Filter Courses
Course Types
Athlete monitoring can be used to gauge and elevate players’ responses to training to help the maintenance of maximal performance and minimize injury and/or illness risk. There are many tools for both internal and external load monitoring, however little research has been performed within the context of American football. Given that American football is a team sport made up of different positions requiring unique skillsets and game demands, the individualization of monitoring tools and/or techniques is critical. Data analysis and interpretation needs context, both in terms of training phase (e.g., preseason vs. in-season) and in determining meaningful changes in selected monitoring tools. The authors review different parameters associated with external and internal load assessments in football and tools on how to monitor the player’s recovery with the aim of optimizing both their health and performance.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
11/27/2027
BOC
1
11/27/2027
Commission on Dietetic Registration
1.25
11/27/2027
CSCCa
1
11/27/2027
Substantial volumes of fluid can be lost during intense or prolonged exercise as a consequence of thermoregulatory sweating. In these situations, athletes need to drink during and after exercise to replace fluids lost to avoid potential negative effects of dehydration. Fluid replacement is a multi-step process involving a number of physiological systems including fluid intake, fluid delivery to the bloodstream, distribution within the body fluid compartments, and whole-body fluid retention. Adequate fluid replacement is influenced by beverage composition, as certain ingredients can facilitate or hinder one or more steps in the rehydration process. Dr Lindsay Baker reviews the scientific principles of fluid replacement and role of beverage formulation on the rehydration process for athletes.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
11/12/2027
BOC
1
11/12/2027
Commission on Dietetic Registration
1
11/12/2027
CSCCa
1
11/12/2027
Buffering agents including sodium bicarbonate, beta-alanine and sodium citrate are routinely used by athletes, and effects of buffering agents on athletes’ performance have been investigated since as early as the 1930s. Extracellular buffering agents, including sodium bicarbonate and sodium citrate, can increase the blood’s buffering capacity (pH and [HCO3-]), and intracellular buffering via beta-alanine supplementation can increase muscle carnosine concentration. The recent International Olympic Committee consensus statement on nutritional supplements reported that for sodium bicarbonate and beta-alanine, there is scientific evidence for beneficial effects on athletes’ performance. There is also growing evidence that sodium citrate can be effective in improving performance. There is a high prevalence of the use of supplements and buffering agents within athletic populations and consideration of the use of buffering agents in specific contexts relevant to athletes is therefore warranted. Contexts that have been investigated within the literature to only a limited extent include the use of buffering agents in highly trained female athletes, in extreme environmental conditions (e.g., training and/or competing in hot weather conditions or at altitude) and when using combinations of buffering agents. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the effectiveness of extracellular and intracellular buffering agents can be influenced by modifying factors, such as the dose, timing, duration, and intensity of exercise performed. Additionally, the translation of research findings in buffering agents to highly trained athletes can be influenced by the design factors of research studies (e.g., use of crossover or matched group study design, familiarisation trials, pre-test dietary standardisation, performance tests that were representative of the real-world competitive demands of athletes) and athlete-specific factors (e.g., recruitment of highly-trained athletes as research participants, measures of buffering capacity, and reported improvements in performance tests that replicate real-world competitive events). There is therefore further scope to provide a practical evaluation of the evidence on buffering agents, which may be particularly relevant to performance support practitioners and coaches seeking to implement an evidence-based buffering protocol for their athletes.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
11/12/2027
BOC
1
11/12/2027
Commission on Dietetic Registration
1
11/12/2027
CSCCa
1
11/12/2027