This has certainly not been a complaint from staff or athletes at SINI. Perhaps it is our size but providing an integrated approach to the provision of services has so far not been a problem. The physiotherapist works with the Strength & Conditioning Coach who can call in the support of the Physiologist, Nutritionist or Performance Analyst in order to assist the Performance Managers to get improved performances from the athletes.
Integrating high performance coaching into this process is absolutely vital as it is making sure all the coaches working with the athletes understand the principles behind high performances and apply these daily in their programmes.

SINI has a key role to play in the education and development of coaches who work in high performance environments. Through governing body structures coaches can acquire their qualifications and get practical experience. Through quality workshops such as the one facilitated by Sports Vision expert Dr Sherylle Calder, coaches can gain an edge to help develop an integrated approach to improving the performance of their athletes.

Further workshops are planned in the future and SINI is currently drawing up a database of high performance coaches from sports involved within SINI.Our next workshop will be held on Monday 23rd May (12-4pm) this time facilitated by Dr. Istvan Balyi. Dr Balyi has been asked to focus on ‘Tapering for competition’.
If you are interested in attending then let us know.

On the subject of high performance coaches, Sally Bell leaves The Institute at the end of April to take up a new post as National Coach to the Canadian Women’s hockey Squad. We wish Sally in her new job and trust that Sally, husband Rod and the girls settle well in their new surroundings in Vancouver.

The length of time that it takes to break down foods to make them available depends on the type of food eaten and the quantities eaten. Foods that are higher in protein, fat and fibre take a little longer to digest and if you eat a large quantity of food this will also take longer to digest than small amounts. Everyone is different so it is important that each athlete works out a plan of eating and drinking that suits his or her particular needs and type of sport. Most individuals can manage a larger meal 2 hours prior to exercise and then may be able to manage something small or drinks in the hour leading up to exercise.

It is important that the foods eaten directly before exercise should provide you with carbohydrate. If you keep your food choices low in fat and fibre you will reduce the risk of discomfort and it will be digested faster. Carbohydrate foods are absorbed into the system at different rates and therefore they will have different effects on blood glucose levels. Foods that are known to be released slowly and have a more sustained effect on blood glucose are known as low Glycaemic Index (GI) foods. Those that have a rapid effect are high GI foods. It has been suggested that low GI foods will provide a slower release of blood glucose during exercise but research in the area has not been conclusive. Another way of ensuring that carbohydrate levels are maintained is by taking some carbohydrates during exercise. However, some sports may be restricted in that athletes are not able to take in extra carbohydrate during activity therefore it is important that pre event meals have some low GI carbohydrate sources. Athletes do need to practice what they will eat as some of these foods can also be high in fibre, which is one of the things that may low down digestion, and therefore is a potential source of tummy upset for athletes.

Early risers?
Some sports require that athletes train early in the morning or you may have to do an early morning session prior to going to work or college. Therefore a meal 2-3 hours before training is not really possible. Fluids can be used at this time as an alternative to solids and they will also provide fluid as well as fuel. Milkshakes, sports drinks; fruit salad and cereal bars are useful at this time. Athletes must ensure that they pay careful attention to their post training meal and fluid replacement and the timing of food intake after the early morning training sessions.

2-3 hours before exercise
A pasta or rice based meal or salad with tomato based sauce, meat / chicken / fish and vegetables
Sandwich (bread or rolls with meat / chicken / cheese filling with salad
Baked beans on toast
Baked potato with grated cheese

1-2 hours before exercise
Fruit smoothies
Sports and cereal bars
Fruit
Milk or milk shakes
Breakfast cereal and milk (not high fibre varieties)

Less than 1 hour before exercise
Sports drinks
Sports gels
Dilute squash and water
Jelly sweets or fruit flavour ice-lollies.

Feeling queasy?
A small number of athletes may find that they experience symptoms such as fatigue, sickness and dizziness after consuming foods and drinks rich in carbohydrate immediately before exercise. This reaction is a response to the levels of insulin, which is a hormone. If you are affected you may need to experiment with the timings for pre event meals and maybe allowing longer gaps. You also could consider having a larger quantity of carbohydrate as there are some suggestions that smaller amounts (<50g) are more likely to cause problems with those that are sensitive. By including carbohydrate from low GI sources you can slow down the rate of insulin release.

So by getting the timing right and including the right type of food and fluids you can hopefully improve the outcome of your training sessions and competition events.

Athletics is based centrally in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Colloquially known as “The G” or “The Peoples Stadium”, it will hold around 98,000 by the time of the opening ceremony next March. There is currently redevelopment taking place at stadium and in September 2005 some seats will be removed to make way for the sprint straight for the Games. Under the stands there are ‘warrens’ which will accommodate the final call room and warm up area.

Adjacent to the stadium is the Olympic Park which is the site for the Athletics warm up track. This is also the site for the impressive Victoria Institute of Sport building, as well as the Rod Laver Tennis Arena and the Vodafone Arena. The warm up track is an international standard stadium with a further warm up track attached. Here there was a 500m two lane oval similar to some in eastern Europe which would be a perfect training track which local councils in NI could build at little expense (rather than the 8lane model!).

The warm up track is based on the banks of the Yarra River which provides excellent trails for warm up runs. Opposite the stadium is Botanic Gardens which has a 3.7km loop which Craig Mottram recently set the course record for. Throughout the day there are literally thousands of recreational runners and club athletes who circle ‘The Tan’. Most of the main athletics events that NI will be concerned with take place after 6pm in the evening. Temperatures at this time of night were quite cool and should mean that there should not be underperformance by UK athletes due to heat stress.

The athlete’s village is at a suburb north of the city, close to Melbourne Zoo, with easy access to all venues. The housing is currently under construction and will accommodate two/ three athletes per room. Close to the village is a large parkland area which has lots of grass and jogging trails to keep the endurance athletes entertained!

This week I was fortunate to spend two days at Glasgow Celtic FC to see first hand how these practices were being implemented and to learn about the ongoing research that is being conducted by Kenny and Adam Owen (Youth Academy – sport scientist). The findings from the high intensity small sided games and aerobic conditioning sessions suggest that these training methods could be directly integrated into the preparation of the team sport athletes at the SINI (i.e. Gaelic football, hockey and rugby).

Over the last two years I have been advocating the benefits of small sided games for developing sport specific endurance in our team sports. Moreover, the addition of the high intensity aerobic intervals (e.g. using a skills running track), interspersed with these games, can significantly elevate fitness levels even further. The training principles can also be incorporated into the preparation programmes of all endurance athletes as the main aim of the training is to boost VO¬2max and this is the limiting factor in some of the events that SINI athletes participate in.

To facilitate the exchange of information I demonstrated the athlete tracker system, which utilises global positioning satellites (GPS), that we are incorporating into the athlete programmes at SINI (further information will be provided in the next newsletter). The potential of using this system to enhance the performance aspect of the research that was currently being conducted was discussed. For example, the GPS can be used to provide performance information relating to the modified games; e.g. the no of sprints in each game, the duration of each sprint and whether there is a decline in movement patterns from the first game to the last, due to fatigue.
The GPS system can also be used to determine the efficacy of the training intervention, i.e. comparisons can be made relating to the movement patterns in games pre-training and post-training to determine whether there is any improvement. We discussed the potential of conducting collaborative work to examine the training interventions and to compare the results across sports e.g. Gaelic football, hockey, rugby and soccer.

Overall, the visit was extremely beneficial. The exchange of information was very useful and this can contribute to the enhancement of the preparation of SINI athletes. Further the potential for the development of collaborative links is most welcome. A reciprocal visit is being planned to facilitate this collaboration. I would like to acknowledge Kenny and Adam for facilitating the visit and for their generous hospitality.

Declan Gamble

SINI’s rugby athletes, who performed heroically to win their first ever U-21 Interpro series last autumn, provided the bulk of an Irish U-21 squad for the Six Nations Championship. Fourteen players from Ulster’s U-21 squad played during the campaign.

The Irish U-21 victory away to Italy proved to be a false dawn, as defeats to Scotland, England, France and Wales all followed. Injuries to key personnel during the games and a reluctance on the part of the Irish management to select tried and tested partnerships, allied to some poor decision making, all conspired in the production of poor performances.

SINI’s Gareth Steenson was appointed captain for the Six Nations, however, he was forced to withdraw from the Scottish fixture through injury. Ulster’s U-21 captain Chris Henry, who many believe should have captained the national side, was left to play a cameo role throughout the campaign, as the Irish U-21 management selected him on the bench. This prevented the excellent back-row combination of Henry, Stephen Ferris – Irish U-21 player of the season- and Oisin Hennessey the opportunity to test themselves against the best in Europe. One positive which emerged from the Six Nations, was the elevation to U-21 International standard of 19 year old scrum-half Paul Marshall. Having been inducted into SINI in January 2005, Paul has capped an excellent year by winning caps against France and Wales.

Having recovered from the physical and psychological demands of five internationals in seven weeks, the U-21 players must now focus their attentions and energies in preparing themselves for the U-21 World Cup, which takes place on the 6th of June, in Argentina. The shall undertake a twelve week strength and conditioning training programme, which shall include two fitness tests, in an effort to address the drop in fitness and strength levels which has occurred during this period of competition.

The lessons of their poor performances in the Six Nations have been learnt and they must now move forward in a positive direction, towards their goal of at least emulating last years’ U-21 team’s achievement in reaching the final. The hard yards have now got to be done, if they are to be successful in their quest in becoming World Champions.

Maurice field.