Improving Performance Projected Content Flashcards
What are the types of technology advances?
- Training innovation.
- Equipment advances.
What are examples of training innovation?
- Lactate threshold testing.
- Biomechanical analysis.
- VO2 max testing.
What is lactate threshold testing?
Lactate threshold testing is a training innovation that seeks to identify an athlete’s lactate inflection point (the point when lactate begins to accumulate in the blood).
This test provides a lactate threshold heart rate and training pace.
What is the benefit of lactate threshold testing?
- Helps the athlete to set training zones that are more accurate and beneficial, providing better results, particularly in aerobic sports where the athlete wants to be as close as possible to the lactate inflection point without crossing into the anaerobic training zone.
- Lactate threshold testing also helps in anaerobic training to ensure training is forcing the body to deal with lactate overload and recover from it.
How does Liverpool FC conduct lactate threshold testing?
The exercise tests players’ endurance levels on day one as they run circuits of a marked track on the Melwood turf at increasing speeds. Each change of pace is preceded by a two-minute break during which blood samples are taken from the ear to test heart rate and blood lactate.
What is biomechanical analysis?
Biomechanical analysis is a training innovation that analyses the athlete’s technique to ensure their movement is efficient and safe.
What is the benefit of biomechanical analysis?
- Allows the athletes to last longer with more efficient movement patterns, and to achieve better results due to a better technique. This saves energy and provides the athlete with an advantage over others.
- Can learn new techniques to improve performance.
- Use of biomechanics can also lead to a better look and better functioning of sport equipment.
What is VO2 max testing?
The VO2 max test is a training innovation that measures an athlete’s maximal oxygen consumption in L per Min per Kg of body weight, maximum heart rate, ventilation rate, and the efficiency of muscles.
In addition the VO2 max test also provides a predictor of lactate threshold.
What is the benefit of VO2 max testing?
- Allows athletes to train more effectively to improve their cardiovascular endurance.
When are equipment advances considered beneficial for all athletes in their respective sport, and hence ethical? What is the grey area?
When they make sports safer, or when they are accessible by all athletes.
- New UFC gloves.
- More protective NFL helmets.
The grey area is that some of these advances provide unfairness to previous record holders of previous generations.
- New track floors.
- Socer boots with studs.
What are 2 examples of advances that are considered unfair?
New swimsuit in 2000 Olympics.
- Broke several records as it had a favourable influence on buoyance and drag.
- Later banned.
- Has created unfair competition as a number of
athletes couldn’t afford these swimsuits and were impacted in terms of their finish times. This is reinforced as individuals who used these during some events were stripped of their medals and the world records were taken away as it was considered unfair. The tragedy was not that the suits were banned but that the world records remained in place. This meant that future athletes did not have the same advantage as those that had set them. This decision was arguably unfair.
Golf balls made with more dimples.
- Travel further and higher with less force.
- This technology has created unfair competition in sport as not all golfers have used or are using these golf balls due to costs and access, thus again creating social justice issues.
Has access to technology created unfair competition?
The ethical issues related to technology use in sport include equity of access.
Accessing technology is expensive, especially when talking about physiological testing or biomechanical analysis. Some equipment is costly, and if all competitors cannot access technology then the competition is unfair due to inequities in access to technology. Most sporting competitions involve inequitable access.
All major sporting competitions such as: NBA, NBL, NFL, AFL, NRL, A-League, EPL, Champions League, etc have plenty of money to access technology. The same goes for many elite individual sports such as golf and tennis.
However, international sports competitions do not have the same level of equity.
Athletes from poorer countries cannot always afford the same technologies as athletes from developed countries, especially from countries that place a high value on sports.
Has technology gone too far?
This is one of the biggest ethical issues related to technology use in sport.
Technology should be used to improve sports performance. Audiences want to see improved performance and athletes want to improve their performance.
Improvements in performance will become very rare if technology is removed from it.
However, when technology leads to unfair competition its use should become limited.
What are the drugs used or strength?
Anabolic steroids and HGH.
What is the drug used for aerobic performance?
EPO
