doping to enhance academic performance?

Brain Enhancement Is Wrong, Right?@NY times

In a recent commentary in the journal Nature, two Cambridge University researchers reported that about a dozen of their colleagues had admitted to regular use of prescription drugs like Adderall, a stimulant, and Provigil, which promotes wakefulness, to improve their academic performance. The former is approved to treat attention deficit disorder, the latter narcolepsy, and both are considered more effective, and more widely available, than the drugs circulating in dorms a generation ago.

NZ Coach Grants

SPARC invests $600,000 into NZ’s top coaches@SPARC

Many of the Coach Performance Enhancement Grants (CPEG) recipients were part time coaches with regular jobs who had to give up their personal time to coach athletes. Balancing both roles can be pretty challenging, so these grants allow us to purchase more of a coach’s time (off employers) which ultimately gives their athletes more chance of success.

Singapore Sports School as a long term athlete development model

Sports school to expose young athletes to high-level competitions@CNA

Two years to go before the Youth Olympic Games, but the Singapore Sports School said it would not be increasing training sessions for its athletes.

Singapore Sports School will not be intensifying training sessions beyond the current six to ten times a week as the athletes are still very young.

Singapore Sports School website

Singapore bid journey

Singapore to host the 1st Youth Olympic Games in 2010

Singapore to host the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010@IOC

21 February 2008 announcement of 2010 YOG host city

21 February 2008: announcement ceremony of 2010 Youth Olympic Games@IOC

Moscow and Singapore finalists for 1st ever Summer Youth Olympic Games
Out of a list of nine candidates,* Moscow and Singapore have been chosen as the finalists for the election of the Host City of the 1st ever Summer Youth Olympic Games to be held in 2010. Their names, together with the evaluation report, have been be submitted to the IOC members for a postal vote. The winning city will be announced by IOC President Jacques Rogge in a live web cast on www.olympic.org on Thursday 21 February 2008 from the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

More information on
Moscow's candidature
Singapore's candidature

new Speedo swim suit using NASA technology

Speedo launches 'space age' swim suit@AOC

Speedo has harnessed the expertise of the United States space agency NASA amongst a number of international research institutes to create the SPEEDO LZR RACER® - which independent testing has shown to be the world’s fastest swimsuit.

Made from an ultra lightweight, low drag, water repellent, fast drying fabric, unique to Speedo, called LZR PULSE, the LZR RACER is the world’s first fully bonded swimsuit that is ultrasonically welded and gives the effect of no seams at all.

Sports Science Journal@Jan-Feb08

This is this month's sports science journal update.

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Jan-Feb 08
Coaching
Effects of acute exercise on executive processing, short-term and long-term memory. JSS

Determinants of 800-m and 1500-m Running Performance Using Allometric Models. MSSE

Relationship of Training versus Echocardiographic Parameters to Competitive Results in Distance Running. IJSM

Role of muscle mass on sprint performance: gender differences? EJAP

Factors affecting peak performance in the swimming competition of the Athens Olympic Games. JSMPF

Specific inspiratory muscle warm-up enhances badminton footwork performance. APNM

Strength & Conditioning
Block periodization versus traditional training theory: a review. JSMPF

The use of various strength-power tests as predictors of sprint running performance. JSMPF

Chin-up strength tests: does stature matter? JSMPF

Physiology
History of developments in sport and exercise physiology: A. V. Hill, maximal oxygen uptake, and oxygen debt. JSS

Twenty-five years of sport performance research in the Journal of Sports Sciences. JSS

Perception of Fatigue during Simulated Competition. MSSE

Influence of Instructions on Perceptually-Based Ratings. IJSM

Training Induced Changes in Maximum Heart Rate. IJSM

Validity of the Polar S810 to Measure R-R Intervals in Children. IJSM

Effect of hydrotherapy on the signs and symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness . EJAP

Changes in the haemostatic system after thermoneutral and hyperthermic water immersion. EJAP

Validity of a Swimming Snorkel for Metabolic Testing. IJSM

Time Limit at V•O2max Velocity in Elite Crawl Swimmers. IJSM

Physiological Responses to Exercise at Altitude: An Update. SM

The effect of intermittent hypobaric hypoxic exposure and sea level training on submaximal economy in well-trained swimmers and runners. JAP

The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test: A Useful Tool for Evaluation of Physical Performance in Intermittent Sports. SM

Contrasting Influences of Age and Sex on Muscle Fatigue. MSSE

Sympathetic cardiovascular control during orthostatic stress and isometric exercise in adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome. EJAP

Quadriceps Oxygenation during Isometric Exercise in Sailing. IJSM

Heat stress in sport—Fact and fiction. JSMS

A modern classification of the exercise-related heat illnesses. JSMS

Physiological limits to exercise performance in the heat. JSMS

The effect of the Ramadan fast on physical performance and dietary habits in adolescent soccer players. EJAP

Nutrition
Weight Control Strategies of Olympic Athletes Striving for Leanness: What Can be Done to Make Sport a Safer Environment? CJSM

Nutritional Supplementation and Anabolic Steroid Use in Adolescents. MSSE

Validation of a Personal Fluid Loss Monitor. IJSM

Biomechanics
Contributions of upper limb rotations to racket velocity in table tennis backhands against topspin and backspin. JSS

Sports Medicine
Kinematics of Ankle Taping after a Training Session. IJSM

Epidemiology of knee injuries among adolescents: a systematic review. BJSM

Physical examination tests of the shoulder: a systematic review with meta-analysis of individual tests. BJSM

Predicting Return to Sprinting after Acute Hamstring Strains. CJSM

Head and Neck Position Sense. SM

Psychology
Twenty-five years of psychology in the Journal of Sports Sciences: A historical overview. JSS

Evaluation on the effects of relaxing music on the recovery from aerobic exercise-induced fatigue. JSMPF

College athletes' perceptions of social support provided by their coach before injury and after it. JSMPF

On the temporal and behavioural consistency of pre-performance routines: An intra-individual analysis of elite basketball players' free throw shooting accuracy. JSS

Talent ID
ACTN3 genotype in professional soccer players. BJSM

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The Age of Exhaustion in world records?

Stuck records@times online

According to a study conducted at France’s biomedical and epidemiological institute of sport (Irmes), which analysed 3,260 world records going back to the first modern Olympics in 1896, humans have reached their physiological limits, and after the year 2060, there will be no more world records.

Based on its analyses, Toussaint’s team predicts that in most of the quantifiable Olympic sports, the era of world records is drawing to a close. “We started our study in 1896, when we estimate people were operating at 75% of their physiological capacity. We are now at 99%. When we say there will be no more world records after 2060, it should not be forgotten that in about half of the events, there will be no world records after 2027.”

Japan National Training Center (NTC) opens

New training center fuels dreams of gold@asahi

The NTC's total cost, including expenses to purchase the land site, was about 37.4 billion yen, according to the sports ministry.

The indoor training facility can be used by athletes in up to 10 sports, from gymnastics and judo to table tennis.

The judo facility is twice the size of the famed Kodokan, the headquarters of judo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward. The NTC facility has about 1,000 tatami mats.

Each practice facility has video cameras in place so athletes and coaches can later review their techniques.

The tennis courts use the same surfaces in stadiums hosting the U.S. and French Opens.

The outdoor training facility, featuring a 400-meter track, was completed in January 2007.

The JOC will operate an elite academy to foster young athletes into those capable of competing at the international level.

Table tennis and wrestling will join the academy project from April.

Six table tennis players and three wrestlers, all still in junior high school, will live and train at the NTC while attending a nearby school.

plan for Singapore Sports Hub

Singapore Sports Hub Consortium, Led By Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd, Selected as Preferred Bidder For Sports Hub Project@SSC

Located on a 35ha site in Kallang, the Sports Hub will include the following facilities:
• A new 55,000-capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof;
• A 6,000-capacity indoor Aquatic Centre that meets world tournament standards;
• A 3,000-capacity multi-purpose arena which will be scalable and flexible in layout;
• 41,000 sq m of commercial space
• A Water Sports Centre
• The existing 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium; and
• Supporting leisure and commercial developments

With its world-class facilities, the Sports Hub will be the Centre for Singapore's elite athletes and high performance management as well as an ideal location for sports and entertainment events, sports administration, and sports and recreation businesses.

It will help to create a critical mass of international, regional and local sports federations and associations, sports medicine and sports science service providers, sports related training and education service providers, sports companies' sales and marketing headquarters, and retail outlets.

Playing sports, Wii Sports or XBOX 360 for energy expenditure

Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study@pubmed

An interesting study of Liverpool John Moores University was conducted to compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary (XBOX 360) and new generation active computer games (Wii Sports).

Mean (standard deviation) predicted energy expenditure when playing Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kJ/kg/min), tennis (202.5 (31.5) kJ/kg/min), and boxing (198.1 (33.9) kJ/kg/min) was significantly greater than when playing sedentary games XBOX 360 (125.5 (13.7) kJ/kg/min) (P<0.001).

However,
the energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children.

Australian Recovery Centre facilities in Beijing

Fitness First for Olympic Team@AOC

The Fitness First Recovery Centre facilities in Beijing include:

- 25 metre pool for standard pool recovery, rehabilitation, water running, swimming, and water polo drills.
- Cold water immersion area
- Strength and Conditioning / stretching area
- Massage
- Nutrition Bar
- Relaxation / Video / Music / Media area
- State-of-art exercise machines / equipment / fully equipped gym facilities.

AOC preparation for Beijing Olympics

Looking for an Edge in Beijing@AOC

An illustrious panel of medical and sports science specialists gathered in Sydney in November to share their knowledge on heat & humidity, air quality, health and hygiene with representatives from all Olympic sports to assist Australian athletes have an edge in August 2008.

August temperatures in Beijing are generally above thirty degrees Celsius with humidity around 50 percent.

Matt Brearly from the Northern Territory Institute of Sport NTIS spoke on acclimitisation and monitoring athletes’ core body temperatures.

Brearly traveled to Beijing with the Australian Hockey teams in August this year for their test events. The athletes took capsules to record their core body temperature. The use of baths, cooling jackets and other procedures were all tested.

Brearly stressed the importance of using the Australian summer to test procedures in the lead up to the Games. He also explained that a minimum of seven days was required to physiologically acclimatise to conditions but mentally it could take longer depending on the individual athletes.

As well as acclimatisation plans the testing of sweat levels, hydration requirements and exercise induced asthma were all discussed.

Training in the morning would also be beneficial in Beijing.

Singapore talent ID and development programme

4 new sports academies to identify, develop talents from primary school@CNA

SINGAPORE : In a boost for sports in Singapore, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said it will start identifying and developing talented athletes at an early stage - at primary 5 and 6 levels.

Those selected will then be trained in four new Junior Sports Academies which will be set up by next year.

The MOE said the move is essential for long-term success. However, it acknowledged that such talent-spotting should not be limiting, especially when young ones are concerned.

The Minister of State for Education, Lui Tuck Yew, said: "We will identify two groups of athletes, with the first group comprising athletes who are already excelling in their respective sports and the second group are those who may not necessarily play the sport, but are deemed to have the potential to do well in it.

"A multi-pronged approach based on competition results, scouting, nomination by schools and NAPFA Test results will be used to identify the athletes for the selection trials."

These students will then be trained at four centralised Junior Sports Academies, housed in selected schools islandwide.

For a start, there will be four such academies per zone - the academies for netball, swimming, table-tennis, track & field at the Singapore Sports School in the north, a table-tennis academy at the Singapore Table-Tennis Association in the south, a wushu academy at Chung Cheng High Main in the eastern part of Singapore and a badminton academy at Henry Park Primary School in the west.

280 students will attend these academies next year. Of these, the first selection for the wushu and badminton academies has already been made.

"They will have the privilege of receiving expertise from professional coaches... Primary school students from various parts of Singapore will be able to receive quality training," said Ng Teng Joo, principal of Henry Park Primary School.

There will be two to four training sessions each week at the Junior Sports Academies outside of school hours, depending on the sport chosen. Each training session will last about two hours.

To prevent any sort of conflict, a sports manager will be appointed to ensure that there's a fine balance between the sporting and academic development of these selected students.

This pilot scheme comes under a new Talent Development Framework. If the pilot scheme works, more academies catering to more sports could eventually be set up.

The MOE said it is looking at as many as 16 academies for an estimated 1,000 athletes in primary 5 and 6.

2 major sporting events for Singapore in 2008

2008 to be a busy year for sports in Singapore@CNA

The Singapore F1 Grand Prix will be the world's first night street race and work has already begun on all fronts – from track layout to ticketing and hospitality.

Another widely-anticipated event in 2008 is the announcement of the winning bid for the new sports hub, which will replace the National Stadium.

Britain's plan for Beijing Olympics: Macau holding camp

PLANNING FOR THE BIGGEST EVENT OF ALL@EIS

In the lead up to Beijing next year, there will be a multisport holding camp in Macau with most of Britain’s Olympic sports including Hockey, Judo, Archery and Athletics based there. However some sports have different training requirements, so we arrange slightly different bases for them.

For example, Equestrian only move their horses once, so they will go straight to Hong Kong, where their competition is taking place and be with their horses for the whole duration. Triathlon will be based in JeJu Island, in South Korea so they can get the right cycle training facilities, as well as the swimming and running. Rowing and Canoe Slalom will actually be doing their final preparation training on the Olympic Competition Venues, so they will have their Holding Camp based around those sites.

Flying the athletes to the holding camps at least 7 days before the Games will help give them enough time to recover from the travel. For athletes based in Macau, the flight to Beijing is only 3hours and in the afternoon, so should have very little impact.

NZ high performance funding

SPARC Announces $4.9 Million Investment In High Performance Sport@SPARC

SPARC (Sport & Recreation New Zealand) today announced that it will invest $4.9 million in the high performance projects of 15 different sports in 2008 and beyond.

SPARC invests an additional $11 million in the high performance programmes of nine targeted sports. Those sports include cycling, rowing, swimming and athletics, among others.

European training centre for Australian athletes

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has signed a formal agreement with the Varese Provincial Government to finalise a contract for the construction of a European Training Centre (ETC) for Australian athletes@sports vine

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has signed a formal agreement with the Varese Provincial Government to finalise a contract for the construction of a European Training Centre (ETC) for Australian athletes.

The Centre will be used by Australian athletes and teams in preparing for elite competition like the 2012 London Olympics.

The Australian Government, through the Australian Sports Commission, has committed $11million towards the establishment and operation of the European Training Centre at Gavirate, on the shores of Lake Varese in northern Italy.

This will provide AIS and Australian athletes with access to the same world's best Australian sports science and sports medicine advice and services that they currently enjoy in Australia.

physical exercise or brain exercise?

Exercise on the Brain@NYT

One form of training has been shown to maintain and improve brain health — physical exercise. In humans, exercise improves what scientists call “executive function,” the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that’s appropriate to the situation, inhibit inappropriate behavior and focus on the job at hand in spite of distractions. Executive function includes basic functions like processing speed, response speed and working memory, the type used to remember a house number while walking from the car to a party.