Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Recovery Techniques for Athletes

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ 09:02 AM

BSMPG

 

 

Article orginally published on Aspetar.com

 

High performance sport and the importance of successful performances have led athletes and coaches to continually seek any advantage or edge that may improve performance. It follows that the rate and quality of recovery is extremely important for the high performance athlete and that optimal recovery may provide numerous benefits during repetitive high-level training and competition. Therefore, investigating different recovery interventions and their effect on fatigue, muscle injury, recovery and performance is important.

 

Recovery aims to restore physiological and psychological processes, so that the athlete can compete or train again at an appropriate level. Recovery from training and competition is complex and involves numerous factors. It is also typically dependent on the nature of the exercise performed and any other outside stressors that the athlete may be exposed to. Athletic performance is affected by numerous factors and therefore, adequate recovery should also consider such factors (Table 1).

 

METHODS TO ENHANCE RECOVERY

There are a number of popular methods used by athletes to enhance recovery. Their use will depend on the type of activity performed, the time until the next training session or event, and equipment and/or personnel available. Some of the most popular recovery techniques for athletes include:

  • hydrotherapy,
  • active recovery,
  • stretching,
  • compression garments,
  • massage,
  • sleep and
  • nutrition.

 

SLEEP

Background

Although the function of sleep is not fully understood, it is generally accepted that it serves to recover from previous wakefulness and/or prepare for functioning in the subsequent wake period.  An individual’s recent sleep history therefore has a marked impact on their daytime functioning. Restricting sleep to less than 6 hours per night for four or more consecutive nights has been shown to impair cognitive performance and mood, disturb glucose metabolism, appetite regulation and immune function.  This type of evidence has led to the recommendation that adults should obtain 8 hours of sleep per night.

 

While there are considerable data available related to the amount of sleep obtained by adults in the general population, there are few published data related to the amount of sleep obtained by elite athletes. 

 

Sleep deprivation

There are a limited number of studies which have examined the effects of sleep deprivation on athletic performance.  From the available data it appears that several phenomena exist.  Firstly, the sleep deprivation must be greater than 30 hours (one complete night of no sleep and remaining awake into the afternoon) to have an impact on anaerobic performance (Skein et al., 2011). Secondly, aerobic performance may be decreased after only 24 hours (Oliver et al, 2009) and thirdly, sustained or repeated bouts of exercise are affected to a greater degree than one-off maximal efforts.

 

The mechanism behind the reduced performance following prolonged sustained sleep deprivation is not clear, however it has been suggested that an increased perception of effort is one potential cause. While the above studies provide some insight into the relationship between sleep deprivation and performance, most athletes are more likely to experience acute bouts of partial sleep deprivation where sleep is reduced for several hours on consecutive nights.

 

Partial sleep deprivation

Only a small number of studies have examined the effect of partial sleep deprivation on athletic performance.  From the available research it appears that sub-maximal prolonged tasks may be more affected than maximal efforts particularly after the first two nights of partial sleep deprivation (Reilly et al, 1994).

 

Effects of sleep extension and napping

Another means of examining the effect of sleep on performance is to extend the amount of sleep an athlete receives and determine the effects on subsequent performance. Information from the small number of studies suggests that increasing the amount of sleep an athlete receives may significantly enhance performance.

 

Athletes suffering from some degree of sleep loss may benefit from a brief nap, particularly if a training session is to be completed in the afternoon or evening.  Naps can markedly reduce sleepiness and can be beneficial when learning skills, strategy or tactics in sleep deprived individuals. Napping may be beneficial for athletes who have to routinely wake early for training or competition and for athletes who are experiencing sleep deprivation.

 

Habitual sleep duration

According to a 2005 Gallup Poll in the USA, the average self-reported sleep duration of healthy individuals is 6.8 hours on weekdays and 7.4 hours on weekends (National Sleep Foundation, 2006). However, the sleep habits of elite athletes have only recently been investigated. Leeder et al (2012) compared the sleep habits of 47 elite athletes from Olympic sports using actigraphy over a 4-day period to that of age and gender-matched non-sporting controls. The athlete group had a total time in bed of 8:36 hour:minutes, compared to 8:07 in the control group. Despite the longer time in bed, the athlete group had a longer sleep latency (time to fall asleep) (18.2 minutes vs 5.0 minutes), a lower sleep efficiency (estimate of sleep quality) than controls (80.6 vs 88.7%), resulting in a similar time asleep (6:55 vs 7:11 hour:minutes). The results demonstrated that while athletes had a comparable quantity of sleep to controls, significant differences were observed in the quality of sleep between the two groups (Leeder et al, 2012).

 

While the above data was obtained during a period of normal training without competition, athletes may experience disturbed sleep prior to important competition or games. Erlacher et al. (2011) administered a questionnaire to 632 German athletes to assess possible sleep disturbances prior to competition. Of these athletes, 66% (416) reported that they slept worse than normal at least once prior to an important competition. Of these 416 athletes, 80% reported problems falling asleep, 43% reported waking up early in the morning and 32% reported waking up at night. Factors such as thoughts about competition (77%), nervousness about competition (60%), unusual surroundings (29%) and noise in the room (17%) were identified as reasons for poor sleep (Erlacher et al, 2011).

 

Register TODAY for the 2015 BSMPG Summer Seminar before seats fill up.

 

 

New Call-to-action


Topics: Charlie Weingroff, Eric Oetter, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Derek Hansen, Al Smith, Erik Helland

2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting - Welcomes Back Derek Hansen

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Dec 22, 2014 @ 08:12 AM

BSMPG is proud to announce DEREK HANSEN as a speaker at the 2015 CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting - Sunday May 17th, 2015 - Fenway Park.

Join the leaders in Sports Medicine and Performance Training for this one day event following the 2015 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 15-16th, 2015.  Inquire at bostonsmpg@gmail.com - serious thought leaders only!

 

Mission of the CATAPULT Performance Directors Meeting: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

This is a limited capacity event and will be held to 50 of the top thought and change leaders from across the globe.

 

DEREK HANSON

DEREK HANSEN

Topic: Identifying Optimal Running Volumes for In-Season and Off-Season Preparations for Team Sports

Derek M. Hansen is a sports performance consultant based out of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.  He currently works as the Director of Athletic Performance at Simon Fraser University.  He has worked extensively with coaches and athletes from all levels of high performance including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL and the NCAA.  His involvement with Olympic athletes, coaches and teams includes sports such as Track and Field, Speed Skating, Softball, Bobsleigh and Field Hockey, with many of these athletes having won Olympic medals and achieved world record performances. 

Derek’s specific areas of expertise include speed development, electrical muscle stimulation for performance, tapering and recovery, and hamstring rehabilitation.  Two significant influences in the development of his approach have been Charlie Francis and Al Vermeil.  Derek worked closely with Coach Francis from 2001 to 2010, providing coaching to elite athletes and developing Charlie’s educational materials for on-line presentation and seminar delivery.  Coach Vermeil has also been a steady source of mentorship to Derek from 2002 to the present day, providing insight into all areas of athlete performance.

When not coaching, Derek is a course conductor with the Canadian National Coaching Certification Program in the areas of Physical Preparation, Recovery & Regeneration and Sport Biomechanics.  He has developed a broad series of electrical muscle stimulation protocols for Globus Sport and Health Technologies, known as the SpeedCoach, that integrates EMS programming with conventional training to enhance speed performance.  Derek also runs a highly successful Strength and Conditioning apprenticeship program that places young coaches in jobs all over the world.

 

New Call-to-action

Topics: Derek Hansen, Fenway Park

Applying the “High-Low” Training Concept to American Football by Derek Hansen

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Jun 9, 2014 @ 07:06 AM

 

 

by Derek M. Hansen 

 

Football_Intensity

 

 

I spent the better part of the last month preparing for a conference presentation in Boston on “Recovery and Regeneration.” The conference, by the way, was a great event held every year by Art Horne at Northeastern University. If you have a chance, I encourage you to attend the Boston Sport Medicine and Performance Group conference, as you will encounter high quality presenters and a very informed and enthusiastic group of attendees. And, of course, Boston is a great city for sports.

The main thrust of my Recovery and Regeneration presentation was a better approach to the organization of training elements, not scrambling for modalities and cold tubs after poor training methods have been implemented. As part of this discussion I presented the high-low approach developed by Charlie Francis in the 1980’s. By dividing your training into high intensity and low intensity elements, while eliminating the medium intensity elements from your program, you could maximize the adaptation of key attributes in speed and power athletes. A very simple approach with a complex explanation that allows you to easily distinguish between alactic adaptations and aerobic systems geared at improving both work capacity and recovery abilities.


 
High, Medium, Low - CF Modified 2014
 

The approach seemed to be well received by the coaches and practitioners in attendance and it generated a lot of discussion. In particular, I engaged in some detailed discussion with a collegiate football strength and conditioning coach who had some great ideas on incorporating a high-low approach with both his off-season conditioning regimen, as well as sitting down with his head football coach about organizing training camp and practice in a similar fashion. I thought this was a great idea. If we could convince football coaches to apply a high-low approach to their practices and specific football preparation, I believe we could improve alactic abilities, enhance recovery and reduce the risk of injury during these sessions.

The approach to off-season strength and conditioning workouts is the easiest part of this equation. High-intensity elements include sprinting, jumping, explosive med-ball work and maximal agility efforts. In addition, explosive lifts and heavier multi-joint efforts can be classified as high-intensity training elements that are performed on the same day. Conversely, low intensity efforts can be undertaken on a separate day, including tempo runs, med-ball circuit throws and passes, body-weight circuits, sub-maximal agility drills, range-of-motion work and other peripheral activities.


 
Five-Days Per Week Training

 

It is important to note that on the low intensity day athletes will need an explicit explanation of the magnitude of intensity expected – very sub-maximal – understanding that they will be working continuously, but at a manageable intensity. The work can still be characterized as ‘difficult’ with athletes breathing hard and feeling a burn in their muscles. This is especially true in the early phases of the training program when athletes are adapting to the work rates and volumes. It is not uncharacteristic for athletes to creep into the ‘medium’ zone during these early stages of a training program. The important point is to not increase the training volumes too rapidly during these early workouts, thereby giving the athletes a chance to adapt to the work and assimilate the training within their low intensity zone.

 

Continue to read Derek's article by clicking HERE 

 

 

Purchase Charlie Weingroff's new DVD by clicking link below

 

New Call-to-action
 

 

 

Topics: Derek Hansen

Either Way, Registration Ends Monday

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Fri, May 9, 2014 @ 08:05 AM

 

Registration for the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar ends at 7pm on Monday May 12th.

 

 

bsmpg oneweek

 

 

Register for the BSMPG  2014 Summer Seminar Today!
 
 
Follow us on Twitter for up to the minute updates

 

@BSMPG_1

Topics: BSMPG Summer Seminar, Boo Schexnayder, Dave Tenney, Derek Hansen

The 2014 Catapult Performance Directors Meeting

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Apr 28, 2014 @ 07:04 AM

 

Catapult

THE 2014 CATAPULT PERFORMANCE DIRECTORS MEETING

 

Mission of the BSMPG Performance Director Forum: To provide the leaders in performance training and medical oversight an opportunity to engage with leaders of similar attitude, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, while pursuing innovative strategies in performance methodology. 

 

WHEN: Sunday May 18th

WHERE: Somewhere awesome in Boston (you'll find out when you get your registration confirmation)

WHY: Because you want to be #BESTINTHEHISTORYOFEVER

SPEAKERS: See below

SPOTS AVAILABLE: A few spots remain - send notice of interest to bostonsmpg@gmail.com for official invite

DRESS: Business casual

COMPLETE DETAILS: Click HERE for complete details including a full speaker and attendee list.

 

Tenney

DAVID TENNEY was named the Sounders FC fitness coach on January 9, 2009. He is one of Major League Soccer’s most respected and highly-regarded fitness coaches following two years in Kansas City. On January 1, 2014, Tenney was named Sports Science & Performance Manager for the Sounders. Tenney’s Sports Science & Performance department is the first of its kind in MLS — and is tasked with collecting and analyzing the physiological, physical, and tactical data related to performance, fatigue, and injury prediction. Prior to the Seattle Sounders, Tenney held similar positions with the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting KC), the George Mason’s Men’s & Women’s teams, and the Washington Freedom (women’s professional soccer).

 

Skiba

 

DR. PHILIP SKIBA is the Program Director for Sports Medicine at Lutheran General Hospital, in Chicagoland. He also serves as acting Program Director for Sport and Exercise Medicine at The University of Exeter, UK. His research studies focus on the determinants of athletic performance in both power / speed and endurance sports. His work has been used by athletes in amateur and elite sport on a regular basis, including the 2012 London Olympic Games. He is the CEO of PhysFarm Training Systems LLC, and has coached a number of world-class athletes, most notably U.S. Olympian, Half-Ironman World Champion and World Record Holder Joanna Zeiger, and 4-Time World Champion Catriona Morrison of Scotland.

 

DEREK HANSON

 

DEREK HANSEN is a sports performance consultant based out of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.  He currently works as the Director of Athletic Performance at Simon Fraser University.  He has worked extensively with coaches and athletes from all levels of high performance including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL and the NCAA.  His involvement with Olympic athletes, coaches and teams includes sports such as Track and Field, Speed Skating, Softball, Bobsleigh and Field Hockey, with many of these athletes having won Olympic medals and achieved world record performances.

Derek’s specific areas of expertise include speed development, electrical muscle stimulation for performance, tapering and recovery, and hamstring rehabilitation.  Two significant influences in the development of his approach have been Charlie Francis and Al Vermeil.  Derek worked closely with Coach Francis from 2001 to 2010, providing coaching to elite athletes and developing Charlie’s educational materials for on-line presentation and seminar delivery.  Coach Vermeil has also been a steady source of mentorship to Derek from 2002 to the present day, providing insight into all areas of athlete performance.

 

When not coaching, Derek is a course conductor with the Canadian National Coaching Certification Program in the areas of Physical Preparation, Recovery & Regeneration and Sport Biomechanics.  He has developed a broad series of electrical muscle stimulation protocols for Globus Sport and Health Technologies, known as the SpeedCoach, that integrates EMS programming with conventional training to enhance speed performance.  Derek also runs a highly successful Strength and Conditioning apprenticeship program that places young coaches in jobs all over the world.

 

BSMPG: WHERE LEADERS LEARN

Topics: Philip Skiba, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Dave Tenney, Derek Hansen

Five Reasons Why the Role of the Pro Sports Strength Coach is Changing

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Wed, Mar 26, 2014 @ 07:03 AM

by Derek Hansen

Article originally appeared on: StrengthPowerSpeed.com

 

Derek Hanson

 

Over the last five years, I have noticed some gradual changes in the role of the strength and conditioning coach at the professional sports level. Some of my thoughts are based on casual observations, but also frank discussions with coaches who are currently working in the professional ranks, or coaches that have moved on from the pros to other levels of sport – mostly college jobs. But one thing is clear: The strength coaching profession of today is not the same challenge as it was 15 to 20 years ago. There are some emerging realities in professional sports that make it a different world, and one in which coaches may have to re-invent themselves. While some coaches interpret these changes as the result of innovations and progress, others – especially strength coach purists – see it as a step backwards away from the art of coaching and the development of a true coaching position.

Key changes and trends include:

1. Restructured Collective Bargaining Agreements

A number of professional sports leagues have restructured their collective bargaining agreements in favor having less off-season commitments for the players. For the most part, player unions have negotiated less mandatory practice and training time for players during the off-season. Some sports have reasoned that the wear-and-tear of extra workouts needed to be curtailed, inferring that contact sport athletes training extra days in the off-season would lead to more injuries and concussions. The sad part is the negotiators threw the baby out with the bathwater and did not allow the teams to condition players in the off-season for very long periods, even though good training helps to prevent injuries – not create them.

The NFL example is the most alarming. Previously, the players had 14 weeks of off-season training to prepare for pre-season and in-season competition. This has been shaved down to nine weeks, with only about three or four of those weeks dedicated to actual strength and conditioning work. Yet, fans are alarmed when the injury rate for the latest season is greater than previous years, with a larger number of big-name players having season-ending injuries. In fact, when some of the most serious injuries are considered – such as ACL injuries – 27 pre-season and 23 in-season ACL injuries (50 total) were recorded for the first three months of the 2013 NFL season, on pace for the highest number on record. Some would argue that the higher number is a result of the NFL clamping down on helmet-to-helmet hits, encouraging defenders to hit below the waist. However, the vast majority of ACL injuries were classified as non-contact injuries.

With strength and conditioning coaches having less mandatory time with the athletes in the off-season, one can only wonder what kind of shape the athletes show up to training camp in. If athletes haven’t completed the proper amount and intensity of training in the off-season, one could reasonably expect that these athletes could be at greater risk of injury due to fatigue and strength deficits. Assuming that all of the athletes will ensure their fitness is appropriate for the demands of training camp is naïve at best. The question is, what can the strength coach do to mitigate the negative impacts of less mandatory off-season training? Strength coaches who want to show their value to the organization must find a way to maximize their time with athletes, while not going overboard and creating injuries in training that would preclude the players from participating in actual team practices. If athletes are left to their own devices for the majority of the off-season time, strength and conditioning staff must build a cohesive relationship with each individual player to ensure buy-in to the program, a degree of mutual trust and a greater probability that the team complies with the workout plans sent out at the conclusion of the season.

2. The Hiring Process

Strength coaches are not evaluated using the same parameters as other sport coaches. Head coaches are evaluated on wins and losses. Assistant coaches and position coaches are evaluated on the statistics of the athletes they supervise. Strength coaches could be evaluated on how strong, powerful and fast their athletes have become under their programs. However, the majority of team administrators do not track this type of data closely. More often than not, strength coaches are hired based on their relationship with a sport coach. When a head coach is hired, he typically brings on board a strength coach that he was worked with previously. There are rarely any exhaustive interview processes where strength coaches are grilled on their knowledge, experience, philosophy and effectiveness. 

Continue reading article by clicking HERE.

 

See DEREK HANSEN at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-17th, 2014.  

BSMPG: Where Leaders Learn

 

Derek M. Hansen is a sports performance consultant based out of Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He currently works as the Director of Athletic Performance at Simon Fraser University. He has worked extensively with coaches and athletes from all levels of high performance including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL and the NCAA. His involvement with Olympic athletes, coaches and teams includes sports such as Track and Field, Speed Skating, Softball, Bobsleigh and Field Hockey, with many of these athletes having won Olympic medals and achieved world record performances. 

Derek’s specific areas of expertise include speed development, electrical muscle stimulation for performance, tapering and recovery, and hamstring rehabilitation. Two significant influences in the development of his approach have been Charlie Francis and Al Vermeil. Derek worked closely with Coach Francis from 2001 to 2010, providing coaching to elite athletes and developing Charlie’s educational materials for on-line presentation and seminar delivery. Coach Vermeil has also been a steady source of mentorship to Derek from 2002 to the present day, providing insight into all areas of athlete performance.

When not coaching, Derek is a course conductor with the Canadian National Coaching Certification Program in the areas of Physical Preparation, Recovery & Regeneration and Sport Biomechanics. He has developed a broad series of electrical muscle stimulation protocols for Globus Sport and Health Technologies, known as the SpeedCoach, that integrates EMS programming with conventional training to enhance speed performance. Derek also runs a highly successful Strength and Conditioning apprenticeship program that places young coaches in jobs all over the world.

 

Join the Leaders in Sports Medicine and Performance at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16 & 17, 2014.

Registration is now OPEN.

 

Topics: Derek Hansen