Cellular activation of selected signaling proteins through resistance training—a training methodological perspective

The Akt-mTOR-p70^S6k-4E-BP1 signaling pathway is a well-considered regulator of protein synthesis in the context of strength training. This process is essential for exercise-induced skeletal muscle growth. The objective of this review article was to analyze the design of acute resistance training protocols and evaluate the possible impact of different loading conditions on the activation of growth-related signaling cascades in human skeletal muscle. In all, 12 human studies were included in this review. The training intensity in the studies varied between 30% 1RM (one repetition maximum) and maximal load. The signaling proteins were measured in a time range between immediately and 24?h after training.The phosphorylation of all signaling proteins increased to different levels after resistance training, tending to baseline more than 6?h post training. In particular, the hypertrophic associated p70^S6k showed the highest phosphorylation acutely after the load and decreased consistently after 6?h. Training intensity and volume seemed to have an influence on the extent of protein phosphorylation, which, however, was not systematic or consistent. An obvious training methodological consequence (load and volume) for hypertrophic resistance training regime could not be devised. Further research is required to systematically vary training parameters to determine the influence of a certain stress zone on the signaling activation. Future research should aim to identify the ideal level of training intensity necessary to achieve the greatest possible extent of intramuscular anabolic signaling through intense activation of the signaling cascade to induce growth in human skeletal muscle.     

Observations of youth football training: How do coaches structure training sessions for player development?

We used systematic observation tools to explore the structure (i.e., activity and inactivity) and sequencing (i.e., the types of activities used) of football coaching sessions in Australia following the implementation of a new National Curriculum. Youth soccer coaches (n = 34), coaching within the Skill Acquisition (U11–U13 n = 19) and Game Training (U14–U17 n = 15) phases of the Football Federation Australia National Curriculum participated. Participants were filmed during a regular coaching session, with systematic observation of the session undertaken to provide a detailed analysis of the practice activities and coach behaviours. Findings indicated a session comprised of Playing Form activities (40.9%), Training Form activities (22.3%), inactivity (31%), and transitions between activities (5.8%). Coaches prescribed more Training Form activities (e.g., individual (5.4%) and drills (15.1%)) early in the session and progressed to Playing Form activities (i.e., small-sided games (15.3%) then larger games (24.8%)) later in the session. Most inactivity reflected the players listening to the coach – either in a team huddle (9.9%) or frozen on the spot during an activity (16.5%). In addition, coaches generally spent over 3 min communicating to players prior to explaining and introducing an activity regardless of when in the session the activity was scheduled.     

Der Sport als Institution der Produktion ästhetischer Erfahrung

Starting from the current legitimation crises in sport in the civil society of Germany and in particular high-level sport, this article questions the sense from which the value of sport activities originates and which defines their authenticity as sport activities. Analogous to the pedagogical justification discussion of school sports lessons and coupled to the philosophical core question how the“peculiar subject sport can be defined as a special activity” (Schürmann) and differentiated from other activities, attempts will be made to trace the specific aesthetic potential of contest-oriented competitive sport with the aid of an institutional theoretic abstraction basis. Along the line of the key points of the title (institution, production and aesthetic experience) the term institution according to Gehlen will be presented and critically investigated for possibilities of connections to a theory on aesthetic experience . The results of this analysis will then be transferred to the genuine characteristics of the institution sport. This reveals that sport per se does not contain a truly specific sense, but as an institution can be interpreted as a medium for the production of an extraordinary sense by those experiencing it. In this context a sensibly adequate interpretation of the term production is of decisive significance. The competitor needs the institution of sport in order to produce a sense. A sense per se cannot, however, be attributed to the institution of sport, except that activities within their own sphere only make sense when they are experienced aesthetically. Exactly this is referred to in the title of this article, that sport is an institution for the production of aesthetic experience. Finally the possible yield of the considerations for an educational aesthetic self-reflection of the institution of sport in a civil society will be discussed.     

Carbohydrate intake and training efficacy – a randomized cross-over study

Carbohydrate (CHO) availability during endurance exercise seems to attenuate exercise-induced perturbations of cellular homeostasis and might consequently diminish the stimulus for training adaptation. Therefore, a negative effect of CHO intake on endurance training efficacy seems plausible. This study aimed to test the influence of carbohydrate intake on the efficacy of an endurance training program on previously untrained healthy adults. A randomized cross-over trial (8-week wash-out period) was conducted in 23 men and women with two 8-week training periods (with vs. without intake of 50g glucose before each training bout). Training intervention consisted of 4x45 min running/walking sessions/week at 70% of heart rate reserve. Exhaustive, ramp-shaped exercise tests with gas exchange measurements were conducted before and after each training period. Outcome measures were maximum oxygen uptake (VO_2max) and ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VT). VO_2max and VT increased after training regardless of CHO intake (VO_2max: Non-CHO 2.6 ± 3.0 ml*min^?1*kg^?1 p = 0.004; CHO 1.4 ± 2.5 ml*min^?1*kg^?1 p = 0.049; VT: Non-CHO 4.2 ± 4.2 ml*min^?1*kg^?1 p < 0.001; CHO 3.0 ± 4.2 ml*min^?1*kg^?1 p = 0.003). The 95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference between conditions was between +0.1 and +2.1 ml*min^?1*kg^?1 for VO_2max and between ?1.2 and +3.1 for VT. It is concluded that carbohydrate intake could potentially impair the efficacy of an endurance training program.     

Olympische Spiele als mediale Vermögensgegenstände

On the basis of the media coverage of the Olympic Games and the underlying strategic positioning, it is shown how important it is to illuminate this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. Special emphasis is placed on the coupling of resource-based theory and network theories and illustrates particularly well the new interplay between management, organizational communication and mass communication. In the past decade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been transformed in ever increasing dimensions into a media corporation. The Olympic values and principles, innovations and creation potentials are the focal points of this strategy as tangible assets of the media.     

Can anticipatory skills be learned through implicit video-based perceptual training?

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of two video-based perceptual training approaches designed to improve the anticipatory skills of junior tennis players. Players were assigned equally to an explicit learning group, an implicit learning group, a placebo group or a control group. A progressive temporal occlusion paradigm was used to examine, before and after training, the ability of the players to predict the direction of an opponent's service in an in-vivo on-court setting. The players responded either through hitting a return stroke or making a verbal prediction of stroke direction. Results revealed that the implicit learning group, whose training required them to predict serve speed direction while viewing temporally occluded video footage of the return-of-serve scenario, significantly improved their prediction accuracy after the training intervention. However, this training effect dissipated after a 32 day unfilled retention interval. The explicit learning group, who received instructions about the specific aspects of the pre-contact service kinematics that are informative with respect to service direction, did not demonstrate any significant performance improvements after the intervention. This, together with the absence of any significant improvements for the placebo and control groups, demonstrated that the improvement observed for the implicit learning group was not a consequence of either expectancy or familiarity effects.