Friday, May 20, 2011

A Little Philosophy

How do you make sure your coaches follow an ethical path? Ask them to each write their own coaching philosophy statement.

By Dr. Dennis Docheff
Athletic Management, 17.3, April/May 2005, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1703/gpphilosophy.htm
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One of your coaches discovers that his best player has broken a team rule. The player remains eligible for conference play, but would sit out one game if the internal rule is enforced. Yet the team is undefeated, with the biggest game of the year coming up. Will the coach make the player sit out? Are you sure?

Ethical dilemmas are a common aspect of athletics. Most coaches intend to act in an honorable manner, but the pressure of competition can sometimes get in the way of doing what they know is right.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Recovery From Training

RECOVERY FROM TRAINING: A BRIEF REVIEW

PHILLIP A. BISHOP, ERIC JONES, AND A. KRISTA WOODS
Kinesiology Department, Human Performance Laboratory, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Vol 22 Number 3 May 2008


ABSTRACT

Athletes spend a much greater proportion of their time recovering than they do in training. Yet, much attention has been given to training with very little investigation of recovery. The purpose of this review is to stimulate further research into this vital area of training. Recovery can be categorized in three terms: i) immediate recovery between exertions; ii) short-term recovery between repeats (e.g., between resistance sets or interval bouts); and iii) training recovery between workouts. The focus of this review is training recovery. Full training recovery is essential to optimal performance and improvement. This review includes an examination of extant research on recovery and a very brief review of some potential modalities and techniques for hastening recovery and the time course of recovery and responses to some treatments. Measures of recovery and practical considerations are discussed briefly. Much research is needed in this area, but there are obstacles to high quality research. Attention must be given to key issues in research on recovery, especially the individual response to recovery treatments.

KEY WORDS rest, training breaks, fatigue, recovery modalities, overtraining, recovery ergogenics