By BFS

State-of-the-art equipment is used to prevent injuries and for reh,lbilitiltion USOC Sports Medicine The impressive sports medicine program is blueprinted by the USOC Sports Medicine Council appointed every four yeilrs and composed of volunteer physiciims, dentists, physiologists, athletes and recognil:l'd spurts ,wthuritil's. 1\1 the US. Olympic Headquarters, Dr. Kenneth (C1Sl'y) CIMkl' is director of the Sports Medicine Division He directs and integrates all the efforts of th,' sports medicine clinical services and sports com pUll'hlssisted l'd uc,ltion<ll and resea rch services.

The USOC has il com prehensive sports medicine progr,lm ,1Vilil,lbk (or c1thlctes pMticipating in the Ir,lining effort. Its philosophy is 10 maximize the tilk'nt ,1I1d skills of ,'very ,1thlde at the OTC, while minimil:ing illlury ,1nd he,llth ~lroblcms. S~)Orls m"dicine ilt th,' OTC starts with educating the ilthlde to help minimize the frequency and the severity of inluries The continuing progrilm provides md,lbolic, physical c1nd physiological evaluation ,md direction. Th,' sports medicine pl'ogr,ll1l concentrates on four b,1Sic <He,lS -- clinic<ll services, sports physiology, biol11"ch,lnics <lnd educ'ltion,ll services.

USOC Sports Medicine Clinical Services The prim<Hy function of the USOC Sports Medicine Clinic.ll Services Progr,lm is to provide quality medical ,1tkntion to athletes who utilize the OTC and drl' sekcted for the US. te,lms. The SI,lff Mm of the cliniC<ll services pnlgrilm is composed of one physici,ln, three certified ,1thletic triliners ,md ,1 dent'll hvgienist ,Is the permanenl core staff.

This staff works with experienced sports pi1\!siciilns ,lnd certified ,1thktic tr,liners from ,1CroSS the countrv who volunteer for one or two weeks of duty at the OTC during the veal' This eAperience <l!sO qualifies Ihe volunteers to be sekcted for the m"dical stilffs of tlw N,ltional Sports Festivals, [)<m I\m,'ric,ln Cames, World Uni\'l'rsitv C,lnws ,1I1d tlw Ol\'mpic Cilmes.

USOC Sports Physiology Sports physiology is an applied discipline that evaluates cardio-pulmonary (heart-lung) endurance and capacity, muscle power (the ability to use one's strength in an explosive manner), body composition (percent of bod y fat) a nd joint flexibility (the abi Iity to usc one's full range of motion). The USOC Sports Physiology facilities incorporate state-of-the-art equipment to fully testan ilthlete in all these areas. The test findings help to tailor a specific training program that will improve and maximize the athlete's natural abilities.

Experts in the sports physiology division identify individual potential and map out maintenance and developmental programs to help the athlete achieve peak performance A mobile reseMch laboratory is an extension of the sports physiology service. Laboratory equipment has been built into the traveling mobile home for onthe-road use The lab travels by appointment throughout the nation to test and evaluate athletes where they arc clustered. Sports physio logy dat'l co lIected on ,1 n Mh lete Me computerized and compared to" pool of ChM,lCtcristics and experiences of many top athletes in pMticular sports.

The comparison is used 10 ddermine if further clues can be found to help the Mhlete achieve his/her top performance. USOC Biomechanics Laboratory The USOC Sports Medicine Program houses one of the foremost biomechilnics l"boratories in the vvorld Biomechanics, the studyofhuman movement, is a direct application of classic physics 'lnd mudern computer capabilities. It plays an integral pMt in the sports medicine program. High-speed cameras, computers and speci,J! <lnaIytical systems help evaluate the body's mechanics and how they relate tooptimum performilnce.lnstant feedback aids in analyzing the stresses of repe<lted forces on the body and helps refine an athlete's movements.

The sophisticated equipment used for biomech,lnical ilnalysis and feedback is v,J!ued at more than one-half-million dollars. The computers here ,He used to spt'ed and enhance the thousands of calculations necessary for a single analysis of human movement for coach and athlete. Here's a simplified example of biomechanicil\ analysis. Imagine a discus thrower in position. The motion of prepMing ilnd releasing the discus is filmed by three high-speed 16mm cameras The camerilS operate <It a minimum speed of16 frames per second and al a mJximum speed of 500 frames per sl'cond.

(Bv compMison, the br,lin comprehends about 16 to 18 frames per second.) Each frame is then transferred tu ,1 cumputer prugram by ,111 electronic stYlus th'lt traces the im'll';l' uf the ilthkte's body and locatl's m,lior IUlnts. Continued (1l1 l\ll';l' 27 Rick Anderson doing jumping or Plyometrics in Olympic Weightlifting Gym.

Olympic Weightlifting Team Veteran Olympic Weightlifting Coach Harvey Newton will be ilt the helm ,lgain for the summer Olympic games ilt Los Angeles. He gave us the grand tour of the Weightlifling Teilm' s filcility a nd answered milny questions. The m,lximum number of lifters at ilny one time at the OTC is 15 with 10 to 12 being the ilverage The progrilm is pilid for by the Olympic Committl'e. Howevcr, the lifters do provide their own trilnsportation to the Olympic Trilining Center ilnd Gln stay through d 6 month semester. The Olympic teilm is chosen at the Olympic trials.

Qu,llificiltion for the teilm must be accomplished at th is meet T l'n weight clilsses com prise a team with an ilddition,ll two illterniltes. There is a great deal of strategy involved during a meet. It is like a game of chess dl'ciding on which poundages to select for edch attempt whilL' trying to psychl' out the other competitors. Coach Newtol1 st,ltes "You GHI't go out on till' pl<ltform like ,1 cr,lZV wild m,ln, you must have a controllL'd psychl'" Wl' ,1sked Co,lch Newlon dS to who dl'cides on Wh,lt ~lounlLlge is to be selected for iln ilttempt He replied, "It is ,1 joint decision on whilt to lift.

You hilvc to be vl'ry careful, if you miss 365 for eXilmple, you G1n't try 350 on the next il ttem pt. You've got to trv 365 l1r mor'e," he furtllL'r explained. There are two lifts in Olympic lifting: till' snatch ,HId the clean ilnd jerk. Each litter onlv gets three attempts on each of the two lifts. Therefore, it becomes absolutely critical on selecting the right poundilge. A cOilch has got to know his lifters 'lnd each lifter h,lS got to know himself. We asked Co,lch Newton what happens if a lifter in the heat of competition calls for 450 pounds and vou know he can't melke itand it would be far smarter instead to attempt 435 poundS.

"It's not like football, where a coach calls all the shots. NaturalJy, I'd try to talk it over, but if the lifter demands to try it, he can. It's that simple" "Does Nau til us or any other machine have a place in your training regimen?" we asked. "Absolutely not" Coach Newton emphatically stated. "Well then coach, how about one set of 8 to 12 or 15 reps as a training system?" we queried again. Coach Newton looked at me funny and said, "No way, we are ranked 11 th as a team in the world stand ings and I can assure you that absolutely no one trains that way who is ahead of us." Coach Newton gave us some other thoughts.

"The higher the calibre of performance of an athlete, the more important nutrition becomes." For the United States to move up from its 11 th spot, Coach Newton suggests three Clfeas of improvement: First, we need help on motivation Our lifters do not get any attention, no recognition like other countries. In fact, much of our competition will receive super gifts for winning; but not here. Athletes need rewards l Our lifters are motivelted for intrinsic reasons. Second, we have to do a better job in selecting available talent. Especially in developing our younger talent.

Third, we must develop il scientific application to our lifting and technique This is one area where the Olympic Training Center is being very helpful. The Biomechanics Lab and other video and physiological testing are proving to be of great benefit here at the OTe We asked Co,lCh Newton whelt he thought about record keeping. He stated, "I think it's tremendously important; some of our lifters keep records dnd some don't. However, they all should l"

We wish to thank Coach HMvey Newton for the tour and we express our best to him and his team for the '84 summer games in Los Angell'sl Sports Medicine At the OTC Continued from page 7 The analysis can precisely depict movement patterns, velOCity of each body segment and resultant muscular forces. The study of the athlete's movement provides specific data thelt can be used to improve the discus throwers performance Analysis may show thilt by rilising the elbow or angling the bod y slightly, the dthlete's power is increased.

NEWS FLASH! E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville; North Carolina had a super clinic; tied a record with six athletes dead lifting 500 lbs. or more. Strength Coach Glenn Draughon was ecstatic.

From BFS Magazine — May/June 1984. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).