Part 1 - Introduction to aerobic capacity

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The Science of Training Young Athletes

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University of Florida

The Science of Training Young Athletes

192 ratings

Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while avoiding injury and overtraining. We begin by examining the multidimensional nature of coaching, the relevant sport motor performance abilities, the impact of growth and development on motor skills, the gene versus practice controversy, and briefly overview the body structures strengthened through training. Then we explore the athlete's energy supply, where this energy comes from, and how it matures along with the athlete. Finally, we examine the development of strength, power, anaerobic capacity, coordination and flexibility through the life span. The optional text manual for this course is available at: http://www.learnitez.com/HighPerformanceScience/manuals/

From the lesson

Week 4: Enhancing the athlete’s physical work capacity

The level of expertise with which an athlete is able to perform sports skill depends on how well the coach molds the correct ratio of endurance, strength, power and speed to meet the demands of the sport. In this section you will learn the science behind developing these important motor performance abilities as the young athlete moves through puberty.

Part 1 - Introduction to aerobic capacity4:52

Part 2 - The VO2max test5:54

Part 3 - Comparing the VO2max of athletes6:05

Part 4 - Aerobic capacity of young athletes5:14

Part 5 - Relative VO2max of trained vs untrained children5:30

Part 6 - The child's economy3:36

Part 7 - Key points of aerobic capacity2:33

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Chris Brooks
Instructor
Coaching Science Coordinator for USA Track and Field

In this module we're going to focus on the aerobic energy system.

Of the three ATP production mechanisms,

the aerobic energy system has the highest capacity.

But it is very low in terms power that it permits the athlete.

Despite its low power, the aerobic energy system is a critical energy system for

almost all sport participants.

It not only permits the athlete to perform over an extended period of time,

it also supports the creatine phosphate energy system and glycolysis.

There are several field tests available that are designed to assess

the quality of an athlete's aerobic energy system.

The multi-stage fitness test, also known as the B-test,

the yoyo test, or the shuttle run test and some athletes even refer to it as

the suicide test, is a commonly used field test.

This test is based on a controlled,

gradual increase in speed as the athletes run between 2 lines 20 meters apart,

until they can no longer keep up the designated pace.

There are many apps that you can use to pace the athletes during the test.

Most apps started 8 kilometers per hour as you see here.

I've speeded up the time, so in this particular example

the red dot that's moving backwards and forwards is the athlete running between

the markers that are set 20 meters apart, as shown on the diagram.

Athletes must reach the line on or before the next beep.

The longer they keep going, the higher their VO2 max is predicted to be.

After one minute, the speed is increased to 8.5 kilometers per hours,

as is indicated here.

Then after two more minutes, the speed is increased again and so on.

Notice the athletes stopped at this point here.

V02 max is 15.5 mils per kg per minute.

Now, don't worry about these numbers for now.

We're going to come back and talk about them more in a little bit.

Now, theoretically,

the point where the athlete can no longer keep the correct pace is

the upper limit to which the mitochondria can use oxygen to produce ATP.

The term VO2 max is used to describe this upper limit to

the athlete's aerobic capacity.

There are three important functional characteristics

contributing to the athlete's aerobic capacity.

And these include first the athlete's cardiac output, and

cardiac output depends on coronary bloodflow, in addition to how

effectively the cardiac muscle contracts and how efficiently it uses oxygen.

And hearts differ in these characteristics.

The second is the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, and

this depends on the amount of hemoglobin located in the red blood cells.

And once again, athletes will differ in the amount of oxygen

that they're able to carry in their blood.

And the third is the mitochondrial effectiveness.

Many factors influence the delivery of oxygen to the mitochondria,

including the density of capillaries surrounding the muscle,

the density of the mitochondria itself and

how efficiently the mitochondria themselves work to produce ATP.

While trained athletes have mitochondria with a greater

capacity to grab and use oxygen effectively,

the VO2 max is always lower than its genetic potential in the untrained.

And it can be increased towards its genetic potential by good training.

VO2 max of a novice can be increased by as much as 20% through proper training.

More experienced athletes however, have a much, much harder time increasing

the VO2 max because they're already quite close to the genetic potential.

In this module, we will examine the meaning and

relevance of maximum aerobic capacity or VO2 max.

We're going to discuss the difference between relative and

absolute oxygen consumption.

And we're going to interpret data from a VO2 max test.

So let's get started.

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