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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
In all sports, skill is used as an umbrella term that includes not only physical performance of a particular skill but also the complex interaction of cognitive and technical ability to respond to the multitude of scenarios that occur in every match. However, when competing in team sports participants experience, to different degrees, physical and mental fatigue that has a negative impact on the performance of sports specific skills. As nutrition counter measure, the ingestion of appropriate quantities of carbohydrate, at appropriate times, has been shown to maintain or benefit aspects of skill performance. The mechanisms underpinning this preservation of skill with carbohydrate feedings involve a complex series of events between brain and skeletal muscle that interact to minimize the impact of physical and mental fatigue. Although these questions are specific to soccer research, many of the principles are directly transferable to other “stop-and-go” team sports.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
12/19/2026
BOC
1
12/19/2026
CSCCa
1
12/19/2026
The ketone bodies acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate have wide-ranging metabolic and molecular effects on organs such as the brain, heart and skeletal muscle, some of which are suggestive of benefits to athletes in terms of performance and recovery. The recent development and increasing commercial availability of ingestible forms of ketone bodies as exogenous ketone supplements has amplified interest in these compounds. A variety of compounds classified as exogenous ketone supplements are now available and have been subject to several studies in exercise performance and recovery contexts in human participants. While there are mechanistic bases for potential beneficial effects of exogenous ketone supplements in various athletic contexts, most studies to date have failed to observe benefits to performance or recovery.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
05/15/2026
BOC
1
05/15/2026
CSCCa
1
05/05/2026
Because of the discussions on more sustainable food production and the need to improve lifestyle and health, there is a growing interest in the transition towards consuming a more plant-based diet. As a result, daily protein intake will be derived more from the consumption of plant-based proteins at the expense of animal-based proteins. There are many questions on whether this has impact on the capacity of an athlete to recover and recondition following exercise. So far, basic research indicates that the ingestion of plant-derived proteins may not stimulate muscle protein synthesis to the same extent when compared to the ingestion of an equivalent amount of animal-derived proteins. The proposed lesser anabolic properties of plant- versus animal-based proteins have been attributed to differences in protein digestion and amino acid absorption kinetics. Furthermore, most plant-derived proteins have lower essential amino acid contents and can be deficient in one or more specific amino acids. However, it should be noted that very few studies have directly compared muscle protein synthesis rates following the ingestion of plant- versus high quality animal-derived proteins. Theoretically, a lower bioavailability and/or functionality of plant-based protein sources and/or plant-derived protein concentrates may result in greater daily protein requirements for athletes transitioning towards a (more) plant-based diet. However, as athletes typically consume a diet that provides more than 1.5 g protein per day, a lesser protein bioavailability or protein quality will unlikely compromise muscle conditioning in athletes adopting a (more) plant-based diet. However, when athletes are changing to a plant-based diet under conditions of low(er) energy and/or protein intake, a sports dietitian should be consulted to ensure ample protein provision.
Course Objectives
Course
Credits
Course Expiration
ACSM
1
11/09/2025
BOC
1
11/09/2025
CSCCa
1
11/09/2025
