agility program for high school athletes it is important to think long term. Improvement can happen quickly, but there should be a well-planned progression—the freshman and the senior should not have the same training protocol.

Developing this plan requires input from the sport coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, and athletic trainers on staff. There should be discussion about the priorities of an agility 22 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

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training program and each of these professionals should have input into the program. If everyone is not on the same page, progress will be hampered.

The first area to look at is the age of the athletes. However, keep in mind that chronological age and developmental age can be very divergent.

There is a big difference between a 14year-old boy who has gone through puberty and a 14-year-old boy who has not. The difference in physical maturity is dramatic and must be a primary consideration in the design and content of the training program.

Emotional and cognitive development must also be considered. Without some degree of maturity and an ability to take instruction, a young athlete will find it difficult to progress.

It is also necessary to create a different program for female athletes, who are at higher risk for lower extremity injuries than their male counterparts of the same age. Female athletes, especially in soccer, basketball, and volleyball, often need a greater emphasis on strength training throughout the year, including the competitive season, with single-leg squats as a key exercise.

The specific sport must also be taken into account. A generic agility program for all sports can work in the beginning stages, but there should be a plan to work toward more sportspecific agility.

A MASTER PLAN

Let’s get specific with what should be included in the long-term plan. If you are starting with freshman athletes, it is necessary to begin by building a strong foundation.

To promote that strong foundation, it is important to have a strength-training program that requires your athletes to handle their bodyweight before adding any significant external resistance. The strength-training foundation should also emphasize triple-extension of the ankle, knee, and hip for starting motions, and the ability to bend or break down at the ankle, knee, and hip for stopping motions.

Another aspect of the strengthtraining program should be core

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development in postures that are similar to those that occur on the field or court. Therefore, no more than 20 percent of core work should be done in a seated or lying position, but rather with the athlete standing or moving.

This will carry over to the varied postures required in agility movements.

The third aspect that should be addressed early on is balance, body control, and awareness. The best way of doing this is to make the exercises as playful as possible. Try games like “red light, green light,” with the rules modified so that the stop must be on one leg. I like to use balance activities as active rest activities and schedule them between strength-training exercises. I have also developed a simple circuit with three or four balance activities that the athletes need to negotiate at various times during the workout.

For the first three months of the athlete’s introduction to the high school training program, these components should be the focus. The only agility work that should be done during this time is very basic movements with the emphasis on teaching proper form. (See “Baby Steps,” at left.)

As the athlete progresses, agility should be developed parallel with strength gains (along with maturity).

Near the end of the first year, the higher-speed, higher-force component of plyometrics should be introduced.

Over subsequent years, as the athlete gains proficiency and mastery of the other components, the work on this explosive quality can be increased.

There are definite motor learning factors that must be considered. I believe that it is necessary to strive for perfect practice. Some people feel this is unrealistic, but I think it should still be the goal. This approach raises the bar in terms of intensity and concentration. I have found that the drive for perfect practice ensures that training sessions will approach game intensity.

In order to achieve perfect practice, it is imperative that technique is taught in a step-by-step progression.

Begin with closed-skill drills and

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progress to open-skill drills. In a closed-skill drill, the outcome is known, as opposed to an open-skill drill, which is unplanned and emphasizes reaction. Once mastery of skills has been achieved, add unusual and unexpected conditions. Add crowd noise, different surfaces—anything realistic that adds stress to the drill.

It is very important to add a reaction component. Reaction puts the finishing touches on the program, leading to significant improvements in speed, force, and muscle involvement.

In building a progression of agility drills, it is important not to push athletes too hard or too quickly. I feel very strongly that athletes should exhibit mastery before moving on to a more complex or advanced stage of a drill. This ensures that the movement will be done with quality and intensity, which carries over to sportspecific movements.

There is a natural tendency for athletes to do too much too soon. I

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I feel very strongly that athletes should exhibit mastery before moving on to a more complex or advanced stage of a drill. This ensures that the movement will be done with quality and intensity, which carries over to sport-specific movements. would rather have the athlete do a few drills that they can handle with speed and efficiency than have a large number of drills that are poorly executed.

It is also important to remember that agility work is not conditioning

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work. It is speed-development work, and should be practiced in a nonfatigued state, with high intensity, and plenty of recovery between repetitions.

INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION

The biggest challenges with high school athletes often come from discrepancies in their abilities to improve. How can you keep the naturally agile athlete motivated without neglecting the athlete who has poor motor skills?

The key is to individualize the workouts as much as possible. High school coaches often roll their eyes at that thought, but it’s not as difficult as it sounds. The idea is to simply divide the group into sub-groups based on specific needs and abilities. For example, an athlete can be placed in an advanced group for footwork drills and in a basic group for drills in changing direction.

Sometimes a team has a couple of players with very poor agility. These

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athletes may need a remedial program.

First, try to figure out the cause.

Consider perceptual motor ability, leg strength, and core strength as factors. If there are deficiencies in one or all of these areas, they must be addressed. If there are no underlying problems, then agility exercises should simply occupy a larger share of their training until that skill is brought up to an acceptable level.

In today’s young athletes, there is often an inability to concentrate, which can lead to agility deficiencies.

In these cases, you may want to ask their teachers how they have gotten these athletes to focus in the classroom. You may also need to work with their sport coaches to come up with strategies to reach them.

How do you challenge the high school athlete who is much more agile than his or her peers? It is important to remember that faster athletes must train with speed in order to maintain their speed. They need to be held to a higher standard. Therefore, consider

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adding some nuances to make their programs more challenging. These athletes can be timed and measured more frequently. They can do the drill a little differently than the rest of the team. They can be given a handicap during a drill to keep them in synch with their teammates. The idea is to create a competitive environment that challenges them.

EXAMPLES

With a master plan in place and ideas for individualizing programs, the next step is devising drills that will work in your setting. Most importantly, each drill must have a specific purpose. The drill must not be an end in itself, but should lead to the next step in the progression. The basic progression should go like this: 1. Basic skill.

2. Basic skill with variation.

3. Basic skill with reaction.

4. Basic skill with opposition.

5. Basic skill incorporated with advanced sport-specific skill.

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For example, a good change of direction progression is to start with gentle curves to emphasize shifts in body weight. Then progress to vectors off a straight line, run at about 70-percent intensity. After that is mastered, progress to sharper angles and harder cuts at higher intensities.

The drills should, of course, address the different components of agility (see “Breaking It Down” on page 25), but it’s important to remember that each drill will usually address multiple components. Therefore, it’s not necessary to have a drill for each component, as long as you make sure all the areas are being covered through the drills you choose.

Equipment is not necessary to effectively train agility. It can help, but agility drills are really about teaching the body to use the ground more effectively. Learn to use your training environment effectively. Change training surfaces and work with a variety of slopes. The only piece of equipment

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

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Breaking It Down The following list contains the components of agility that determine the training content.

Most of the components do not occur in isolation, so look for logical combinations when devising drills.

RECOGNITION: This is game and situation awareness. It follows a pattern.

REACTION: The stimulus can be visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Athletes should spend the majority of time practicing with the primary stimulus that occurs in the game.

START: Either stationary or moving, depending on the sport. The goal of the start is to overcome inertia and get the body moving in the correct direction.

FIRST STEP: Here, pay attention to the direction, position, and length of the leg. The leg must create a positive shin angle to impart force against the ground and achieve triple extension. A relatively short first step will ensure a proper shin angle.

ACCELERATION: In straight-ahead sprinting, acceleration is to top speed. In agility, it is necessary to accelerate to optimum speed, which is a speed that has an element of control, because it is necessary when changing direction or stopping.

DECELERATION AND REACCELERATION: These are key components to controlling speed and the ability to get the body in proper position to make a play.

FOOTWORK: The relationship of the hips to the feet is critical.

CHANGE OF DIRECTION: The key here is getting the center of gravity outside the base of support in order to change the position of the body.

STOPPING: This is the moment of truth where the athlete must be able to make a play. It requires tremendous eccentric strength and body control.

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that I use on a regular basis is the ABC ladder for footwork development.

Another good idea is to add games to work on agility. Tag and chase games improve agility skills in a competitive environment. Whatever game motivates a particular group of athletes and works on agility at the same time is a good one to use.

What drills are not good? The common tendency in agility training is to get caught in the activity trap, where athletes do a large menu of drills, many

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of which are redundant. In that scenario the athlete gets tired, but does not get better. Avoid the activity trap by knowing why you are choosing each drill: What will it accomplish? Where does it fit in the master progression?

How often should agility be trained? In the off-season, some aspect of agility work should be accomplished in every training session. It should receive a major emphasis on two training days each week, although those days should not be consecutive.

A non-emphasis day should incorporate two drills and an emphasis day should have four to five drills. The range should be three to five sets of each exercise.

In-season, agility work should be incorporated into two of the training days. Obviously, the volume is significantly reduced in-season, as agility work is included in most practices.

Ideally, agility work should be scheduled for when the athlete is fresh, immediately following warmup. This will ensure the quality necessary to have the drills transfer to performance. I have also found that one or two low-volume agility drills at the start of a training session help tune up the nervous system.

IS IT WORKING?

As with any training program, it’s important to assess whether your agility workouts are accomplishing your goals. Therefore, remember to establish baseline performance levels early on. Video analysis based on game performance is also an excellent assessment tool. Use video to provide objective feedback of the agility components addressed during training.

The other aspect of your program to assess is whether your athletes continue to be motivated. If your athletes are not motivated by their agility drills, they will not improve. Providing a variety of exercises and challenges to your athletes are keys to motivation.

However, variety must have a purpose—it should progress the athlete toward the next step.

Results also motivate. When athletes see the results of the training transfer to a game, motivation is increased. Have them watch the game video footage and talk to them about how the agility training relates to their abilities on the field.

Most athletes enjoy agility training because it easily translates to improvement in their sport. Just remember to start with a sturdy foundation and have a detailed master plan.

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NUTRITION

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Fun with Food Coloring A look at some of the newest ideas in educating your athletes about sports nutrition (including color-coding their food choices).

By Greg Scholand ave you ever thought of your local supermarket as a teaching tool? How about using a restaurant menu or your school’s dining hall to teach nutrition? If you want to provide your athletes with practical guidance on sports nutrition, conducting an annual seminar and hanging up some posters may not be enough.

As the importance of nutrition becomes more pronounced, top athletic departments are finding new and creative ways to teach their athletes about proper eating habits and nutritional choices. The key points? Make nutrition a priority, make it as individualized as possible, and teach your athletes with hands-on methods. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the more innovative ideas that schools are employing to teach athletes about a wide variety of nutritional topics.

H

ONE-ON-ONE

When freshman student-athletes arrive on campus, it usually marks their first time living away from

home, and the transition to a more independent lifestyle can easily take its toll on their nutritional well-being.

This can pose problems for any college student, but the physical demands placed on student-athletes make them particularly vulnerable.

“It’s amazing how many athletes don’t realize just how different it’s going to be. They’re used to having dinner waiting for them when they get home from practice,” says Michelle Rockwell, MS, RD, LD, Coordinator of Sports Nutrition at the University of Florida. “It’s very different when you suddenly have a busy class schedule and a workout plan and you have to find your own way in a dining hall every day.”

Rockwell believes that the best way to prevent athletes from experiencing problems during the transition to college is by introducing nutrition as a priority while they are still getting acclimated to their new lifestyle. At Florida, each incoming athlete is provided with a personalized nutrition consultation that focuses on his or her individual needs and examines preexisting dietary habits.

“We sit down with every athlete and look at their class schedule, their training schedule, and any body goals they have,” Rockwell says. “Then we look at what kinds of food they like to eat and where they like to eat, and put everything together into an individualized plan.” The personalized plans tell athletes everything from when they should be eating to which types of foods and specific nutrients they should focus on in order to meet their energy needs and accomplish their goals.

To make the individual plans as user-friendly as possible, Rockwell organizes the school’s training table with a special labeling system. “Our various options are labeled with different colored dots, depending on each food’s nutritional content,” she explains. “So when I am working with someone individually, I’ll say something like, ‘You should always have two servings of a yellow dot for your protein, and three of a blue dot for your carbohydrates.’ The athlete Greg Scholand is an Assistant Editor at Training & Conditioning.

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may choose a different type of food every night, but if they remember to pick two yellow and three blue, they’ll be on the right track. It’s practical, it’s easy, and it’s right in front of them.” (See “Reading Dots” on page 33.)

Another important part of Rockwell’s individual consultations involves teaching athletes about compromising between good nutritional choices and personal preferences.

“My number-one philosophy is that people have to really like what you’re telling them to eat,” she says. “I teach them that, yes, you can still go to a place like Taco Bell if that’s where you want to go, but there are a lot better choices you can make at Taco Bell than what you’re making right now.

Or, you can still eat pizza, but you’ve got to eat it in moderation, and at the right time of day, and put the right toppings on it.”

The main goal of the individual meetings is to open students’ eyes to the fact that as college athletes, they’ve reached a new level with new expectations for performance—and that previous eating habits may need to be reevaluated. “For kids used to being able to eat whatever they want, having to train a lot harder at this level is a big change,” Rockwell says.

By providing personalized guidance that looks specifically at how nutrition can make them better athletes, Rockwell says her student-athletes quickly learn that her advice is something they should take seriously. And 28 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

she finds that once they start to see their performance improve, athletes often choose to prioritize nutrition on their own.

“I thought when I started doing this that I was going to have to sell people on the fact that what I’m telling them is important,” she says.

“But when they realize that it’s going to make a difference, they really want to learn.”

At the University of Nebraska, student-athletes are given a guidebook offering information on food choices at restaurants around campus.

“It tells them the worst five and the best five choices on the menu, so they’re not on their own having to guess.”

BY THE BOOK

Even if your school has a training table, it’s inevitable that athletes will be on their own at many mealtimes, both on and off campus. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be given guidance in making smart nutritional choices.

At the University of Arizona, for example, Nutrition Counselor Gale Welter, RD, is developing a guidebook that’s devoted to teaching student-ath-

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letes how to eat well when they’re on and around the Arizona campus.

“There are a lot of great sports-nutrition books out there, but they’re typically aimed at the general population,” Welter says. “My goal with this project is to focus on the same nutritional concepts as you’d find in those books, but to present the information in a way that’s specific to our campus and our community.”

What she’s developing is an easy-to-use guide that provides basic nutritional information for everything from the entrees at the dining halls and at popular restaurants in town, to the snacks available in dorms and the energy bars athletes eat at the gym. Welter believes the guidebook will be a valuable resource because it will help connect the dots for athletes who understand the balance of nutrients they need to properly fuel their bodies, but may not know how to turn that understanding into actual meal choices.

“Let’s say you’re trying to increase your energy level during long workouts and you know you need more carbohydrates,” she says. “I want to be very specific about places you can go and what items you should get there. It will be helpful for athletes to have a reference like that.”

A similar idea is already being employed at the University of Nebraska to help student-athletes choose wisely when they’re away from campus. James Harris III, RD, LMNT, Coordinator of Sports Nutrition, provides all Husker

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NUTRITION

athletes with a menu guide offering information on the best—and worst— food choices at many restaurants around campus.

To prepare the guide, he worked with his student assistants in the athletic department to evaluate menus at local restaurants and determine which options were the healthiest, and least healthy, for athletes. They used calorie totals and protein, carbohydrate, and fat content as basic criteria.

To make the information easy for athletes to use, Harris designed his guide using the same labeling system for nutritional content that he uses for all the items at Nebraska’s training table. “We use a ‘stop light’ system. Things that are labeled green are all good choices, yellow means that they are decent choices, and red tells athletes that something is not a very good choice for them,” he says.

“They can take the guide to the restaurant with them, and it tells them the worst five and the best five choices on the menu, so they’re not on their own having to guess.”

“I’ll always start out with something positive, like, ‘You’ve got a great quality protein in that chicken breast, and you’ve got good fiber and antioxidants in those vegetables,’” he continues. “But then I may also say, ‘I see you’ve only got one glass of fluid on your tray, and I’d like to see at least two glasses at every meal.’ So that’s a teachable moment where I can talk about the importance of hydration at meal times.”

At Georgia Tech, Rob Skinner believes that one of the best ways to teach sports nutrition is by being hands-on with studentathletes. “The best time to teach athletes about nutrition is when they have food in front of them.”

“HOW’S MY PLATE?”

At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Rob Skinner, MS, RD, CSCS, Director of the Sports Performance Center, believes that one of the best ways to teach sports nutrition is by being hands-on with student-athletes. “I believe in the teachable moment,” Skinner says. “The best time to teach athletes about nutrition is when they have food in front of them.”

As a result, Skinner and Leah Moore, MS, RD, Georgia Tech’s Sports Dietician, are a regular presence at the school’s training table.

They walk through the dining hall and make themselves available to answer athletes’ questions about nutrition and offer advice on how to make the right decisions.

“If someone is there for them to ask, a lot of athletes will come with questions. The one I get most often is, ‘How’s my plate?’” Skinner says. “And that’s my opportunity to tell them how they’re doing, as well as offer some suggestions on how to do even better.

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Skinner finds that student-athletes don’t always realize how much their nutritional habits can affect their athletic performance, so another teaching resource he offers is individual diet analysis in the form of one- and threeday personal evaluations. To be evaluated, an athlete journals everything that he or she ingests over a given time period, along with compiling a list of his or her physical activity.

Skinner says that these records can be a very effective eye-opener for athletes, who may see for the first time that the long gaps between meals sap their energy level, or realize the amount of unwanted extra calories they consume every day in the form of between-meal snacks and beverages.

“Let’s say that by the end of a certain workout they felt really bad—their legs were really heavy and they could barely finish—and they don’t know why,” Skinner says. “With the records they kept, we can say to them, ‘See, on the day before that

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NUTRITION

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workout, you woke up late and didn’t have breakfast, ate lunch, went to practice, and then went to mandatory study hall where you couldn’t have food, so all you took in that entire day was your lunch and fluids. Is it any surprise that the next day’s workout was tough to get through?’”

Skinner says he knows that the teaching resources offered to Georgia Tech athletes are working, because at the end of their collegiate careers, athletes often show up in his office to ask about planning the transition to life after competitive sports. “They know that in college their eating was geared for their sport, but now that their athletic career is over, they’ll have to gear it for general health and fitness,” he says. “They’ll come to us wanting to change things up, and we’ll help them with that, too.”

WHAT’S IN STORE

Since most students live off campus at some point in their college careers, another area where athletes can benefit from sports-nutrition guidance is at the supermarket. “I knew some athletes who would go into the local supermarket and just stand there, not knowing where to begin, because they had never shopped before,” says May May Leung, MS, RD, LD/N, a former Sports Nutritionist at the University of Massachusetts who now works as a Nutrition Counselor at the University of Pennsylvania. “They knew they needed to go shopping, but with so many choices and no experience, it was overwhelming.”

In response to this need, Leung began organizing supermarket tours to teach UMass athletes how to fill their carts with healthy, performance-enhancing foods. “I believe you can teach a lot more while in the actual shopping environment, as opposed to just telling them in a classroom or a locker room what things to eat,” she says. “After going on a tour, the student-athletes were able to go into the supermarket and see things in a totally different way—and they were more confident 32 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

that they could get what they needed and make the right choices.”

On a typical tour, Leung and other UMass nutritionists would meet a team at the local supermarket, divide the athletes into groups of five to seven people, then lead them down each aisle, covering topics like how to choose the healthiest type of bread and how to read a nutritional label. As they walked, athletes could point out foods that they would normally buy, and Leung would go over the nutritional makeup of those items. She also often pointed out foods that were healthier alternatives to what the athletes had been choosing.

“A lot of students consume a great deal of cereal, so I’d have them pull out their favorite brand and compare its nutritional content with other brands. It was a great way for them to see how a simple choice like cereal could affect their nutritional intake.”

Leung says that one benefit of the supermarket tours was that by noticing what types of questions athletes most frequently asked, she could gauge where the most attention should be focused. “For instance, one thing that we usually ended up talking about a lot was the different types of breakfast cereals and how much their nutritional content varies,” she says.

“A lot of students consume a great deal of cereal, so I’d have them pull out their favorite brand and compare its nutritional content with other brands. It was a great way for them to see how a simple choice like which cereal to buy could affect their nutritional intake.”

Leung also used the tours to clear up some misconceptions that athletes had about nutrition. “When

ATHLETICBID.COM

we would visit the aisle with the energy bars, they’d show me the ones that they used, and often they were the high-protein bars, which they were eating before practice or competition,” she says. “I’d have the chance to explain to them that those bars don’t break down as effectively as high-carbohydrate bars, and that they can cause stomach cramps. I could actually show them right there in the store which bars would be better choices. They knew that was something which could have a big impact on their performance immediately, and I could tell they appreciated it.”

In addition to taking the tours, UMass athletes also learned what to do with their groceries once they got them home. They were provided with a cookbook specially designed for college students in need of highly nutritious, performance-enhancing meals that didn’t require a lot of cooking experience to prepare. The book was peppered with nutritional facts and information, and even provided a shopping list of 15 basic items everyone should have in their kitchen.

“With those ingredients, they could prepare just about anything in the book in under 15 minutes,” Leung explains. “And they were all the types of foods students like to eat, all made with ingredients that ensure the meals were nutritious and appropriate for athletes.”

TALKING TO THE TEAMS

Although most of the new ideas in nutrition education go beyond the classroom approach, the use of seminars and presentations should certainly not be discarded. However, they should be geared specifically to the studentathlete population. At the University of New Hampshire, Nutrition Educator Suzanne Sonneborn, RD, LD, presents two types of nutrition seminars to all incoming athletes as a part of the orientation process.

Their education begins with a general presentation, with the goal of providing an overview of Continued on page 36

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NUTRITION

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Reading Dots At the University of Florida, Coordinator of Sports Nutrition Michelle Rockwell, MS, RD, LD, makes choosing the right foods easier for her student-athletes by using a color-coded labeling system at the school’s training table. Each item is labeled with a colored dot, using the following system:

Orange: Vegetables

Selections at the training table change every day, but each item is always labeled with its appropriate colored dot and any key nutrients it contains. Thus, a typical day’s menu might look like this:

Squash & Zucchini: Orange Wheat Bread: Blue (fiber)

High-quality carbohydrates, including starchy vegetables (15g of carbohydrates, 3g of protein, less than 1g of fat, 80 kcals, and at least 2g of fiber).

Macaroni & Cheese: Purple (calcium)

Purple:

Low-quality carbohydrates (15g of carbohydrates, 3g of protein, 5g of fat, low amount of vitamins and minerals).

Spinach & Artichoke Casserole: Purple (antioxidants, iron)

Green:

Lean protein (0-10g of fat per serving).

Yellow:

Medium-fat protein (10-20g of fat per serving).

Red:

High-fat protein (more than 20g of fat per serving).

Blue:

White Rice: Purple Lo Mein Noodles: Purple

Garlic Bread: Purple Teriyaki Chicken Strips: Green (antioxidants) Beef Tips: Green (iron) Lasagna: Yellow (iron, antioxidants, calcium) Fried Shrimp: Red

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NUTRITION

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major concepts in sports nutrition.

Sonneborn divides the students into groups by gender, with 100 to 150 athletes in each group, and covers subjects like hydration, disordered eating, losing and gaining weight safely, and the effects of alcohol on the body.

Each athlete leaves the presentation with a folder full of handouts summarizing all the topics discussed, as well as information on how to set up an appointment with the school’s nutrition counselor.

Following this general introduction, Sonneborn uses individual team talks to provide more specific nutrition guidance. “The most challenging part of talking to any group of athletes is that they all have such individual needs,” she says. “So I’ll always start out my team presentations by focusing on something that is specific to their sport and inviting the student-athletes to ask questions. By asking for the feedback from the ath-

letes up front, they feel like this is not a canned nutrition presentation, and that I’m actually going to fine-tune it for their specific needs.”

Another way that Sonneborn makes the presentations as effective as possible is by using visuals to illustrate some of her most important points. “Hydration, for one, is always at the top of my list because I think it’s often overlooked by student-athletes,” she says. “I’ll actually line up Nalgene bottles in front of everyone and say, ‘This is how much you need before your match, this is how much you need during, and this is how much you need afterward.’ So they can see it right in front of them—and they love that.”

Sonneborn says the only complaint she hears about her presentations is that there isn’t enough time to talk about everything the athletes wanted to learn. But sparking an interest in nutrition leads many athletes to seek out

ways to learn more. “We’ve seen a definite increase in referrals for nutrition counseling, which we attribute to the fact that I am doing this type of programming,” she says.

OPENING THE FLOODGATES

However you choose to make nutrition resources and education available to your student-athletes, sports nutritionists agree that creating the right emphasis is key. Proper nutrition should be presented as a tool that’s just as important as strength training, conditioning, and team practices.

Because the more athletes know, the better-equipped they are to make the right choices.

“I think that once you get them interested in nutrition, it really opens the floodgates,” says Rockwell. “It’s about creating a culture where it becomes part of the normal routine— you lift weights, you go to the training room, you work on your nutrition.” ◆

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MANAGEMENT

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Delegate, Congregate, Educate Franklin Hammond ©Images.com

These three activities should constitute your fall gameplan for a sound staff development strategy.

By Guillermo Metz

I

f you’re like most veteran head athletic trainers, you learned by observing. When you began your career, you followed other athletic trainers around and asked a lot of questions. You went to conferences and networked like crazy.

Today, however, it takes a bit more to develop one’s professional skills.

Athletic training staffs are bigger, they

are given greater responsibility, and research in sports medicine is rapidly evolving. As the profession of athletic training has grown, the mentoring process has become increasingly complex.

In response, many athletic training departments have set up more formal strategies for staff development, ranging from delegating duties to ongoing educational forums. In this article, we talk to head athletic trainers who make the professional development of their staff a big part of their jobs.

THE “D” WORD

Developing your staff starts with doing something that is often difficult for athletic trainers: delegating. In the busy world of most sports-medicine departments, it usually seems easier to do a task yourself than to teach someone else how to do it.

“Yes, it may take you an hour to teach somebody how to do a five-minute Guillermo Metz is a former Associate Editor at Training & Conditioning.

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T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆ 37

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MANAGEMENT

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task, but you have to believe that over time you’re going to get that hour back tenfold,” says Steven Cole, ATC, Director of Sports Medicine at the College of William and Mary. “There also may be the old mentality of, ‘If I’m going to be held responsible for it, then I might as well do it myself.’”

“It’s been hard for me to give up doing a lot of things,” admits Danny Poole, MS, ATC, SCAT, Head Athletic Trainer and Director of Sports Medicine at Clemson University. “But it’s something that I’ve had to learn to do. With the whole athletic realm having gotten so big, you can’t do it all.

One person could do this job 30 years ago, but there’s no way that can happen now. You have to trust the people working for you to do a good job.”

Other athletic trainers are wary of giving more duties to already overworked assistants. “A lot of head athletic trainers, especially if they’re used to working with small staffs, feel like they don’t want to put too much on their staff,” says Ruemruk Malasarn, MA, ATC, CSCS, Head Athletic Trainer at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. “But giving their assistants exposure to things is important for their development as athletic trainers.”

When you’re truly aiming for staff development, the idea is not to dole out the meaningless tasks, but to carefully consign areas of importance, such as budgeting, inventory, or reviewing procedures, to each staff member. “I assign each of my assistants an administrative area,” Cole explains. “One has purchasing, one has insurance, one has education, one has scheduling, one has medical clearance, and one has facilities. We go over each of those at our staff meetings and get everyone’s input. So, we’re interdependent upon each other, and we cross-train in each other’s areas.”

Sharing information is the key component. “Take budgeting, for example,” Cole explains. “I get a budget report every month from our business office, and we go over it at our staff meeting. As the director, I could just look at that report and put it 38 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

“I assign each of my assistants an administrative area. One has purchasing, one has insurance, one has education, one has scheduling, one has medical clearance, and one has facilities. We go over each of those at our staff meetings and get everyone’s input. So, we’re interdependent upon each other, and we cross-train in each other’s areas.” in a drawer. But I share it with everybody so they get a feel for where we’re spending money and have a regular opportunity to provide input.”

Delegating tasks effectively requires a balance of offering guidance and letting the staff member find his or her own way. “You have to make sure you’re giving them enough direction and oversight so they’re not out on an island trying to do something without a clue of how to do it,” says Steve Willard, MESS, ATC, Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Colorado.

“For example, two years ago I assigned one of our staff members to overhaul our emergency action plan,” he continues. “I met with her every couple of weeks and she would show me what she had done and why she did it. I would look over it and say, ‘That looks good,’ or ‘Let’s consult with our legal counsel,’ or ‘Let’s look on the NATA Web site to see what its position statement says.’”

Willard also thinks it’s important to include everyone in department-wide projects, even though one person may be in charge. “I may assign a project to one person, but everyone has some responsibility for it,” he says. “The athletic trainers who work with soccer get involved by providing information on

ATHLETICBID.COM

the best access to their practice field or their thoughts on the emergency equipment they’d like to have with them on the field.”

That process not only helps distribute the work and responsibility but also the glory, says Jeff Monroe, MS, ATC, Head Athletic Trainer and Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning, Athletic Training, and Sports Medicine at Michigan State University. “Because they’re involved in making decisions that affect all of us in the department, they have some ownership of the program. At the same time, they’re learning different skills and interacting with people outside of the department.

“At our weekly staff meetings, our assistants have a chance to bring up what they’re doing in front of everyone,” Monroe adds. “That way, they get feedback and have it critiqued by the group as well as by me. And they get peer recognition for their contributions.”

Even seemingly small or routine tasks can provide chances for your staff to grow. For example, early in his career, Ed Crowley, LAT, ATC, Director of Athletic Training Services at the University of Iowa, worked under the legendary William “Pinky” Newell at Purdue University. “Pinky was very good at developing proposals and working through the upper echelons of administrators to get what he wanted,” Crowley says. “I think I learned a great deal from him in that area. He would allow me to read through some of his letters to see if there was anything I thought would be appropriate to add or delete. So, that’s something I now regularly do with my associate directors.”

PROGRAM ASSESSMENT

Another chance to provide professional development opportunities comes when it’s time to assess program needs and changes of direction. As with administrative duties, it works well to implement a team approach.

For example, at the U.S. Naval Academy, Jeff Fair, EdD, ATC, Director of Athletic Training Services, and his staff set aside dates each fall and

◆

spring for reviewing the entire sports medicine program. “We look over the data we picked up over the year and at injury trends,” he says. “Then we talk about plans for the following semester—things we could do differently in terms of prevention and rehab.”

At William and Mary, Cole arranges staff retreats to review the year as a whole. “At the end of the year, I like to do two of them, a week apart,” he says. “For the first one, I’ll have a list of topics to get folks thinking and talking. It’s like a brainstorming session—everything’s open, and you don’t make any judgements on things.

It’s casual, informal, and out of our building. It’s a chance to look back on the year, reflect, and identify what our issues were.

“Then we have a week in between and come back and have an informal afternoon together,” Cole continues.

“That allows us to digest what we talked about, clear our thoughts, and come back to some things we feel are

important. At that point we ask ourselves, ‘What are the concerns or issues, and what do we propose as solutions?’”

Willard also has a staff retreat every May, and he says there are two equally important aspects to these getaways. “It’s a time to be away from the training room, without any athletes or phones diverting our attention—to review our program and go over concerns,” he says. “But I like the fellowship concept of it, too, where we can get away and have some time as a group to just get to know each other better in a relaxed environment. I think that’s as important as anything.

“But we also have an agenda,” he continues. “We meet for six or seven hours and go over every facet of our program and ideas for changing things. The agenda will say something like ‘position coverage’ and we talk about each of our positions, if we have any issues with them, good things, bad things, and anything we’d like to see changed for next year.

MANAGEMENT

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“I have someone taking minutes, and when we get back, I assign people to look more into each idea, usually over the summer. Then, by August, we look at how much of what we discussed we have actually put in place.”

The assessment process can also include student-athlete feedback. “Part of our athletic department’s senior athlete exit interviews deal with sports medicine,” says Mike Sims, MS, LAT, ATC, Director of Sports Medicine at Baylor University. “I get the feedback from that, and we discuss it as a staff.

That alerts us to problems or potential problems that could come up. It’s been a good source of information for us to see how we’re doing as a department and makes us take a look at ways we could improve.”

Some head athletic trainers conduct their own surveys even more frequently and use discussions about the results to help their staffs get better at their jobs. “Every four to six weeks we survey our student-athletes to find

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MANAGEMENT

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out from them how we’re doing,” says Cole. “We ask things like, ‘Do we explain treatment goals to you?’ ‘Are you happy with the level of service you’re receiving?’ We then look at the results as a staff.”

FORMAL EDUCATION

Conferences, meetings, conventions, and in-services provide important opportunities for your staff. Most colleges and universities have some budget set aside for sending staff to conferences and meetings, but this is an area that is often subject to cuts in tight financial times.

At the University of Iowa, Crowley made it a condition of his taking the job that the athletic department budget include money for each of his staff members to attend professional meetings each year. With a staff of 10, that’s now $20,000 in the budget for registration and travel expenses. Crowley also makes sure he gets a return from the money by hav-

ing attendees give an in-service when they return.

Willard rotates who attends which meetings. “I don’t send everyone to our national meeting because I feel that wastes our money,” he says. “If all eight of us went to the same meeting, we’re not diversifying our education.

So I let two assistants go to the national meeting each year, and I rotate that.

And we have a conference meeting and district meeting, which I also rotate. The idea is that people take notes they can share with the rest of the staff when they return.” He also encourages people to look for events beyond annual meetings and conferences. “If someone comes to me and says, ‘I’d like to go to this meeting on stress fractures,’ I can usually accommodate those requests,” Willard says.

Some head athletic trainers, however, send as many staff members as possible to the annual NATA Convention because of the diverse wealth of information. “Before going,

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we look at what we want to get out of it as a group,” says Cole. “We identify things like, ‘What presentations are each of us most interested in?’ and ‘What are the issues we want to talk to other people about?’ If there are overlapping topics, we divide and conquer and bring that material back to everyone in the group. The idea is to have a coordinated approach to going to presentations.”

Back on campus, there are many ways to ensure continuing education happens on a regular basis. At Iowa, Crowley partners with the school’s athletic training education program.

“Once a week, we have a meeting from 7 to 8 in the morning where people present on a topic,” Crowley says.

“That’s usually put on by the athletic training education program, and it could include anybody from one of our doctors to a graduate assistant presenting some research they’re working on.

And when one of my assistants goes to a seminar or course, they’ll present at

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those morning meetings so everyone can learn some of the important things that went on.â&#x20AC;?

At William and Mary, Cole has inservices every other week. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a continuing education provider through the NATA-BOC, so we tend to do our clinical continuing education within the staff,â&#x20AC;? says Cole. â&#x20AC;&#x153;About twice a month we have our physician or someone from the outside come in and do a hands-on workshop or presentation for us on some topic we have a curiosity about. Things you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get in the normal run-of-the-mill coverage, such as diabetes, asthma, fungal infections.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had people come in and talk about ear exams, eye exams, and listening to cardiac and bowel sounds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all get the same thing at the same time from the same source,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And then we can develop our expertise from there. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been very beneficial.â&#x20AC;?

Some head athletic trainers take hands-on learning a step further every

now and then. When Fair recently wanted to do a workshop on backboarding at the Naval Academy, he worked with campus fire department EMTs who took him and his staff through some drills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We brought in an evacuation helicopter and we practiced boarding an individual and putting them on the aircraft,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We arranged for the state police to land the Life Flight helicopter right on the practice field next to our building. And we had a meeting beforehand about how to go through the whole process including making the call to the emergency number. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no substitute for getting into a situation like that and walking through it.â&#x20AC;?

NOTHING LIKE NETWORKING

As a final step to developing your staff, let them know that you are not their only mentor. Veteran athletic trainers at different schools lean on each other for support, and assistant athletic trainers should be encouraged

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Monroe enjoys the evolution of mentoring he has seen. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I used to go to meetings every year that were held at or near ski resorts and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be sitting on the chair lift talking shop,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now, we get high school athletic trainers or new head athletic trainers at a college someplace and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re asking us these questions. The networking continues. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the howtoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and the what-do-you-do-aboutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and the best referral sources that you really come away with. That gives you more confidence in being able to make decisions.â&#x20AC;? â&#x2014;&#x2020;

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▼ Short, but intense, workouts have helped Wake Forest win the past two NCAA Division I field hockey titles.

By Mike Tolloti

T

hey say teams are only as strong as their weakest link, and for the past two years, a weak link in the Wake Forest field hockey team could not be found. This strength has earned the Demon Deacons back-to-back NCAA Division I championships, a high-water mark in the history of the program. I attribute their success to hard work, dedication, and a nevergive-up attitude, which they carry from the practice field to the weightroom to the field of play.

At Wake Forest, our goal as strength and conditioning coaches is to develop athletic potential. Our purpose is to provide our sport coaches with athletes who are prepared to perform at the peak of their physical capabilities.

Our strength and conditioning philosophy encompasses several key points, which we use to design programs that help our athletes gain strength, power, speed, flexibility, agility, and mental toughness. In this article, I detail our in-season development program.

THE BIG PICTURE

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Sticks & Weights

42 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

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Our training program focuses primarily on the core of the body. In the past few years, core training has become a hot topic, and for good reason. If an athlete is weak in her core—which we define as the abs, lower back, obliques, glutes, and hamstrings—there is a good chance she will fail to reach her potential and that she will also face an Mike Tolloti, SCCC, is in his fourth year as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Wake Forest University, where he works directly with the field hockey team.

C O M P E T I T I V E

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▼ increased risk of injury. Plus, with a strong core, a field hockey player can better transfer power through her lower and upper body.

Effective core training means more than doing 10 minutes of sit-ups at the end of a workout. We try to strengthen the core in a holistic, functional way by impressing on the athletes that they are using their core in every exercise they do. Each time they step out of the rack with a back squat, the core is activated. The ability to press a weight overhead requires a strong core. Even a well-executed push-up requires the athlete to utilize core strength. Each time an athlete performs an exercise, she can gain core strength and stability.

The bulk of our repetitions are within 75 to 80 percent of 1RM and we use multiple sets, which helps build the strength and power needed to compete while keeping hypertrophy to a minimum.

If female athletes see they’re gaining strength and power without adding 10 or 15 pounds of muscle mass, they will be more likely to buy into the program.

We next focus on the fact that field hockey, like most sports at Wake Forest, is a stand-up power sport. To address this, we train with groundbased lifts such as cleans, squats, pulls, and standing presses. This type of lifting involves the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments similar to those used in field hockey movements.

With these lifts, the bulk of our repetitions are within 75 to 80 percent of a one-rep maximum. We use multi-

ple sets (usually between five and 12) of low reps (typically no more than three). This helps build the strength and power needed to compete while keeping hypertrophy to a minimum. If female athletes see they’re gaining strength and power without adding 10 or 15 pounds of muscle mass, they will be more likely to buy into the program.

When training our athletes, we look at the body in its entirety, not just at its separate parts. We know they need strong hamstrings, but their hamstrings don’t work alone. Our lifting incorporates the whole body, working both the prime movers and the stabilizers, similar to their use in competition. We also use a combination of calisthenics, and single-limb and two-limb lifts to help each player learn how to use her entire body in a natural, fluid way.

Field hockey players are constantly transferring weight from leg to leg and from arm to arm in a variety of ways. To prepare our athletes for these movements, we employ lifts such as one-arm dumbbell benches, one-arm rows, oneleg squats, step-ups, and lunge variations, all of which can be performed with a variety of equipment. We often incorporate kettlebells, in addition to barbells and dumbbells. The kettlebell has become a great asset in our development of single-limb strength and corresponding core development. With just one kettlebell, athletes can perform one-arm presses, swings, lunges, rows, and a variety of other exercises.

Our in-season workouts range from 15 to 25 minutes, thus they are highly organized and require intense focus and effort from the athletes. To achieve this, one of our favorite methods is combining exercises into supersets. For example, rather than doing all the bench pressing followed by all the pull-ups, we’ll have our athletes do bench presses followed by pull-ups in the same set. Then, they’ll do another set of the same combination.

Some of our favorite combinations are push-press with pull-up, bench-press with bent row, and one-arm dumbbell bench with a one-arm row. We also

incorporate this approach into our lower body training. The squat supersetted with a pull is an efficient combination.

These short, intense workouts demand that the athlete attack the weight on every set of every rep, which not only develops great power, but also fosters mental toughness, focus, and discipline. This style of training will help bring leaders to the front as all athletes respond to the intensity and competitiveness of the workout. It also helps build a foundation of teamwork that can be taken to the playing field.

Within the above guidelines, each workout will still have its own unique traits. From the desires of the sport coach to the energy level of the athletes, none of workouts are set in stone. If you become inflexible and unable to alter your workouts, the athletes will be the ones who suffer. Just because they handled a high workload last year, or even last week, does not mean they can handle it today.

MENTAL STRENGTH

In all our strength and conditioning work, we encourage the champion’s attitude. Physical strength is not always what wins championships—it is often the collective mental strength of the team. That mental strength includes players pushing themselves and their teammates through a workout, overcoming defeats, and maintaining good habits outside the training facility, such as eating well, getting enough sleep, and abstaining from alcohol. This type of attitude encourages athletes to look at their abilities and address their weak points. If athletes know they are inflexible, are they stretching more on their own? If their foot speed is slow, are they spending time on drills to improve that?

To encourage that attitude, we have a Gold Club program that athletes qualify for by achieving predetermined marks in different lifts.

If they reach those levels in all 10 categories, they become a Gold Club

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▼ Going for the Gold Field hockey players who reach these levels in all exercises become members of the Wake Forest Gold Club.

Hang Clean & Split Jerk

120

Bench Press

100

Back Squat

137

Power Clean

132

Push Press

98

Front Squat

132

One-arm Bench (x5)

40

Standing Press

80

Hang Clean

120

Power Clean and Jerk

120

member and are awarded a T-shirt and personal recognition. These standards are not unreachable numbers—they’re set to be obtainable by 60 to 70 percent of the team. (See “Going for the Gold,” at left.) We are not looking to single out one person as having the highest power clean or bench press.

Rather, we want to emphasize the idea of motivating the whole team to achieve a certain level.

We also have a “Lifter of the Year” award, but the criteria has little to do with how physically strong the athletes are. We use factors such as coachability, attentiveness, attitude, and effort to determine the winner.

Ensuring a great attitude in the weightroom requires that the sport coaches believe in the strength program. Therefore, we make sure to continually communicate with our field hockey coaches and listen to their needs. When strength training is

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▼ important to the sport coach, it will be important to the players. Athletes will attack in the weightroom with the same intensity they show on the field of play because they know it is expected of them.

Over the past two seasons our field hockey team has not missed a single workout. From the first game of the season until two days before the Final Four—in both years—they were in the weightroom. As we have seen here at Wake Forest, this dedication can pay dividends.

TWICE A WEEK

Now that our philosophical groundwork has been laid, we can take a look at how the workout comes together. The field hockey season is about 13 weeks long. We break that into one five-week block and two four-week blocks. We believe this to be the optimal framework because after four weeks the players have begun to adapt physically and psychologically to the exercises, reducing their effectiveness.

The field hockey team lifts twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while most of their games are on the weekends. The entire team lifts together, doing the same program, although weights vary by individual needs and strength levels.

Since we only conduct two sessions a week, both are full-body workouts. The first is designed to maintain strength and power, while the second is focused on power and explosiveness. Both workouts follow the same general template: warmup, Olympic-style lift or complex, upperbody strength work, lower-body assistance work, upper-body assistance work, and flexibility.

On both days, the athletes perform a warmup that includes squat thrusts, a complex with the bar, and two-arm kettlebell swings. We use two complexes—back squat/good morning/press or front squat/press/Romanian dead lift. Both are performed for one set, five or six repetitions per exercise.

We then do two-arm kettlebell swings to warm up the lower back and hamstrings in preparation for the Olympic-style lift. Our goal is to warm up the muscles while giving the athletes time to mentally prepare for the day’s workout.

The first workout of the week is designed to maintain the strength and power gained in the off-season. All of our athletes perform one-rep max tests on a variety of lifts in the spring. These results are used as a baseline for each athlete during the season. Each exercise uses a specified percentage of their one-rep max, allowing for individualized workloads within the team workout.

The main lifts we employ are the power clean or hang clean for power development and the standing press or push press for upper-body work. For the upper-body work, we combine the presses with pull-ups.

Within each training block, the percentages will range from 85 percent to 100 percent. Once we start a new block, the lifts change, and we begin again around 85 percent.

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▼ This way, our athletes stay within 10 to 15 percent of their one-rep max from the first of September until the end of the season. This program is designed to maintain both physical and mental strength. There is a certain confidence that comes with hitting an old max or even establishing a new max in-season. The confidence they take from the weightroom to the field is incredible.

Once the two main lifts are finished, the athletes complete their assistance work, which might typically include push-ups and glute-ham raises. The workout is completed with static core work, hurdle flexibility drills, and a team stretch. We can complete each workout in 15 minutes by assigning sets that typically take 40 to 60 seconds to complete.

The Thursday workout focuses on bar speed and power. We want the athletes to leave the weightroom feeling strong and fast. As a result, the weights

assigned on this day stay in the 70- to 80-percent range.

The first lift is a complex consisting of a clean, front squat, and jerk.

Each of these will be done for two repetitions per set. This will be followed by either a Romanian dead lift or good morning exercise combined with abdominal work. The remainder of the workout consists of bench presses combined with bent-over rows.

The beauty of the system is its simplicity. We utilize a total of only 12 exercises the entire season. Variety is provided by constantly changing reps, sets, and percentages. The athletes are willing to come in and give 100 percent because they know the workout only lasts 15 minutes and that it has proven successful. The athletes and coaches have seen the results and believe in what we do.

And as we all know, when it comes to winning, seeing is believing. ◆

Block By Block The in-season field hockey strength and conditioning program at Wake Forest University is divided into one five-week block and two four-week blocks. The basic structure of the workout remains the same, but the exercises and workloads change from block to block to avoid physical and psychological adaptation.

Below are examples of how the workouts change from Block One to Block Two. Both day’s programs are preceded by a warmup. Tuesday’s sessions conclude with static core work and hamstring/lower back stretches. Thursday’s workouts finish with hurdle mobility drills and stretching.

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phone (301) 782-3700 fax (301) 782-3701 Request No. 130 46 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

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C O M P E T I T I V E

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T U E S D AY

1. Power Clean/Front Squat/Jerk Complex: 2x50%, 2x60%, 1x70%, 1x70%, 1x70% 2. Romanian Dead Lift and Abdominals Superset RDL 5x50%/Abs x 30 RDL 5x60%/Abs x 30 RDL 5x70%/Abs x 30 3. Bench and Row Superset Bench Press 2x50%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x60%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x70%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x80%/Bent Row x 2

1. Power Cleans: 2x50%, 2x60%, 2x70%, 1x80%, 1x85%, 1x85% 2. Press and Pull Superset Push Press 2x50%/Pull-ups x 2 Push Press 2x60%/Pull-ups x 2 Push Press 2x70%/Pull-ups x 2 Push Press 2x75%/Pull-ups x 2 Push Press 2x80%/Pull-ups x 2 3. Push-ups x 10 4. Glute-hamstring Raises 2x10

T H U R S D AY

1. Hang Cleans: 2x50% of max, 2x60%, 2x70%, 1x80%, 1x85%, 1x90%, 1x95% 2. Press and Pull Superset Standing Press 2x50%/Pull-Ups x 2 Standing Press 2x60%/Pull-Ups x 2 Standing Press 2x70%/Pull-Ups x 2 Standing Press 1x80%/Pull-Ups x 2 Standing Press 1x85%/Pull-Ups x 2 Standing Press 1x90%/Pull-Ups x 2 3. Push-Ups x 10 4. Glute-Hamstring Raises x 15

Block Two

1. Hang Clean/Front Squat/Jerk Complex: 2x50%, 2x60%, 1x70%, 1x70%, 1x70% 2. Romanian Dead Lift and Abdominals Superset RDL 6x50%/Abs x 25 RDL 6x60%/Abs x 25 RDL 6x70%/Abs x 25 3. Bench and Row Superset Bench Press 2x50%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x60%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x70%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x75%/Bent Row x 2 Bench Press 2x80%/Bent Row x 2

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Building strength requires athletes who power lift, body build, or weight train to fuel their bodies with the right foods and fluids. Knowing how much protein to eat or how to stay properly hydrated can be the keys to success.

Foods: Pre-Workout Fuel

Foods: Post-Workout Fuel

Athletes should go into a workout well nourished and well hydrated. Without proper energy available in the bloodstream and muscles, it’s difficult to hit goals that are set in the weight room.

Athletes burn up muscle energy stores during a workout. Their bodies’ muscles lose the energy that’s been stored for exercise. It’s important that athletes:

0 Plan a pre-workout snack or meal. Choose foods that are easy to digest, don’t sit too heavy on the stomach and give a positive edge when lifting.

Include high-energy foods — as well as lean sources of protein (see sample menu).

0 Fill two-thirds of the athletes plate with high-carbohydrate options for quick energy.

0 Get energy back to the muscles within 30 minutes and again within 2 hours to help rebuild muscle energy stores for the next workout.

0 Have snacks like a carbohydrate/protein energy bar, chocolate milk, yogurt mixed with nuts, or a turkey or peanut butter sandwich handy to refuel fast.

Building Muscle: Is More Protein Better?

Athletes should know their sweat rates.

Since sweat rates can vary based on the individual, weather, and intensity of exercise, athletes should measure:

Researchers continue to examine protein needs for gaining muscle mass. It’s true that athletes who strength train do require more protein than those who don’t — 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (or approximately .77 grams of protein per pound of body weight). [See chart below] Weight (lbs)

Daily protein requirements (grams)

125 lbs.

96

How much weight they lose during exercise (in ounces)

150 lbs.

116

+

175 lbs.

135

How much fluid they consume during exercise (in fluid ounces)

200 lbs.

154

225 lbs.

173

250 lbs.

193

=

The amount they SHOULD drink to replace sweat losses

Foods & Fluids Series: Volume I, STRENGTH TRAINING is one in a series of six sports science articles written by Susan Kundrat, M.S., R.D., L.D., an expert in sports nutrition. Any of these articles can be reproduced for educational purposes to distribute to athletes, students, parents or to post in the athletic training room, locker room, or weight room.

Meeting Protein Requirements

Sample Meal Plan

Athletes who strength train can get their daily requirements of protein and other important food sources by simply adhering to a nutritionally sound diet. After all, a solid nutrition plan is just as important as a training plan when it comes to building lean muscle mass.

By eating a variety of foods, strength athletes can meet their goals for protein and total energy. This sample meal plan provides 175 grams of protein, enough for a 225-pound athlete.

Unfortunately, some believe that supplements are the best source for adding protein to their diets. Truth be told, many supplements contain less protein than athletes think – much less than what they can find in real food. Consider the following sources: Food Brown rice Whole wheat bread Oatmeal Spaghetti noodles Pork and beans Cheese Milk Peanut butter Tofu Cottage cheese Plain yogurt Scrambled eggs Baked cod Canned salmon Roast beef or lean meat Pork loin Canned tuna Chicken breast Turkey breast

Serving Size

Protein (grams)

1 cup cooked 2 slices 1 cup cooked 1 cup cooked 1/2 cup 1 oz.

1 cup 2 Tbsp.

1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1 cup 3 3 oz.

1/2 cup 3 oz.

3 oz.

1/2 cup 3 oz.

3 oz.

5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 10 14 14 19 20 24 24 25 26 26 26

Fluids: Hydration is Key Water is a key component of the athlete’s body, making up 60 to 65 percent of total body weight.

0 Dehydration can diminish energy and impair performance. Even a 2-percent loss of body weight through sweat (i.e., 3 pounds for a 150-pound competitor) can put athletes at a disadvantage.

1

Gisfoli, C.V. and D.R. Lamb. Perspectives in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine: Fluid Homeostasis During Exercise, Chapt 1 pp. 1-38, 1990.

2 Gopinathan, P.M. et al. Arch Environ Health, 43:15-17, 1998.

3 Schoffstall, J.E. et al. J Strength Cond Res, 15:102-108, 2001.

Meal

Sample Menu

Breakfast

2 slices of whole wheat toast with peanut butter 1 cup of oatmeal with 1 cup of lowfat/nonfat milk 1 banana 1 cup of orange juice

Lunch

1 ham and cheese sandwich on whole grain bread 1 cup of vegetable and bean soup 1 cup of fresh fruit salad 1 small fast food milkshake

Post-workout Snack

1 energy bar 16 ounces of apple juice

Dinner

6 ounces grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast 1 cup of pasta/tomato sauce 1 cup of steamed broccoli 2 cups of lowfat/nonfat milk

How to Get the Most from a Workout Athletes think hydration doesn’t matter in the weight room. In fact, research shows that properly hydrated resistance-trained weight lifters can lift MORE than those who are dehydrated.3 Here’s how to do it: 0 Remember fluids throughout the day. This may be as simple as grabbing a sports drink first thing in the morning, then using fountains, coolers, and cafeteria beverages as triggers for drinking throughout the day.

0 Hydrate 2 to 3 hours before training. Athletes should aim for at least 16 ounces (2 cups) of fluid at this time and an additional 8 ounces (1 cup) 10 to 20 minutes prior to lifting.

0 Drink during and after training. Sports drinks, like Gatorade®, can help ward off dehydration and muscle cramps because they help replenish both fluid and electrolytes (i.e., sodium and potassium) lost in sweat without overdrinking.

CONTACT: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE GATORADE SPORTS SCIENCE INSTITUTE (GSSI) LOG ON TO: www.gssiweb.com or call 1-800-616-GSSI (4774).

FF-STR

Nutritional Products Ascendia Functional and Nutritional Foods—A division of The Jel Sert Company 888-467-9499 WWW.ENERGICE.NET Sold direct or through distributors: Direct.

OENERGICE FREEZER BARS Primary Ingredients: Mineral Electrolytes: Sodium, potassium, Magnesium; Glutamine Peptides, Branched Chain Amino Acids; Taurine ... Calories Per Serving: 70 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/ Protein/Fat: 17g/0g/0g ... Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin E 10%, Vitamin B-6 10%, Niacin 4%, Vitamin C 10% ... Quantity Discounts/Pricing: various sales and marketing programs are available. Call or contact via Web site for details ... Primary Advantages: Energice is the only product that effectively delivers crucial performance and health benefits of heat stress management/core temperature cooling and muscle recovery.

Circle No. 200

California Raisin Marketing Board 559-248-0287 WWW.CALRAISINS.ORG

OCOOPER COMPLETE JOINT MAINTENANCE FORMULA Primary Ingredients: Glucosamine, chondroitin, and bromelain ... Quantity Discounts/Pricing: $29.95-One month supply. 20 percent discount for Training & Conditioning readers.

Use coupon code “TRAINING” through toll-free number or on Web site. ... Primary Advantages: Maintain and support healthy joints with this blend of glucosamine, chondroitin and bromelain.

Glucosamine and chondroitin are amino sugars that occur naturally in the body and work to lubricate the joints and promote flexibility. Bromelain, an extract from the stem of pineapple, is useful for reducing muscle and tissue inflammation.

Circle No. 202

OCOOPER COMPLETE BASIC ONE

OCALIFORNIA RAISINS Calories per serving: 90 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/Protein/Fat: 22g/<1g/0g ... Vitamins/Minerals: An important source of antioxidants ...

Primary Advantages: Naturally sweet California raisins are a great source of energy. Recent research indicates that raisins help athletes maintain a steady level of energy for sports and other activities, making them an excellent choice for your training and conditioning needs.

California raisins also rank among the top antioxidant-rich foods because they contain important phytochemicals and minerals, including iron and potassium. Fat and cholesterol free, California raisins are easily portable and available year-round. They’re the healthy energy choice that meets your needs.

Circle No. 201

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Cooper Concepts, Inc. 877-2-HEALTH (243-2584) WWW.COOPERWELLNESS.COM Sold direct or through distributors: Direct to consumers through the company’s Web site and toll-free number. Also available at health food stores and sports clubs/gyms.

Primary Ingredients: Multivitamin and Minerals ... Vitamins and Minerals: E, D, B6, B12, folic acid ... Quantity Discounts/ Pricing: $16.95-Two month supply. 20 percent discount for Training & Conditioning readers. Use coupon code “TRAINING” through toll-free number or on Web site. ... Primary Advantages: Cooper Complete Basic One is formulated to meet the needs of those who want to cover their “basic” vitamin and mineral requirements with just one tablet a day. Basic One includes levels of antioxidants and “B” vitamins you won’t find in competing “one a day” products, including 400 IU of natural vitamin E, 200 mg of vitamin C, and 800 IU of vitamin D, plus optimum levels of B6, B12, and folic acid. Basic One comes in both an Iron-Free formulation (suggested for men and postmenopausal women) and a With Iron formulation (suggested for women of child-bearing age.)

Circle No. 203

ATHLETICBID.COM

GATORADE 877-3-PROPEL WWW.PROPELWATER.COM Sold direct or through distributors: Grocery stores, convenience stores, club stores, and drug stores.

OPROPEL FITNESS WATER Primary Ingredients: Filtered water, natural flavors, sucrose syrup ... Calories Per Serving: 10 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/ Protein/Fat: 3g/0g/0g ... Vitamins and Minerals: B6, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, B12, C, E ...

Quantity Discounts/ Pricing: 700ml $1.19-$1.39 in grocery, 6-pack $4.49, C-store $1.39$1.49, 500ml $.99 ... Primary Advantages: Created by the hydration experts at The Gatorade Company, Propel Fitness Water is lightly flavored to encourage improved hydration over plain water. Propel also contains vitamins for an active lifestyle.

Circle No. 204

OGATORADE NUTRITION SHAKE, NEW IMPROVED FORMULA—BETTER TASTE Calories Per Serving: 370 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/Protein/Fat: 20g/54g/8g ... Vitamins and Minerals: C, calcium, and iron ... Primary Advantages: Gatorade Nutrition Shake is a balanced nutrition supplement that is ideal as a nutritious highenergy meal replacement, or a pre-event or between-meal snack.

Gatorade Nutrition Shake is for athletes who want to perform at their best, and often need to supplement their diet with a convenient, balanced, and nutritious product. Gatorade Nutrition Shake is available in two flavors—chocolate and vanilla.

Circle No. 205

General Nutrition Centers, Inc. 888-462-2548 WWW.GNCPROPERFORMANCE.COM Sold direct or through distributors: Available at GNC stores nationwide. Use GNC.com’s Store Locator to find the nearest location.

O50 GRAND SLAM™ Primary Ingredients: Water, Milk Protein Concentrate (Whey Protein and Casein), Natural Flavor, Cellulose Gel, Whey Protein Continued on page 53

www.gncproperformance.com You’ve put every last ounce into getting this far, and the next level won’t be any different. You’ll be even harder on your body.

But your supplements don’t have to be. Fact is, GNC makes one of the most complete product lines for ambitious athletes like you.

And it’s backed by science, not hype. From 100% Whey Protein in a pouch or ready-to-drink bottle, to Meal Plex,™ a meal replacement that helps ensure balanced nutrition by providing essential nutrients to the body. All of which helps you pay off the only person you owe. Yourself. Pro Performance.® Exclusively at GNC. Visit our web site for a free fitness planner and the latest on sports nutrition.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease.

Call 1-800-477-4462 or visit www.gnc.com for the GNC location nearest you. ©2004 General Nutrition Centers. May not be available outside the U.S.

Request No. 138

www.athleticBid.com Looking To Research Purchases Via The Internet?

An increasing number of athletic administrators and their staffs are using the Internet to identify and research companies and their products. If you’re one of the many using the Web to reduce time spent on the phone with suppliers, read on. See for yourself why more than 13,000 unique users each month rely on Athleticbid.com to look up information for potential purchases.

Buyer’s Guide

Using AthleticBid.com’s on-line Buyer’s Guide, you are able to: ● View the complete product line of companies. ● View catalog pages or spec sheets from many of the top companies. ● Read a profile of description of select companies. ● Request to be contacted by a company representative. ● Request catalog and sales literature from companies.

Place an RFP You can use this service to request and receive information from numerous suppliers by providing your product specs only once and letting AthleticBid.com do the rest.

Market Place Purchase inventory close-outs, discontinued items and products on sale from national suppliers. The products in this section are being sold at significant savings.

Product Connection Products for your team or organization are highlighted through both descriptions and photos. You can request sales literature on products you’re interested in with just a click.

Dealer Locator Locate your nearest dealer for many leading manufacturers and suppliers.

www.athleticBid.com

Nutritional Products Continued from page 50

Concentrate ... Calories Per Serving: 270 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/ Protein/Fat: 12g/50g/2g ... Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium, Iron, Sodium, Potassium ... Primary Advantages: Getting an adequate supply of protein is crucial for supporting your muscles and keeping your body in a positive nitrogen balance. 50 Grand Slam provides 50 grams of protein, and amino acids for muscle protein. It contains both “slow” (casein) and “fast” (whey) proteins in the form of milk protein concentrate, and it’s low in fat and sugar.

Circle No. 206

OELECTRO-AIDE™ Primary Ingredients: Water, Dextrose, Fructose, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate ...

Calories Per Serving: 100 ... Grams of Carbohydrates/Protein/Fat: 25g/0g/0g ... Vitamins and Minerals: Sodium, Potassium ...

Primary Advantages: During high-intensity exercise, an athlete’s body cools itself by sweating. This results in the loss of water and electrolytes, which must be replaced to maintain optimal performance.

Electro-Aide is a ready-to-drink product that rehydrates athletes and replenishes valuable electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, and other minerals.

Circle No. 207

Hormel Healthlabs 800-866-7757 WWW.HORMELHEALTHLABS.COM Sold direct or through distributors: Through Distributors.

OPLUS-2™ Primary Ingredients: Milk, milk protein concentrates, high fructose corn syrup, malto dextrin ... Calories Per Serving: 8 oz. = 480 calories ... Grams of Carbohydrates/ Protein/Fat: 16g/48g/24g ...

Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin H 20%, Vitamin C 26%, Calcium 60%, Riboflavin 15%, Phosphorus 15% ... Primary Advantages: Extra effort takes extra calories. Hormal HealthLabs’ Plus2 is packed with 960 calories and 32 grams of protein in every 16 oz. serving—perfect for sustaining or gaining weight. Plus-2 is specially formulated for weight gain.

Circle No. 208

Testimonial

Testimonial

Enabling athletes to play despite shoulder injuries "I recently dislocated my shoulder playing basketball. When I wore the Cadlow with the black tubes it worked great. I previously used another shoulder harness, but it took away almost all of my motion. The Cadlow gives me a FULL RANGE of motion. It has also strengthened my shoulder. I've hurt my shoulder playing football, lacrosse, and basketball but feel great about doing all of them with the Cadlow. I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE CADLOW!! I LOVE IT!!”

Rory Cooper Boulder, CO "It worked great. . .The brace was really excellent and we would recommend it to anyone who has shoulder dislocation/subluxation problems. I wonder if my son had had the brace after recovery from the first dislocation, if he might have avoided surgery.”

Susan Lutostanski Pediatric Occupational Therapist Arlington Heights, IL "My athlete was able to continue as a football quarterback and defensive back.

He said The Cadlow worked well enough to allow him to finish the last three games of the season with no major problems. He was able to throw and catch football without any apprehension."

John V. Joslin A.T.C/L Tulsa, OK

“This certification is vital to the athletic trainer.”

“The PES method of assessment, prevention, rehabilitation, and reconditioning provides a systematic implementation of the educational principles that are vital to the athletic trainer. It is challenging, beneficial, and applicable to any athletic trainer, in any setting.”

Jim Thornton MA, ATC, NASM-PES Clarion University

“Without a doubt, the best certification I have added to my credentials is the PES certification from NASM. I hadn’t realized that I was not working to my full potential in treating athletes until I went through the PES coursework.”

Aaron Nelson, MS, ATC, NASM-PES, CSCS Head Athletic Trainer, Phoenix Suns “Being PES-certified opened up opportunities at the university and professional levels early in my career and has given me an advantage over non-PES certified ATCs in the job market.”

Joe Theis, MS, ATC, NASM-PES

DM Systems, Inc. 1316 Sherman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201 800-254-5438 info@dmsystems.com

National Academy of Sports Medicine 26632 Agoura Rd., Calabasas, CA 91302-1954 800-460-6276 jamie@nasm.org

WWW.DMSYSTEMS.COM

WWW.NASM.ORG

Pilates Equipment Spotlight

Balanced Body Inc. www.pilates.com 800-745-2837

The Pilates Allegro Reformer is ideal for sports training and improving athletic performance. The New Jersey Nets, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers, as well as Olympic athletes, all use the Pilates Allegro Reformer for high-performance training. The Pilates Allegro is the most versatile reformer on the market. It folds down flat, stacks for storage, and sets up in 60 seconds. It is protected by a five-year warranty.

The Pilates Allegro Tower of Power offers core, strength, and flexibility training in one package. It enhances the versatility of the Allegro without taking up a lot of extra space. It’s expandable, so you can start with the Allegro alone, and add the Tower later. It is a reformer, a halftrapeze, and a mat—yet takes up no more floor space than the standard Allegro Reformer. It folds down, allowing you to move the equipment easily. The Tower retrofits flat, 14”, and stretch Allegros, and comes with a five-year warranty.

Balanced Body is the largest manufacturer of Pilates equipment. The company was the first to substantially update Joseph Pilates' equipment with state-of-the-art engineering, materials, and technology. Ken Endelman, the company's founder and owner, has designed hundreds of improvements to Pilates' original equipment, many of which have since become industry standards. Balanced Body has been awarded nine U.S. patents for his inventions, with more patents pending.

Formerly known as Current Concepts, the company changed its name to Balanced Body in 1999.

Balanced Body Inc. Circle No. 210

Stott Pilates www.stottpilates.com 800-910-0001

The exceptional versatility of the Rehab Reformer means that it can accommodate a wide range of physiques and physical conditions. It facilitates over 250 exercises to target all muscle groups with maximum safety and comfort. Range of motion, resistance (min 2.7 lbs.), and positioning are all adjustable, allowing clients to progress from a supported supine position (performing open and closed chain exercises), to prone, seated, kneeling, lunging, and standing exercises. Expand your rehab repertoire by using the rolling carriage to develop core stabilization, then add the vertical frame and mat converter to create a solid Cadillac/Trapeze table. This allows for isolation of muscle groups against the dynamic resistance of springs. The unit’s 185 lbs. of inertial mass ensure superior stability and durability. The 22 1/2” carriage affords comfortable mount and dismount for the client.

Stott Pilates is the only full-service pilates organization of its kind, providing high-caliber pilates education, award-winning videos, and equipment worldwide. Elite athletes such as Martina Navratilova, and teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, and the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball all use Stott Pilates. The company’s library of over 60 videos and DVDs is available at major retailers and on-line at www.stottpilates.com.

Stott Pilates

Functional equipment for lateral and directional movement

Peter Twist of Twist Conditioning has established himself as one of the foremost conditioning experts in North America, having trained more than 700 professional athletes. Twist has a special gift for blending the sport characteristics and drill mechanics to create new drills that better transfer to the sport enivronment. One of his primary tools for taking athletes to new levels is the PowerPlyos.

“The PowerPlyos is basically four different machines in one because it aligns into four positions: plyo boxes, V-box, Russian side jump angle box, and resisted vertical jumper to allow for hundreds of different exercises for strength training, endurance, explosive power, and quickness. The unit offers a whole-body focus. It teaches the athlete that the arms lead the legs—by being very aggressive with the arms, you bring the whole body into the exercise. The PowerPlyos is an extremely functional application of lateral and multi-directional movement. Its motion closely simulates the proper angle of the hip to the ground that needs to be maintained in athletic performance. It’s tremendous for pushing the athlete to fatigue and yet making sure that the ankle lands in a safe position. I use the PowerPlyos for all of the athletes that I train, and it’s a key part of our conditioning program. To develop explosive legs with solid, whole-body mechanics, I turn to the PowerPlyos machine to optimize my coaching. ”

Powering Athletics 6134 Eagle Creek Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46814 260-672-1700

Circle No. 211 WWW.POWERSKATER.COM

Web News

Satisfy Your Need for Speed

AIRCAST WEB SITE OFFERS NEW INTERACTIVE PATIENT CENTER Aircast®, Incorporated, the trusted leader in orthopedic devices, now makes it simple to learn about injuries such as sprains, muscle strains, tendonitis, and turf toe (to name just a few) using the Patient Center on the Aircast Web site.

Accessible throughout the site, the Patient Center allows users to point and click to quick, interactive information about their symptoms and conditions. For each condition, the Center also suggests clinically proven Aircast products to help treat ailments and relieve symptoms.

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Resource Books

Training Videos

HUMAN KINETICS LAUNCHES NEW WEB RESOURCE FOR CONDITIONING Human Kinetics, the premiere publisher for sports and fitness, provides expert, no-nonsense information on improving sports performance. HK Sports Conditioning is a new Web site that puts the best sports-training books, videos, and DVDs Human Kinetics has to offer all in one place. The products cover sport-specific conditioning, strength training, power and speed development, and more, to help you condition for competition year round— in any sport. Visit the site to learn more and be on your way to the best conditioning you’ve ever known.

Resistance

Quickness

Rehabilitation

Resistance

Fitness

Power Builders

Overload

Quickness

Quickness

Resistance

Agility

Sprint Mechanics

www.humankinetics.com/conditioning KEISER CORPORATION’S UPDATED SITE SHOWCASES PRODUCTS AND RESEARCH Log onto Keiser’s Web site and check out a wide array of new products and research. Keiser has recently updated the site to include its new platinum-colored frames and its new Infinity cable products, racks, and the Air300 Runner. These products were developed for the performance-training market and have already made an impact at facilities like Athletes’ Performance. You can also visit the research page to see how Keiser is the equipment of choice for researchers throughout the country, for studies that have been peer reviewed and published. www.keiser.com

1-800-732-4883 “Where the Pros Go!”

Call for our free catalog www.kytec.us email: order@kytec.us

Kytec Athletic Speed Equip.

8337 Penn Ave. S. Bloomington, MN 55431 FAX: 952-884-3424

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Leg Strengthening Antibody, Inc. 301-782-3700 WWW.ANTIBODYWEAR.COM The BodyGuard compression shorts prevent and accommodate lower-body injuries to the groin, hamstring, quadriceps, hip flexors, and hip pointers. Because of their inner surface and custom design, they attach to the wearer and transfer their stored elastic energy to the muscles, creating torque and assisting with muscle flexion and extension. They also provide constant compression, strain distribution, impact absorption, heat circulation, and absorption of fatigue-inducing muscle vibrations caused by repetitive use.

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Ball Dynamics International 800-752-2255 WWW.FITBALL.COM

training programs that adhere to the principles of training physiology. This device is FDA-cleared for sale and available in the United States.

Circle No. 215

Creative Health Products 800-742-4478 WWW.CHPONLINE.COM Creative Health Products, a leading discount supplier of rehabilitation, fitness, exercise, athletic testing, and measuring products, offers a unique testing device to measure the strength of the legs.

Ideal also for measuring the strength of the thighs, chest, back, and upper torso. It is easy to use and is an innovative way to measure an athlete’s improving strength results and assess overall fitness.

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Donovan Industries, Inc. 800-334-4404 WWW.DONOVANINDUSTRIES.COM

Compex 651-638-0427 WWW.COMPEXTECHNOLOGIES.COM

Resist-A-Band™ Tubing Loops are designed to help strengthen and rehabilitate the muscles in the legs. Made of super-tough, high-quality latex tubing, the Resist-A-Band™ Tubing Loops come in six increasingly difficult resistance levels. A light-to-dark color sequence ranges from white to silver, making identification of the proper resistance easy. Each 36” loop comes with soft handles for comfort and safety. No more tying or slipped knots.

Circle No. 217

Compex Sport is a portable electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) device that delivers proven results. For years, athletes have used Compex with its proprietary Swiss technology to increase muscle strength, size, power, and endurance, and for faster muscle recovery. The electronics produce powerful, exhilarating contractions—putting muscles through

Donovan™ Latex Bands are manufactured to the highest standards that use superior formulation and manufacturing processes, resulting in superior strength, resistance and the most consistent performance in the industry.

Donovan™ Bands and Tubing utilize an easily understood light-dark color-coding

The new FitBALL Balance Disc is a versatile core-stability cushion that easily adjusts to your challenge level. Used while standing, sitting, or kneeling, the FitBALL Balance Disc improves balance and joint stabilization and strengthens leg muscles. Call or visit the company's Web site to request a complete FitBALL Catalog.

Circle No. 214

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system that offers up to eight levels of resistance, including very heavy duty resistances.

Circle No. 218

efi Sports Medicine 800-541-4900 WWW.EFISPORTSMEDICINE.COM The new Total Gym PowerTower™ incorporates the dynamic dimension of electrical power into the best-known gravity incline resistance product for clinical use. The PowerTower lets you adjust the resistance level during any exercise in progress, while the athlete remains on the glideboard. Safe and convenient, it enables you to provide more than 200 functional exercises and clinical variations for the upper and lower extremities, the trunk, and also for Pilates exercises.

Circle No. 219 On the new Total Gym 26000, from efi Sports Medicine, patients work against gravity, moving a percentage of their body weight. In the 200 functional exercises available, unrestricted movement occurs through all planes of motion.

Proprioceptive training and recruitment of core stabilizers occurs naturally in nearly every exercise.

Calibration is built in, allowing incremental increases and decreases in load. The Total Gym 26000 comes complete with accessories for squat, pull-up, dip, and press exercises. More accessories are available, for Pilates and other exercises.

Circle No. 220

Exertools 415-883-1678 WWW.EXERTOOLS.COM The Tremor™ is a balance platform for rehabilitation and training designed to enhance proprioception and balance in the lower extremities.

It can also aid the return of balance and

Leg Strengthening proprioception during the rehabilitation process following an injury. The Tremor offers a horizontal perturbation to train reflex latency systems, and it is a perfect complement to all ankle, knee, hip, and core rehab and training protocols.

Circle No. 221

IM&M Exercise Equipment 800-430-4088 WWW.EXTREME-FITNESS.NET The Standing Leg Curl Machine is designed to strengthen and rehab an athlete’s hamstring. “I can honestly say I’ve never used a standing leg curl machine that trains the hamstring as effectively as this,” said Allen Hedrick, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy. “The standing leg curl machine from IM&M is also very unique because the movement more closely replicates the demands of training.” The machine is adjustable for athletes 5’ to 7’ tall, and the contoured torso assembly eliminates lower-lumbar strain.

Circle No. 222

Jump Stretch, Inc. 800-344-3539 WWW.JUMPSTRETCH.COM Squats and squat thrusts, done with Flex Bands®, provide a safe and highly effective way for athletes to train explosively, which improves performance in any sport.

Flex Bands can also add significant resistance to leg presses and other traditional machines. Sorinex, a leading weight equipment manufacturer, even makes “Flex-Band compatible” equipment, like the Hurricane. Jump Stretch, Inc. has been helping pro, college, and high school teams improve vertical jump, speed, and power since 1980.

Circle No. 223

Kwik Goal, Ltd. 215-536-2200 WWW.KWIKGOAL.COM The Kwik Goal Ankle Speed Bands are designed to help athletes improve their lat-

eral agility and balance while building upper-leg strength. The bands use a bungee cord to provide resistance while exercises are being performed. The bands are adjustable, ensuring that all athletes can use them. A sheet of training drills is included.

Circle No. 224 The Kwik Goal Speed Harness provides resistance training for acceleration drills and builds leg strength. It can also improve quickness in all directions. An adjustable belt ensures that the Speed Harness can be used by all athletes. A sheet of training drills is included.

Circle No. 225

Kytec Athletic Speed Equipment 800-732-4883 WWW.KYTEC.US Increase your speed by developing the hip flexors with the Hip Flexor Power Builder™. It isolates the fast-twitch fibers and is used for strengthening the hip flexor muscles.

Strap on the two padded thigh slings. Then snap on the four super-stretch cords. You can adjust the resistance in standing or lying down positions.

Circle No. 226 Kytec is the manufacturer and distributor of the ultimate multi-sport Power Fitness Chute that was invented by Ky Michaelson.

It has an innovative way of adjusting the resistance by sliding the patented cord lock up the shroud lines to change the shape of the chute. The Power Fitness Chute uses only four lines, compared to other chutes on the market that use eight

lines, which can easily become tangled.

Another innovative addition to the Power Fitness Chute is the “parabolic cup” canopy. Most sports chutes rely on the wind to develop the shape of the chute.

The “parabolic cup” design is sewn into the chute and gives the chute instant life and stability. Because of its quick opening and stability characteristics, it is the ideal chute for sprinters’ speed development.

The Power Fitness Chute comes with a quick-release belt and instructions.

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Life Fitness 800-634-8637 WWW.LIFEFITNESS.COM Part of Life Fitness’ Cable Motion line, the Total Leg unit is ideal for training the lower body. By attaching the ankle strap and setting the weight pin, users are able to perform hip extension, flexion, abduction, and adduction exercises.

The unit features a 1:4 resistance ratio, which allows for a lower starting resistance for the user and permits exercisers to safely train highspeed movements, such as sport-specific actions. The system has side rails for stabilization.

Circle No. 228 Hammer Strength recently introduced an 8-foot Olympic Heavy-Duty Power Rack ideal for athletic fitness facilities.

Featuring the Hammer Strength heritage of simple, durable construction with the highest-quality components, the unit is constructed with heavy-duty ninegauge, 3” by 3” steel tubing. The Adjustment Rack, which supports the Bar Supports and Bar Catches, is numbered for quick and easy position identification. It also is equipped with a non-slip spotter stand, and multiple grip positions are provided for pull-ups and chin-ups. The Dock 'N Lock bench-locking system lets the adjustable bench lock into place quickly and ensures the bench is always aligned properly in relation to the rack.

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ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY CIRCLE NO.

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

CIRCLE NO.

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

CIRCLE NO.

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

124 . . . . 3-Point Products (Oval-8) . . . . . . . . . 40

105 . . . . efi Sports Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

107 . . . . NSCA Certification Commission . . 12

. . . . . . . . . . . . 46

125 . . . . Exertools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

137 . . . . Oakworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC

108 . . . . Balanced Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

127 . . . . FitBALL USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

123 . . . . OPTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

102 . . . . Biofreeze. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

110 . . . . Gebauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

114 . . . . Perform Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

. . . . . . . . . 47

116 . . . . GNC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

106 . . . . Power Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

. . . . . . . . 62

138 . . . . GNC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

103 . . . . PoweringAthletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

118 . . . . California Raisins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

112 . . . . Hammer Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

122 . . . . PRO Orthopedic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

117 . . . . California Raisins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

119 . . . . Hormel HealthLabs

101 . . . . Cho-Pat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

136 . . . . IM&M

100 . . . . Concussion Sentinel. . . . . . . . . . . IFC

135 . . . . Jump Stretch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

109 . . . . Stott Pilates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

129 . . . . Cool Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

113 . . . . Kelly Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

132 . . . . TurfCordz/NZ Manufacturing . . . . 47

121 . . . . Cooper Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

115 . . . . Kwik Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

104 . . . . VersaClimber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

128 . . . . Creative Health Products. . . . . . . . 44

133 . . . . Kytec Athletic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

111 . . . . VertiMax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

130 . . . . Antibody

(BodyGuards)

131 . . . . Brace International

(Fluk)

134 . . . . Brace International

(MAX) .

(Extreme Fitness)

(Plus-2) .

. . . . . . . 33

. . . . . . . . . . . . IBC

120 . . . . Prossage Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35 126 . . . . Resist-A-Band

(Donovan)

. . . . . . . . . . 41

PRODUCTS DIRECTORY CIRCLE NO.

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

. . . . . . . . 56

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

COMPANY

PAGE NO.

230 . . . . NSCA Certification

(Personal Training)

247 . . . . Antibody (shoulder brace) . . . . . . . . . . . 62

221 . . . . Exertools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

231 . . . . NSCA Certification

(Review Kit) .

200 . . . . Ascendia Nutritional Foods . . . . . . 50

205 . . . . Gatorade

214 . . . . Ball Dynamics International . . . . . . 56

204 . . . . Gatorade

220 . . . . efi Sports Medicine

(Nutrition Shake)

206 . . . . GNC

(50 Grand Slam)

. . . . . . . . . 62

207 . . . . GNC

(Electro-Aide)

(golf putter drawing)

249 . . . . Biofreeze

(pain management)

. . . . . . . . . . 50

234 . . . . OPTP

(Multi Challenge Board) .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

233 . . . . OPTP

(REP Band)

. . . . . 59

. . . . . . . . . 59

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

235 . . . . Perform Better

(Balance Steps)

250 . . . . Brace International . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

208 . . . . Hormel HealthLabs . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

236 . . . . Perform Better

(Disc Pillow) .

201 . . . . California Raisins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

253 . . . . IM&M

(platform rack/fold-up bench)

251 . . . . Chattanooga Group . . . . . . . . . . . 62

222 . . . . IM&M

(Standing Leg Curl Machine)

. . . . 57

239 . . . . Power Lift

(Combo Power Rack) .

252 . . . . CogSport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

223 . . . . Jump Stretch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

238 . . . . Power Lift

(Rotating Glute-Ham Bench)

215 . . . . Compex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

254 . . . . Kelly Kinetics

(CryoThermal Massage Tool)

. . . . . . 50

255 . . . . Kelly Kinetics

(Pivot Plate)

203 . . . . Cooper Complete

(Basic One)

. . . 63

217 . . . . Donovan

(Tubing Loops) .

. . . . . . . . . . . 56

240 . . . . Power Systems

(Power Sled)

241 . . . . Power Systems

(Squat/Lunge Bar)

(Ankle Speed Bands) .

(Power Rack)

. . . . 56

228 . . . . Life Fitness

(Total Leg)

(PowerTower)

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(Rehab System)

. . . . 57

242 . . . . VersaClimber

(VersaPulley).

(Power Fitness Chute)

ATHLETICBID.COM

. . . . . . . . . . . 57

. . . . . . . . . . . . 57

. . . . . . . . 60 . . . . . 60

256 . . . . Superfeet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 243 . . . . VersaClimber

227 . . . . Kytec Athletic

. . . . 60

. . . . . . . . . . 63

. . 57

(Hip Flexor Power Builder)

229 . . . . Life Fitness

219 . . . . efi Sports Medicine

. . . . . . . 57

226 . . . . Kytec Athletic

258 . . . . DSWFitness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

. . . . . . . 60

. . . . . . . . . . 63

225 . . . . Kwik Goal (Speed Harness) . . . . . . . . . . 57

. . . . . . . . . . . . 56

237 . . . . Perry Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

(catalog)

216 . . . . Creative Health Products. . . . . . . . 56 (Latex Bands).

. . . . . . . . 59

259 . . . . Power Systems

224 . . . . Kwik Goal

218 . . . . Donovan

. . . . . . . 59

. 63

202 . . . . Cooper Complete (Joint Formula) . . . . . 50

. . 59

232 . . . . NZ Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

. . . . . . . 50

(Propel Fitness Water)

. . . . . . . . 62

248 . . . . Biofreeze

(Total Gym 26000) .

CIRCLE NO.

. 56

213 . . . . Antibody

(compression shorts) .

CIRCLE NO.

. . . . . . . . 60

. . . . . . . . . 60

244 . . . . VertiMax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 245 . . . . VertiMax

(V6)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Leg Strengthening NSCA Certification Commission 888-746-2378 WWW.NSCA-CC.ORG Released in January 2004, the NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training is the primary preparation source for the NSCACertified Personal Trainer® (NSCACPT®) examination, and is an authoritative resource for all personal-training professionals. The text includes contributions from leading researchers, educators, and personal-training experts, who provide information about scientific principles, concepts, and theories of personal training. It also includes practical applications of safe, effective training and exercise techniques, and ideas for program design.

Circle No. 230 The NSCA-CPT Review Kit, from NSCA Certification Commission, includes all of the following: The Essentials of Personal Training Symposium workbook and 17 audio CDs (the workbook includes outlines, figures, and tables developed by symposium speakers, along with glossaries); the NSCA-CPT Exam Content Description, Free Weight, and Machine Exercise Techniques Video, showing the proper techniques for 38 common weighttraining exercises; the Exercise Technique Checklist Manual, which provides detailed explanations of the techniques used for the exercises shown in the video; and the NSCA-CPT Practice Exam, Volume 1, which includes a booklet and video.

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NZ Mfg., LLC 800-886-6621 WWW.NZMFG.COM The new MediCordz Stretch Strap is used for stretching and elongating

hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles, and for general leg strengthening. Padded for comfort, it includes an easily-functioning pulley for smooth movement patterns.

The innovative MediCordz products accommodate all major muscle groups to fulfill training and conditioning needs, and are made with the highest-quality materials.

Circle No. 232

OPTP 800-367-7393 WWW.OPTP.COM Tone and strengthen your entire body with the new and improved REP Band™. It is made with a new formula that combines the stretch and resistance of latex with the safety and cleanliness of nonlatex products. The new REP Band provides smoother progressive resistance throughout the full range of motion.

Studies indicate that working with latex increases the risk of experiencing latex allergy reactions, and REP Band is the only source of latex-free tubing on the market. It is 4” wide and available in 6-yard or 50-yard rolls.

Circle No. 233 The versatile Multi Challenge Board from OPTP is designed to offer an extra degree of challenge as user proficiency increases.

A simple twist adjustment increases the board angle from 14 degrees to 17 degrees. Use the OPTP Multi Challenge Board for active and reactive rehabilitation of ankle injuries, core muscle conditioning and stabilization, stretching, improved proprioception and balance, and motor skill training, as well as ROM and strength conditioning for the lower kinetic chain.

Circle No. 234

Perform Better 800-556-7464 WWW.PERFORMBETTER.COM Use Perform Better’s Balance Steps in the clinic, gym, or on the field to improve dynamic balance and proprioception. Place them in a pattern. Then walk, hop, or jump

from one to another.

Use flat side down at first, and then progress to rounded side down. The Balance Steps are made of durable, soft vinyl material, which you can fill with air or water to create an unstable surface. Each is 6” wide and 3” high and comes in a set of six. This is one of the many training and rehab aids shown in the 2004 Perform Better Catalog.

Circle No. 235 The Unstable PB Disc Pillow from Perform Better is a versatile and effective tool for strengthening muscles and improving core and joint stabilization. Use one for single-leg exercises and sit-ups, or use multiple PB Disc Pillows for double-leg exercises and pushups. An exercise instruction sheet is included. The PB Disc Pillow offers an effective way to develop balance and joint stabilization. It is available through the Perform Better catalog.

Circle No. 236

Perry Dynamics 217-872-1530 WWW.PERRYDYNAMICS.COM The PROPRIO™ 5000 is the first proprioception training system of its kind. It features a multi-directional, dynamic platform and a motion analysis system that evaluates performance and trains for real improvement. The PROPRIO 5000 offers an innovative approach to real-life functional balance and proprioception training to enhance response and agility. The PROPRIO 5000 is ideal for building closedchain muscle endurance, and for strengthening the stabilization muscles that are often overlooked in strength and conditioning programs.

Circle No. 237

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Leg Strengthening Power Lift 800-872-1543 WWW.POWER-LIFT.COM Power Lift has successfully introduced a new and unique method of doing the glute/ham exercise with the Rotating Glute-Ham Bench. This machine more effectively works the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, gastrocnemius, and erector stabilizers for pelvic stability than the traditional method. The large rotating pads greatly reduce any discomfort on the thighs and allow for a complete stretch and contraction of the hamstrings. An Easy Glide sliding mechanism very effortlessly adjusts the footplate assembly horizontally, eliminating the difficulty of tube-in-tube adjustment. Lower kneepads support the body to allow for proper positioning of the footplate assembly with the body in position for the exercise.

Circle No. 238 The Combo Power Rack from Power Lift combines two lifting stations into one space-saving rack. It is available in 8' or 9' heights, and comes with all of the following: two pairs of safety spot bars, two pairs of patented “Rhino Hook” bar catches, and two dualgrip chin-up bars. The unit also includes storage for bars, weights, and bumper plates. The space inside the rack accommodates two people, for spotting two bench press stations at once. The Combo Power Rack can be customized with Power Lift’s patented “Lever Action” benches and Olympic lifting platforms.

Circle No. 239

the sled holds Olympic-style plates. Use minimal weight for speed and acceleration training, and up to 180 pounds for strength training. The Power Sled is great for forward and backward lunges.

Circle No. 240 Power Systems’ new, versatile Squat and Lunge Bar is ideal for squats, step-ups, and lunges. Its unique cambered design ensures proper form for your lower-body exercises. It has a heavily-padded shoulder harness with built-in hand grips for comfort and stability. It is constructed of 7-gauge tubular steel with Olympic-size, chrome-plated barrels, and has a 700-pound weight capacity. The bar is 81” long, and the inside bar dimension is 54”, allowing the Squat and Lunge Bar to fit most standard Olympic squat racks.

Circle No. 241

VersaClimber 800-237-2271 WWW.VERSAPULLEY.COM

Power Systems, Inc. 800-321-6975 WWW.POWER-SYSTEMS.COM

Perform almost any strength exercise routine on a VersaPulley. It's ideal for rotational/diagonal training. VersaPulley is the only high-low pulley machine that provides nontraumatic, explosive reversal power—time under tension. It provides unlimited force with unlimited speed at any range of motion, allowing for true plyometric, stretch-shorten effect on every cycle.

Circle No. 242

Use the Power Sled to develop explosive lower-body strength and improve starts and acceleration. Waist belt and shoulder harness options allow athletes to perform forward, lateral, and backward movements. For progressive resistance,

Rehab your patients with the SportsMed VersaClimber Tri-Level Rehab System. It offers functional non-weightbearing, partialweightbearing, and full-weightbearing applications—all in one machine. The system is excellent and easy to use for post op

rehab, amputees, obese patients, spinal cord injuries, stroke patients, cardio rehab (phase two and three), and neurologically impaired patients.

Features include: ROM limiters, lower limb isolators, adjustable seat, cross crawl pattern, heart rate control, and more.

Circle No. 243

VertiMax 800-699-5867 WWW.VERTIMAX.COM No matter what kind of lower-body strength and speed training you are doing, it will fall into one of three categories: (1) Heavy Resistance, (2) Plyometrics, or (3) Low-Load Velocity-Specific training (the VertiMax). If Heavy Resistance was 10 on a scale of one through 10, and if plyometrics were one, VertiMax would be a five. It's plyo with overload—the best of both worlds.

Maximum transfer to the sports field.

Circle No. 244 "Only the VertiMax V6 incorporates upperbody loading into an already highly effective explosion training device. Training the upper body to improve the lift aspect of vertical jump is a giant breakthrough. You can use it for arm action in the running phase, jam techniques, or combine all resistance bands for run into jump maneuvers. I can say, without hesitation, this device is of great importance in any training program."—Garrett Giemont, Professional Football 2002 Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Circle No. 245

Check out www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.

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Case Study

OLYMPIC TRIAL FINDS ADAPTABLE SOLUTION IN THE BOSS “Rain, soft ground, mud, steep inclines, tough terrain, being shuffled around, and working with athletes of all sizes—The Boss stood up to every test we threw at it. Even our seasoned crowd of professionals was buzzing throughout the whole event. I’d never seen any product have this effect.”

Benny Vaughn, Athletic Trainer t this year’s Olympic track and field trials in Sacramento, Calif., attended by over 1,500 Olympiccaliber athletes and their medical personnel and trainers, there was an almost audible sigh of relief.

Struggling with ineffective training tables was no longer an issue.

A

that design and development have gone into the production of this equipment,” said Vaughn. “No one had to use plastic cups or the tops of jars or jugs to keep the table’s feet out of the soggy ground.”

Equally valuable was The Boss’s Tufflex fabric, which wiped clean over and over again and kept the tables’ inner padding dry, too.

On another day, the designated recovery area was a hillside macadam driveway.

While this isn’t unusual, what was different was that Oakworks’ Boss table could make up the difference in ground elevation with its individually-adjustable legs. After some quick adjustments, the tables were stable and solid, giving the athletic trainers a perfectly level working surface.

Oakworks P.O. Box 238 Shrewsbury, PA 17361-0238 800-558-8850

WWW.OAKWORKS.COM

“I’ve been involved with lots of Olympic trials since 1988 and have seen many different tables come and go. The Boss, by far, got the most complimentary comments from athletes, trainers, and massage therapists alike,” said Athletic Trainer Benny Vaughn. “I don’t remember ever hearing that sort of talk about equipment. Usually, trainers and athletes are so focused on the job at hand that they just take the equipment provided and use it.”

The event, which lasted for more than nine days and covered many events, provided numerous opportunities to put The Boss to work.

Early on in the trials, officials set up a treatment tent with many Boss tables in the middle of a turf field, which had a working sprinkler system. One night, the sprinkler system was set off, soaking everything— the tent, the equipment, and the ground.

The next day, The Boss’s field feet made a real difference.

“The makers of the table have actually thought this through. The field feet were not only outstanding, but they’re an indication

Additionally, the lightweight portability of the table was very well-received. No one complained about carrying the tables or moving them around. The Boss is light yet strong, and many of the practitioners were pleased to find that the weight-usage listing is over 600 pounds. They discovered that they could easily treat some of the heavier track and field athletes, such as the shot putters and javelin throwers, and then turn around and quickly change the height for the lighter sprinters.

“I’ve been a trainer for 30 years and have worked with a lot of equipment,” said Vaughn. “I’ve experienced events where athletes were hesitant to get on the tables.

I have never had that experience with The Boss. There’s increased comfort for my clients due to the stability of this table, and that allows them to be a lot more relaxed during the flexibility and soft-tissue mobilization work that I do. When people feel safe, they are much more receptive to the treatment they’re receiving. That’s priceless.”

Benny Vaughn is a certified athletic trainer (ATC), a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and has been a national certified therapeutic massage bodyworker (NCTMB) for 30 years. He has been involved in sports medicine in a wide range of settings, including high school, college, professional, and Olympic. Benny has been the proud recipient of numerous awards for excellence in both the athletic training and massage therapy professions.

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More Products Antibody, Inc. 301-782-3700 WWW.ANTIBODYWEAR.COM The BodyGuard shoulder brace, from Antibody, Inc., is designed to accommodate shoulder injuries, including dislocations, subluxations, and slight separations. Because of its inner surface and custom design, the BodyGuard actually attaches to the wearer and works with the entire muscle group, providing strain distribution over the entire garment and significant compression to the injured area. The BodyGuard is effective for a wide array of sports in which shoulder injuries occur, including baseball, football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, and volleyball.

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Biofreeze 800-246-3733 WWW.BIOFREEZE.COM Performance Health, maker of Biofreeze pain relieving products and the new Prossage Heat, is proud to announce the winner of the Biofreeze “Get You On the Green Pain Free” golf putter drawing, held at the NATA Convention in June. Laura Harris, PhD, ATC/L,

Stabilize Chronic Shoulder Dislocators, Separators, and Subluxators With over a decade of experience in shoulder brace design the MAXTM Shoulder Brace by Brace International, Inc. is an evolution in shoulder girdle support. The snug-fitting, lightweight material (under 2 pounds) allows for comfort with movement while its strap design system allows for many options to help protect the glenohumeral joint.

Maximum Protection, Maximum Range of Motion

We highly recommend its use for all sports.

Clinical Coordinator of the Athletic Training Education Program at The Ohio State University, will be hitting the course in style with her brand new putter. Performance Health received over 1,000 entries for the drawing this year.

Circle No. 248 For pain-management programs, use Biofreeze, from Performance Health, Inc., to reduce swelling, pain and stiffness, next-day aches and pains, and recovery time. It can also help to increase mobility and flexibility, and will aid in the overall healing process. Biofreeze can be used in situations requiring ice and breathable wraps, and can be blended with water for ice cups. Biofreeze will also prolong the effects and benefits of ultrasound and massage therapy treatments. Biofreeze is endorsed by the Florida Chiropractic Association, ProSports Chiropractic, the United States Taekwondo Union, the Florida State Massage Therapy Association, The New York State Society of Massage Therapists, and the Texas Association of Massage Therapists. It is approved for use by the American Physical Therapy Association.

Circle No. 249

Brace International, Inc. 800-545-1161 WWW.BRACEINT.COM Brace International offers the MAX™, a major advancement in the design of shoulder girdle support. The snug-fitting, lightweight material allows for comfort with movement, yet at the same time helps protect the glenohumeral joint from subluxations and dislocations. Its strap system provides many options for maximum stability where needed, while allowing the required range of motion.

Circle No. 250

Chattanooga Group 800-592-7329 WWW.CHATTGROUP.COM Chattanooga Group was recently awarded the 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) for its new line of electrotherapy and ultrasound systems, the Vectra® Genisys, the Intelect® Legend XT, and the Intelect® Transport. This new line of therapy systems received gold honors in the medical products category. Among the features that make these therapy products so appealing are their modularity, allowing for customized treatment sessions, and their user-friendly interface.

Circle No. 251

CogSport WWW.CONCUSSIONSENTINEL.COM

800-545-1161 Toll Free - www.braceint.com Request No. 134 62 ◆ T & C S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 ◆

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Used by athletic trainers as part of their concussion-management system, Concussion Sentinel™ is an easy-to-use, computer-based tool that helps the treating physician make return-to-play decisions. Concussion Sentinel provides a benchmark profile of

More Products an athlete’s cognitive state before injury. The test is retaken following an injury. The after-injury report provides an objective indication of whether the athlete’s cognition has returned to its pre-injury level.

Circle No. 252

IM&M Exercise Equipment 800-430-4088 WWW.EXTREME-FITNESS.NET IM&M has introduced a multi-station platform, rack, and adjustable fold-up bench as part of its Extreme Fitness Equipment® line. Eric Lawson, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, has made IM&M’s multi-station racks a major part of the team’s strength-training program.

“We rely on the racks for a combination of various Olympic lifts and free weight/dumbbell exercises involving an adjustable bench,” said Lawson. “This equipment has really helped our players improve their strength, and it helped us win the Stanley Cup this year.”

Circle No. 253

Kelly Kinetics 888-645-3559 WWW.KELLYKINETICS.COM The CryoThermal Massage Tool weighs 2-1/2 lbs. This soft-grip, solid stainless steel tool allows the user to easily apply the appropriate amount of pressure, while delivering soothing heat and/or the cool sensation of cryotherapy. Designed with two removable massage heads, the tool allows for multiple massage techniques while reducing stress on the clinician’s hands.

Circle No. 254

Kelly Kinetics has introduced the Pivot Plate, which utilizes a patented Variable Offset Pivot (V.O.P.) system. To increase or decrease the neuromuscular demand, the fulcrum can be placed at varying-moment arm lengths. The fulcrum can also be selectively placed in the best biomechanical position to target select musculature for strengthening. Unlike traditional balance boards, the Pivot Plate user is fixed to the platform, which allows the user to vary his or her center of gravity position for a range of resistance levels.

Circle No. 255

Superfeet Worldwide, LP 800-834-7058 WWW.SUPERFEET.COM Superfeet has manufactured over-the-counter orthotics for athletes worldwide for over 27 years. Using a patented shape and supportive materials, Superfeet aligns the foot to protect it and help minimize injuries, no matter what the activity. Eight different models are available, to work in any type of shoe or boot, with up to nine unique sizes per model, the fit will be perfect for your athlete’s feet. All Superfeet come with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Circle No. 256

Check out www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.

Catalog Showcase DSWFitness 800-873-6759 WWW.DSWFITNESS.COM

Power Systems, Inc. 800-321-6975 WWW.POWER-SYSTEMS.COM

DSWFitness offers the largest selection of correspondence Continuing Education courses that are approved by 27 certifying associations, including the NATA, BOC, NSCA-CC, ACE, and NASM. Topics include Strength Training & Conditioning, Personal Training, Group Fitness, Weight Management, Special Populations & Rehabilitation, Mind & Body, Older Adults, Youth, and Aquatics. If you are a fitness, wellness, rehabilitation, or medical professional looking for relevant and current distance education, call today or visit the company on-line.

Circle No. 258

Since 1986, Power Systems has been a leading supplier of sport training, health and fitness products. The company prides itself on being the one resource for all of your training needs. Its 2004 catalog has a new look, with better graphics and photos. Categories include core strength, medicine balls, speed, plyometrics, agility, strength equipment, strength accessories, and flooring. The catalog is full of hundreds of new products, and dozens of products available exclusively from Power Systems. The company has lowered some of its prices, enabling the customer to get premium products at great prices. Go online or call Power Systems to request a free 2004 catalog today.

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A T H L E T I C B I D . C O M ◆ 63

CEU QUIZ

T&C September 2004 Vol. XIV, No. 6

Training & Conditioning is pleased to provide NATA and NSCA members with the opportunity to earn continuing education units through reading issues of the magazine. The following quiz is based on articles that appear in this issue of Training & Conditioning. By satisfactorily completing the quiz and mailing it back to T&C, readers can earn 2.0 BOC Athletic Training and 0.2 NSCA (two hours) continuing education units .

INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in the circle on the answer form (on page 66) that represents the best answer for each of the questions below. Complete the form at the bottom of page 66, include a $15 payment to Training & Conditioning, and mail it to the following address: Training & Conditioning, ATTN: 14.6 Quiz, 2488 N. Triphammer Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. Readers who correctly answer 70 percent of the questions will be notified of their earned credit by mail no later than November 15, 2004.

COMEBACK ATHLETE: SWELLING QUADS (pages 4-9) Objective: Understanding the causes and symptoms of compartment syndrome, and learning about the treatment and rehabilitation of one athlete who suffered from the condition.

1) Compartment syndrome is: a) a condition in which muscles swell to the point that their blood supply becomes constricted. b) a hematoma. c) caused by over-stretching. d) a condition in which one muscle overcompensates for another.

2) Rhabdomyolysis is: a) a type of infection. b) a vascular necrosis. c) when hemorrhaging occurs for longer than three hours. d) a condition where protein from muscle leaks into the blood stream.

MORE THAN A FAD

(pages 14-19)

Objective: Learning about the similarities between the Pilates method and traditional athletic training and rehabilitation methods, and how Pilates exercises can enhance existing training or rehab programs.

3) The first Pilates principle is centering, described as: a) maintaining equal spacing of upper and lower extremities. b) balancing strength of contralateral sides. c) keeping the center of gravity low. d) parallel to the idea of core strengthening.

4) Joseph Pilates concluded that all movements come from: a) a stable center called the Powerhouse. b) long, lean muscles. c) true concentric strength. d) concentration.

5) To Pilates, concentration meant: a) focusing on posture. b) visualizing and engaging the mind with every movement.

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c) focusing on motion without control. d) visualizing the end result.

6) The principle of control involves: a) making smooth, fluid motions. b) utilizing the Powerhouse consistently. c) realizing that all physical motion must be controlled by the mind. d) maintaining dynamic stabilization.

7) The principle of precision involves: a) maintaining a stable Powerhouse from start to finish. b) concentrating on the right movements every time you exercise. c) utilizing the mind-body connection. d) concentrating on repetition.

8) Pilates said his goal was for people to: a) learn to move without tenseness. b) continually increase stamina. c) utilize their Powerhouse consistently. d) elongate their muscles.

9) The Pilates principle of flow is seen in: a) runners. b) running backs. c) gymnasts. d) linemen.

10) The purpose of utilizing diaphragmatic breathing during Pilates is to: a) ensure relaxation and engage the deep core muscles. b) improve lung capacity. c) focus on the inner self. d) increase concentration.

HIGH SCHOOL MOVES

(pages 21-26)

Objective: Understanding how agility training can improve athletic performance in high school athletes, and learning how to incorporate agility work into a comprehensive training program.

11) Agility training is defined as the ability to: a) recognize coordination.

b) react, accelerate, change direction, and stop quickly. c) utilize ambidextrous ability and display smooth, fluid motion. d) sustain and adjust proprioceptive input.

12) According to Vern Gambetta, when developing a comprehensive agility program, one should think: a) short-term. b) short and concise. c) long-term. d) KISS principle.

13) When devising an agility program, it is important to consider the: a) developmental age of the athlete. b) height of the athlete. c) weight of the athlete. d) previous exposure to agility drills.

14) The strength-training foundation should emphasize: a) plantar flexion of the ankle and knee for starting motions and extension of the hip and knee for stopping motions. b) extension of the ankle, knee, and hip for starting motions and the ability to bend at the ankle, knee, and hip for stopping motions. c) initiating free weights early into the program. d) eccentric strengthening more than concentric strengthening.

15) Core development should be performed: a) in postures similar to those used during the sport. b) supine. c) seated. d) in the most stable position.

16) Vern Gambetta suggests using ___________________ to address balance, body control, and awareness. a) static balance activities b) open-chain weightlifting techniques c) mirrors d) playful exercises such as red light green light

19) Once the basic skill with reaction is mastered, the next step in the progression is: a) basic skill with variation. b) basic skill with opposition. c) basic skill incorporated with advanced, sport-specific skill. d) basic skill with advanced reaction.

20) Assessing and providing feedback is important for: a) developing basic skills. b) preventing injuries. c) tracking progress toward goals and keeping athletes motivated. d) devising additional playful exercises.

21) Introduction to agility training may include: a) step and stick in all three planes. b) plyometric training. c) backward running. d) ankle proprioception.

22) Which of the following are components of agility? a) vertical jumping. b) broad jumping. c) concentric and eccentric strength. d) recognition and footwork.

FUN WITH FOOD COLORING

(pages 27-36)

Objective: Learning about a variety of different ways to teach student-athletes about nutrition, and how to provide resources to help athletes make smart nutritional choices.

23) According to Michelle Rockwell, one way to help athletes with proper food selection is to: a) assess the athlete’s diet and tell them how many grams of each nutrient to take in daily. b) provide them with a food pyramid chart. c) provide them with detailed nutritional information for off-campus food selections. d) utilize a colored dot system and assess what food groups/colors each athlete should focus on.

17) In order to achieve a perfect practice, it is imperative that: a) distractions are removed. b) technique is taught in a step-by-step progression. c) agility drills are performed after the team’s practice. d) practice begins with open-skill drills.

24) The University of Nebraska provides student-athletes with: a) a restaurant guide ranking campus restaurants. b) a menu guide ranking food choices with an A, B, C, D, or F. c) a menu guide listing five best and worst food choices (using a stop light system) at restaurants around campus. d) nutritional information specific to their sport.

18) The final, important component to add to perfect practice is: a) reaction. b) speed. c) force. d) conditioning.

25) At the University of Massachusetts, nutritionists organize: a) open discussion sessions. b) team meetings to discuss nutritional topics. c) daily team meals. d) grocery store shopping tours.

ANSWER SHEET IS ON PAGE 66 ATHLETICBID.COM ◆

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CEU QUIZ

ANSWER FORM

INSTRUCTIONS: Fill in the circle on the answer form below that represents your selection of the best answer for each of the previous questions. Complete the form at the bottom of this page, include a $15 payment to Training & Conditioning, and mail it to the following address: Training & Conditioning, ATTN: 14.6 Quiz, 2488 N. Triphammer Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, no later than October 30, 2004. Readers who correctly answer 70 percent of the questions will receive 2.0 BOC Athletic Training and 0.2 NSCA (two hours) CEU’s, and will be notified of their earned credit by mail no later than November 15, 2004.

High School Moves

Comeback Athlete: Swelling Quads

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Last Name_______________________________________First Name_________________________________MI______ Mailing Address______________________________________________________________________________________ City___________________________________________________State_________________Zip Code________________ Daytime Telephone_________________________________E-Mail Address____________________________________

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ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS Thera-Band® Academy Workshops Beyond the Basics: Bands, Balls and Balance Attend a 2-day evidence-based, hands-on workshop that provides the rationale for elastic bands and tubing, exercise balls and balance training tools. For Licensed Healthcare Professionals: PT, PTA, OT, COTA, ATC.

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Association Corner The following associations offer services of interest to our T&C readers.

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Athletic Therapy. Rapid return to work and play.

Athletic Therapists are dedicated to the promotion and delivery of quality care through injury prevention and rehabilitation and emergency services.

In collaboration with other health care professionals, athletic therapists work to create a healthier environment that encompasses the needs of the active community, including the high-performance athlete.

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All NATA certified athletic trainers are eligible to receive a free subscription to T&C.

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Request No. 137