PSC Issue 27

ISSN 1757-5834
PROFESSIONAL
strength & conditioning
Issue 27, 2012
The journal of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association
EDITOR
Ian Jeffreys PhD, FNSCA, ASCC, CSCS*D
EDITORIAL PANEL
Raphael Brandon MSc, ASCC
Clive Brewer MSc, BSc(Hons), ASCC, CSCS
Marco Cardinale PhD, ASCC
Dave Clark MSc, ASCC
Paul Comfort MSc, ASCC
Audrey Duncan PhD, ASCC
Mike Favre MSc, ASCC
Duncan French PhD, ASCC
Jon Goodwin MSc, PGCHE, ASCC, CSCS
Greg Haff PhD, ASCC, FNSCA, CSCS
Liam Kilduff PhD
Rhodri Lloyd PhD, CSCS*D, ASCC
Jeremy Moody PhD, ASCC
Phil Moreland BAppSci, AssocDip, ASCC
Jeremy Sheppard PhD, CSCS
Narelle Sibte BAppSci, Grad Dip, ASCC
Alan Sinclair MSc, ASCC, CSCS
Gil Stevenson BEd (Hons), ASCC
Margaret Stone MSc, ASCC
Michael Stone PhD, ASCC
Mark Simpson MSc, ASCC
Graham Turner MSc, BEd (Hons), ASCC
COLUMN EDITORS
Graeme Close PhD, ASCC
Nick Ward MSc, CSCS
INSIDE
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
FOR SPRINT HURDLES
page 14
UKSCA
CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: USING HIGHINTENSITY ENERGY-SYSTEM CONDITIONING

FOR INJURED ATHLETES
The UK Strength & Conditioning Association
page 4
INTERVIEW WITH MARK SIMPSON
1 Woodville Terrace, Lytham, Lancashire FY8 5QB.

t: 0845 300 8078
f: 0845 300 8079
e: info@uksca.org.uk
page 9
INTERNSHIPS ENSURING A QUALITY

EXPERIENCE FOR ALL
page 23
THE ROLE OF -ALANINE IN BUILDING

MUSCLE STRENGTH
page 26
Letter from the Editor

Ian Jeffreys, Editor:
I think the content in this edition really reflects the aim of
the Journal: ie, to provide a voice for members of the
UKSCA, and to provide information that directly impacts
upon performance at a whole range of levels
Ian Jeffreys, PhD, FNSCA,

ASCC, CSCS*D, is a senior
lecturer in strength and
conditioning at the University of
Glamorgan. He is also the
proprietor and performance
director of All-Pro Performance
in Brecon Wales.
A registered strength and
conditioning coach with the
British Olympic Association, an
NSCA coach practitioner, and a
board member of the UKSCA,
Ian was voted the NSCA High
School Professional of the Year
in 2006.
After our special edition on youth strength and conditioning that we featured in
the previous issue, we have reverted in this issue to the more typical blend of
features and articles. I think the content in this edition really reflects the aim of
the journal: ie, to provide a voice for members of the UKSCA, and to provide
information that directly impacts upon performance at a whole range of levels.
As an organisation it is important that we are able to address issues currently
concerning members. In particular, an article in this issue responds to a number
of concerns expressed by UKSCA members over the development of internships.
Although internships can provide critical experiential learning, and many
members have benefited greatly from their internships, there is however a very
wide variation in terms of quality of internships and support provided for interns
by organisations.
This variation is exacerbated by the fact that there is currently very little
guidance for prospective coaches who wish to pursue internships, or for
organisations who would like to offer effective internships. To address these
concerns, I have written an article with Graeme Close on the topic of internships
in strength and conditioning (on pages 23-25).
We hope that this article accurately reflects the concerns of both members and
potential employers, and would welcome feedback from members on these
issues. We are also planning that this article, along with the feedback from
members, will provide the basis of the Associations position statement, which will
help guide practice within this field.
This edition also features two applied articles. One is from Dan Baker of the
Brisbane Broncos, a highly experienced and respected coach, and also one of the
most memorable speakers at a UKSCA conference.
Dan has addressed a common problem faced by coaches in contact sports,
namely how to maintain endurance levels in injured athletes. His cross training
approach provides a potential and non-traditional answer to coaches facing the
challenge, all based upon successful application in the field.
The second applied practice article is by Paul Read, from the University of
Gloucestershire. Pauls article addresses the challenge of constructing an effective
strength and conditioning programme for sprint hurdles, and provides a detailed
synthesis of a number of methods that can be utilised to enhance performance in
this discipline.
The performance nutrition column in this issue looks at the potential for beta
alanine supplementation. Written by Craig Sale and Bryan Saunders of
Nottingham Trent University, it covers the theoretical underpinning of
supplementation, along with key points as to its potential application. As always,
Graeme Closes column provides our members with first-class information, from
leading authorities in the nutrition field, on the latest developments in the area.
The opportunity to learn from experienced coaches provides an ideal forum for
the development of coaching wisdom. In the five people you meet in heaven
column, Nick Ward has conducted a fascinating interview with Mark Simpson.
Mark is one of the most respected and experienced UK strength and conditioning
coaches, and has been involved with the UKSCA since its inception.
A key man in the success of British Cycling over the last few years, Mark is
now responsible for the sport science support for the Oklahoma Thunder
basketball team, who this year reached the NBA finals. Mark provides a
fascinating insight into his developments in the field and into the way he views
strength and conditioning practice on both sides of the Atlantic.
PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

2
UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk
news
UKSCA News
UKSCA to work with REPs on level 4 category
Twelve more accredited tutors
The UKSCA has been working with

Skills Active and the Register of
Exercise Professionals (REPs) to agree
the basis for a new category on the
register, known as Level 4 specialist
instructor strength and conditioning.
It is proposed that a REPs level 4
category in this discipline can only be
gained by instructors who have
achieved UKSCA accreditation.
This is a departure from the usual
process by which the REPs levels are
achieved in that it is driven through the
UKSCAs competency-based assessment process, as opposed to being
driven by Skills Active endorsed
qualifications/awards.
The UKSCA Board thinks that this is a vital step in maintaining
standards of strength and conditioning in the UK, especially as the
popularity of strength and conditioning in the fitness industry has
increased over the last few years.
With this partnership, REPs members offering strength and
conditioning services will need to have proven their competence
through the UKSCAs assessment process and also will need to
maintain their UKSCA accredited status through their CPD
submissions.
UKSCA accredited members wishing to be recognised at this level
by REPs also need to fulfil the normal REPs level 4 pre-requisites (the
exceptions being the need to possess exercise referral as a category,
and the professional practice unit).
We are sure that this will also result in an increased number of
training providers from the fitness industry offering strength and
conditioning education and training. However, Skills Active do
emphasise that: Training providers who decide to deliver training in
this area will need to emphasise to their students that although the
training/assessment they receive may be endorsed by SkillsActive
the sole requirement to gain L4 REPs status is UKSCA accreditation
via successful completion of the UKSCA assessment day.
The UKSCA and Skills Active are also planning a series of
training provider awareness days early in 2013, as we are keen to
ensure that training providers
looking to develop courses in
this area are fully aware of the
standards required by the
UKSCA and its accreditation.
Following our advertisement for new

UKSCA tutors earlier this year, we have
now undertaken the initial training of 12
accredited members to join the existing
tutor group.
Having undergone our three-day
residential training event, all 12 tutors will
now go through our on-the-job training
by attending UKSCA workshops as
observers, then assistant tutors, until they
become fully approved.
Although our tutor training process means
that these tutors may not become
approved for a number of months, it is
vitally important to the UKSCA to maintain
the standards and the quality of
workshops we deliver to members.
Expanding our tutor group will enable us
to run more events in 2013 to meet what
is still an increasing demand for both
UKSCA workshops and assessment days.
The new tutors are Keith Barker, Richard
Blagrove, Joel Brannigan, Brendan
Chaplin, Jared Deacon, Richard
Hunwicks, Rhodri Lloyd, Crofton
Alexander, Julian Monk, Des Ryan, Julie
Twaddle and Nick Ward.
And to read more information about the
existing UKSCA tutors, please go to the
About section of our website.
Dr Avery Faigenbaum: Exercise deficit disorder in youth: play now or pay later
We are delighted to announce that Dr Avery Faigenbaum, from The
College of New Jersey (USA), will be joining other guest speakers on
Friday March 1, 2013 in Edinburgh and on Saturday March 2, 2013 in
Greenwich, London. The UKSCA is partnering with the Edinburgh
International Climbing Arena (EICA) and the University of Greenwich,
who will be hosting these events at two spectacular venues: the campus
at the University of Greenwich, and the EICA.
Dr Faigenbaum is a leading authority in the area of paediatric exercise science, and has co-authored over 160
peer-reviewed publications, 30 book chapters, and 8 books including Strength and Power for Young Athletes and
Progressive Plyometrics for Kids. He has given over 250 invited presentations at national and international
conferences, and is widely recognised for his ability to integrate the most advanced research findings into
physical education curricula, youth fitness classes and conditioning programmes for young athletes.
Members are invited to add this important date to their diaries. Full details of these events will be published on
January 10, 2013.
Cross-training workouts:
using high-intensity energysystem conditioning for
injured athletes
By Dan Baker
Introduction
In professional field sports, and especially in collision sports such as rugby league
and union, injuries are a somewhat common occurrence in competition and
training.8 The severity of injuries can vary considerably, but those that cause an
athlete to miss competitive games are deemed most serious.8 Other injuries may
simply require a modification of training for example, to reduce or eliminate
inappropriate stress/overload for some short period (eg, one day to one week) or
specified time (eg, during rehab from a certain injury such as an ACL repair).8
When injured athletes cannot train with their teams, they can in the authors
opinion sometimes become emotionally distressed ... because their sense of self
is often caught up with the perception of being a competitive or hard-training
athlete. When long-term injured athletes are not competing and not training
hard, then they may not see themselves as athletes any more or they may feel
confused about their identity or worth to the team or others. This can lead to
problems in their personal lives. Therefore, having injured athletes perform very
hard training is not only essential for the athletes successful return to sport as
early as possible, but also for their emotional state of mind.
With that in mind, it is essential that injured athletes continue, develop or
maintain high levels of energy system conditioning (aerobic and anaerobic) when
they are injured and that is a position taken by myself, my fellow strength and
conditioning coaches, the physiotherapists, assistant coaches and, most
importantly the head coach at my club. For athletes who cannot run (eg, with
lower limb soft tissue injuries, broken lower limbs) or who cannot take contact
during skill/tactical training (eg, upper body soft tissue injuries or broken limbs),
this high level of conditioning is attained by using cross-training modalities such
as rowing, cycling, boxing, wrestling, paddling, swimming and sometimes circuit
training.
F troop session on Saturdays

Dan Baker, PhD, is a S&C coach
for the Brisbane Broncos rugby
league team, a position he has
held for over 17 years. He
completed his Phd at Edith Cowan
University, Perth, Australia, under
Dr Rob Newton. He has over 34
peer-reviewed international
publications concerning strength
and power testing and training and
as many again published in the
ASCA's own journal. He is
president of the Australian Strength
& Conditioning Association
(ASCA), an ASCA Level 3 S&C
coach and an ASCA master coach
of elite athlete S&C. His
responsibilities include the
development of strength and power
for Broncos players, but also the
development of energy system
conditioning for injured players and
contributing to the same for all
other players.
Also, during the preparation period, some athletes who have returned to training
with inappropriate skinfold/bodyfat levels or who fail our high-intensity running
test must also perform an extra session each week on a Saturday morning at
7am; all other players have the weekend off. Clearly, the timing of this session
suggests this is a punishment session for failing to maintain professional levels of
body composition and/or an appropriate level of high-intensity aerobic fitness
during the off-season, as well as being an extra session to quickly bring those
players to the levels of fatness or fitness that we deem appropriate. The name of
this training group is F troop (F for fitness or fatness). This workout is always a
cross-training session to reduce the impact overload on the lower limbs, as these
players have already spent four days of the week performing running for
conditioning, skill and tactical training.
Therefore, cross-training workouts are performed by all injured athletes and
athletes with modifications to running or collision/impact training year-round and
during the preparation period. Additionally they are used by the less fit and less
lean athletes as an extra session. We want injured players to return to play as
quickly as possible in their normal competition, and play as many minutes as
possible or even the full game. We do not progress injured top-line NRL players
back through the second division to ease them back into competition
consequently they must be ready for top-line NRL intensity and impact when they
return to competition.
General preparation phase

Table 1 depicts some of the general guidelines I use for general preparation
phase high-intensity aerobic running conditioning, before progressing to more

4
cross-training workouts
Mode of training
Interval length
& intensity
(%MAS)
Recovery length,
mode & intensity
Work:recovery
Considerations
Running
15-30 s @ 100110%
15-30 s
Active recovery @ 50-70%
1:1
Typically 15:15 x 10-20 reps = 5-10

mins x 2-4 sets
Running
10-30 s @ 120130%
10-30 s
Passive recovery
1:1
Typically 15:15 x 16-20 reps = 8-10

mins x 1-3 sets
Running
30 s @ 100%
15 s
Passive recovery
2:1
Typically 30:15 x 6-12 reps =5-10

mins x 1-3 sets
Running
40 s @
92.5 -100%
20 s
Active recovery @ 50-70%
2:1
Typically 40:20 @ 92.5:65% x 5-10

reps = 5-10 mins x1-3 sets
Running
60-180 s @ 92.5100%
60-180 s @ 40-60% MAS
1:1
Typically 4-6 min x 1-6 sets
Table 1. General guidelines for running training aimed at improving high-intensity energy-system conditioning (predominantly
aerobic system) during the preparation period
sport-specific additions to the running drills (ie,

impact/tackling, wrestling, getting off the ground,
changing direction/shuttling).
The concepts and rationale for this type of training
have been previously explained;1 they are based on
research regarding the effectiveness of training at the
maximal aerobic speed (MAS) or above.2-7, 9 As crosstraining is seen as a general fitness concept, the crosstraining workouts will reflect these basic running
conditioning guidelines. The sport-specific fitness
components will be addressed when the athletes can
run, change direction and take impact (ie, on full return
to training), so we dont fret about being excessively
sport-specific with most cross-training work-outs.
Determination of 100% MAS

The determination of the high-intensity MAS is
necessary for most of these work-outs. The options for
running tests have been previously described.1 As there
is no universally-agreed field test across all training
modalities,7 I simply default to a five-minute all-out
effort test in rowing, cycling, arm-grinding and paddling
etc. This is because other researchers have shown that
on average across different modes of exercise, the
100% MAS can be held for four to six minutes in welltrained athletes.4, 7
However, athletes often present with injuries during a
session or on short notice8 and training sets must
then be calculated on the spot, despite not knowing an
athletes MAS on a number of cross-training modalities.
It is therefore necessary to have default scores to use,
which are based upon data from the hundreds of
athletes I have trained over nearly two decades.
For example, if the rowing 100% MAS is not directly
known, I default to 5 m/s for the 100% MAS for the
average NRL player (this assumes a 94-100 kg athlete
can row 1500m in five minutes). For players lighter (<94
kg), heavier (100-105 kg) or the heaviest players (>106
kg) and for players with very high running MAS scores,
the defaults are 4.9 m/s, 5.1 m/s and 5.2 m/s,
respectively.
For acyclical modes of exercise where MAS cannot be
calculated, such as grappling and punching/boxing, if
necessary heart rate (HR) can be used to determine if
the athlete is working to the level of difficulty that we
expect. But we make most use of the rower, bike and
grinder as the exact measures of distance and time

inherent in the use of these ergometer pieces, which
allows for an accountability of performance.
Description and rationale for various

workouts
F troop
Table 2 depicts a simple programme that I use in the
general preparation phase with F troop and injured
athletes. This is performed at 7am on Saturday
mornings by those athletes who have failed to meet our
expectations of presenting as professional athletes (by
failing to maintain a prescribed appropriate level of
fitness/fatness or by failing to maintain an injury-free
body during the off-season).
This F troop workout is a classic manifestation of the
100%:70% MAS interval protocol, except that the
intervals are 30 s long, rather than the typical 15 s used
when we do the same type of workout when running.1 I
have found that when performing rowing and cycling
ergometer conditioning, it is sometimes more effective
to use these longer 30 s intervals when in earlier stages
of the Preparation Period. This ergometry workout is
used, as we want to de-load the lower body structures
from weight-bearing (running), as we have already
performed running conditioning and skills/tactics
throughout the week. The continuous nature of the fiveminute sets (albeit as 30 s hard, 30 s easier), with only
a one-minute rest between, greatly affects the basic
aerobic qualities, which is the appropriate stimulus for
this stage of the training year. The athletes can start on
any of the prescribed stations, but rotate through the
session in the order as listed.
By prescribing cycling (lower body peripheral),
grinding/punching (upper body peripheral) and rowing
(whole body), we aim to stress not only the central
heart/lung cardiovascular adaptations but also the
peripheral adaptations within the musculature. The time
spent exercising at > 100% MAS equals 15-minutes,
although the HR actually stays elevated above 85%
maximum for a much longer period.
Harden up
Table 3 depicts the Harden up workout that is
performed in the specific preparation phase and can
Mode of
training
Set length
Work intervals
Recovery
Work:recovery
# of hard
reps
Rest
Rowing
5 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 60-70% MAS
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Grinder
5 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 60-70% MAS
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Cycling
5 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 60-70% MAS
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Rowing
5 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 60-70% MAS
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Heavy bag
punching or
focus mitts
5 mins
30 s hard punching
30 s tempo punching
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Cycling
5 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 60-70% MAS
1:1 Active recovery
1 min
Table 2. Standard F Troop Saturday morning workout = 36 mins
clearly be seen as a progression from the F Troop

workout (17:40 mins spent > 100% MAS). By this stage
of the training year, there are no athletes performing
this training session for fatness reasons, but only for
fitness or injury reasons, so intensity of efforts becomes
an even greater concern. The sets are only 3:40
minutes, with a 1:20 minute recovery, but the working
intensity of around 110% MAS for 20 s, even with a
passive recovery of 20 s, is much harder to complete.
Clearly by exercising above the 100% MAS, the
anaerobic system must be called into play to provide
additional energy to attain the pacing demands of
110%. This workout also contains an element of contact
conditioning with boxing sparring or grappling when the
athletes are already in a deeply fatigued state I deem
the ability to absorb contact with an elevated breathing

rate and heart rate at a pace above the 100% MAS as a
critical aspect of hardening up the body for the realities
of a game of rugby league.
Total annihilation
This workout, depicted in Table 4, is one of my
competitive period (in-season) variations, all with a
familiar theme. Typically, this will be used with athletes
who have a long-term injury or who may have a
transient injury that merely precludes them from the
entirety of the field session (running conditioning plus
skill/tactical) for a brief period. Whereas the previous
two workouts were typified by a 1:1 work:rest or
work:active recovery ratio, this workout entails varying
Mode of
training
Set
length
Work intervals
Rest or recovery
Work:rest
# of reps
Rest
Cycling
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Rowing
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Rowing
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Cycling
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Rowing
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Rowing
3:40
mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Heavy bag
punching
3:40
mins
20 s hard punching x 6
20 s Rest x 5
1:1
Passive rest
1:20
mins
Boxing
sparring
3:40
mins
Full contact sparring, but only

~ 50% force to head
No rest during the set
NA
1:20
mins
Table 3. Saturday morning harden up workout = 40 min

6
Mode of
training
Set
length
Work intervals
Rest or recovery
Work:rest
# of reps
Rest
Rowing
6 mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS
20 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Heavy bag
punching
4 mins
15 s hard punching
15 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Rowing
6 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
15 s rest
2:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Heavy bag
punching
4 mins
15 s hard punching
15 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Rowing
6 mins
45 s @ 93-100% MAS
15 s rest
3:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Heavy bag
punching
4 mins
15 s hard punching
15 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Table 4. Total annihilation workout = 40-mins
work:rest ratios and varying work lengths.

The punching sections are maintained at 1:1 for 15 s
intervals of work:rest (the rest is actually holding the
heavy bag for the partner); however, the rowing sets of
six minutes are much more difficult. The first rowing set
is at 20:20, the second at 30:15 and the third at 45:15;
the ratio of work:rest increases from 1:1 to 2:1 to 3:1.
Although the prescribed intensity for the final 45:15 set
is 93-100%, I want the athlete to be at 100% (or as
close to it as possible); however, we have to accept that
sometimes cumulative fatigue prevents them from
attaining their non-fatigued state 100% MAS.
Nevertheless, 93% MAS is the lowest I will accept
without prescribing penalty reps. The motto is: Do the
intensity or do extras. Accordingly, this workout with
>17:30 mins > 100% MAS is deemed total annihilation.
Complete towel up
This workout (Table 5) is another variation used in the
competitive in-season period. It uses a little more
variety, in that grappling and cycling are also utilised,
but other than that it is essentially the same in method
and difficulty as the previous one.
There are a number of other variations of these two
in-season favourites, but the one constant we maintain
are the three six-minute rowing sets with the increasing
work:rest ratios to induce a high level of energy system

fatigue and stress.
What we do manipulate, however, is whether the
other sets include grappling, boxing, battling ropes,
cycling, grinding, sport specific drills (tackling, shuttling
etc) and so on, which itself is based upon the individuals
injury status and how close they are to returning to play.
Three-way energy system

As the name suggests, this work-out stresses all three
energy systems in a methodical order and can be
performed rowing or cycling (Table 6), on next page. It
is generally performed by long-term injured players,
(eg, ACL rehab), and only on an irregular basis during
the competitive period, and each of the three portions is
performed immediately after the other, with no rest.
The first ten-minute set stresses the anaerobic ATP-PC
system with five x 10 s intervals with a complete active
recovery (110 s) before morphing into the anaerobic
lactic system workout. The lactic workout can be 20 s
with 100 s active recovery (1:5) or even 30 s with 90 s
active recovery (1:3). This is an extremely difficult
portion of the workout.
Following this, the aerobic portion is similar to many
workouts listed above, with 30 s at 100% MAS
alternated with 30 s of 70% MAS.
Mode of
training
Set
length
Work intervals
Rest or recovery
Work:rest
# of reps
Rest
Rowing
6 mins
20 s @ 105-110% MAS
20 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Grappling
Side control
or escape
4 mins
20 s, top must pin, bottom

must escape
10 s rest to alternate top

& bottom
2:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Rowing
6 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
15 s rest
2:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Heavy bag
punching
4 mins
15 s hard punching
15 s rest
1:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Rowing
6 mins
45 s @ 93-100% MAS
15 s rest
3:1
Passive rest
2 mins
Cycling
4 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 70% MAS
1:1
Active recovery
2 mins
Table 5. Complete towel up workout = 40 mins

Mode of exercise
Energy
system
Portion
length
Work intervals
Recovery
Work:
recovery
# of
reps
Rowing or cycling
ATP-PC
10 mins
10 s @ >95%
110 s @ 40-60% MAS
1:11
Rowing or cycling
Lactic
10 mins
20 s @ >90%
100 s @ 40-60% MAS
1:5
Rowing or cycling
Aerobic
10 mins
30 s @ 100% MAS
30 s @ 70% MAS
1:1
10
Table 6. Three-way energy system continuous workout
Rowing max aerobic power

This simple workout (Table 7), at foot of page, is
typically used where it is deemed prudent that an
athlete does not perform running conditioning due to
some minor niggling injury, but that he or she may
perform skills training. Thus, this workout(s) stresses
their energy system conditioning off their feet to reduce
impact load in a session. In this way, it may be
performed at any stage of the training year, as it is a set
that is used in conjunction with other training. The two
versions are essentially the same one variant is to row
for a prescribed time of 20 s (1:1) for 16 repetitions (11minutes) and add up the total metres attained. The
other variant is to prescribe a set distance of 110 m
(which takes most players between 18-21 s) and add the
total time taken to row the 16 intervals with a set 20 s
rest between each interval.
Circuits
Generally I am not a big fan of circuits, as I believe that
for very strong athletes, they induce high levels of fatigue
that can wear them down with prolonged exposure. But
athletes with long-term injuries need some variety in their
total training stimulus if they are performing multiple
training sessions each week. So, provided they are still
performing their prescribed strength/power programme,
and performing one to two of the conditioning workouts
already listed each week, then about once every two or so
weeks, an upper body circuit can be used. Typically, this
will consist of 6-9 exercises with an order of upper body
pushing, upper body pulling, torso/abdominal exercise
throughout the circuit.
There are a few different methods to increase the
difficulty of circuits, but I prefer to use an exactly
prescribed order of exercises, resistance and reps (eg,
20), and monitor how long it takes for the athlete to
finish the circuit. After a prescribed rest period they will
repeat the circuit and possibly do one more repeat after
that.
Add up the total time it took to complete the two or
three circuits as a gauge of performance. When the
athlete repeats the circuit workout in two weeks time,
they have to improve their total time. My advice is to use
a given combination of exercises, resistances and reps
only three times and then alter it, as circuits are neurally
boring.
The
shock-adaptation-maximisation
process
inherent in the concept of block periodisation may take
only three workouts with circuit training. By this, I mean

the first time a circuit is performed it is a shock, the
second time you are already adapting to it and
improving and the third time you should be maximising
your performance at that particular workout.
Less improvement in performance will occur from the
third to fifth workout as compared with from the first to
third. So I prefer to change the workout after three
sessions and keep the improvements/motivation
happening.
Conclusion
A brief rationale and depiction of the cross-training
performed by injured athletes has been presented. Highintensity energy system conditioning is prescribed not
only to maintain or further develop the athletes energy
system conditioning but also to help injured athletes
with their state of mind and to reduce psychological
stress.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Baker, D. Recent trends in high-intensity aerobic training for field

sports. Professional Strength & Conditioning 22 (Summer): 3-8.
2011.
Baquet, G, Berthoin S, Gerbeaux M and Van Praagh E. Highintensity aerobic training during a 10-week one-hour physical
education cycle: Effects on physical fitness of adolescents aged 11
to 16. Int. J. Sports Med 22:295300. 2001.
Berthoin S, Manteca F, Gerbeaux M and Lensel-Corbeil G. Effect
of a 12-week training program on maximal aerobic speed (MAS)
and running time to exhaustion at 100 percent of MAS for students
aged 14 to 17 years. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness 35:251256.
1995.
Billat, V and Koralsztein. JP. Significance of the velocity at O2max
and time to exhaustion at this velocity. Sports Med 22:90108.
1996.
Buchheit, M. The 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test: Accuracy for
individualizing interval training of young intermittent sport players.
J. Strength Cond. Res 22(2):365-374. 2008.
Dupont, G., K. Akakpo, and S. Berthoin. The effect of in-season,
high-intensity interval training in soccer players. J. Strength Cond.
Res 18(3):584589. 2004.
Faina, M, Billatt, V., Squadrone, R., De Angelis., Koralsztein and A.
Dal Monte. Anaerobic contribution to the time to exhaustion at the
minimal exercise intensity at which maximal oxygen uptake occurs
in elite cyclists, kayakists and swimmers. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol 7613-20. 1996.
Gabbett, T. Incidence of injury in semi-professionalism rugby
league players. Br J Sports Med 37:36-44. 2003.
Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki, M, Hirai Y, Ogita, F, Miyachi M and
Yamamoto K. Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high
intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2 max.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc 28:13271330. 1996.
Mode of exercise
Set length
Work intervals
Recovery
Work:recovery
# of
reps
Rest
Rowing version #1
11 mins
20 s @ 105% MAS
20 s
1:1 passive rest
16
4 mins
Rowing version #2
11-12 mins
110 metres add the time for all

16 reps for total
20 s
~1:1 passive rest
16
4 mins
Table 7. Maximum aerobic power & capacity rowing workout (versions 1 & 2)

8
INTERVIEW: THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
Significant steps on a journey

to becoming an S&C coach
By Nick Ward
Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson is one of the most well-known S&C coaches in the UK. He trained, and then
worked at Loughborough University before taking the head of S&C role at the EIS North
West, which supported a wide variety of athletes including the successful GB cycling team.
he has also been a member of the UKSCA for several years. However, recently he took up
appointment as applied sport scientist to the National Basketball Association (NBA) team
Oklahoma City Thunder in the US. Nick Ward interviewed him just before he went.
Mark Simpson is undoubtedly, for me, one of the most accomplished S&C coaches
from the UK so it was for me personally a low moment when he departed our
shores and moved across the pond to become the applied sport scientist to the
NBA team, Oklahoma City Thunder. The fact that this happened on the eve of the
London Olympics and just before one of our biggest success stories in British
cycling seemed to me like madness!
Given the opportunity to speak with him on a one-to-one basis, I wanted to
ask what prompted this move and what did he feel he was gaining? Or is it just
that the Yanks have got it all to gain? Also, it occurred to me that his distance
from these shores might make him feel more inclined and willing to open up and
share his thoughts on the S&C scene in the UK, as well as on what he sees as our
biggest challenges and opportunities.
Nick Ward is an accredited S&C
coach with over 20 years
experience of providing sport
science and S&C coaching,
including university, regional,
international and professional
athletes and teams. Following his
role as TASS National Lead, Nick
Ward Sports Fitness was
established in July 2011, heading
programmes for the RL
Championship Grand Final winners
Sheffield Eagles, Derbyshire
Institute of Sport and Notts County
Football Club. As a coach educator
and tutor, Nick regularly provides
workshops to sports coaches and
S&C interns/students across
several schemes.
Nick: If I remember, when we first met we were both part of the Cricket Fitness
Interest group although you rather more intimately so at the time led by Nigel
Stockhill. Also, you emanated from that powerhouse of sport and sport science,
Loughborough University. Mark, you would certainly be included in a list of the
early pioneers in the establishment and breakthrough of professional S&C practice
in the UK how did you get into S&C and what do you find most memorable from
those early days?
Mark:Thats a difficult question to provide a straightforward answer to, because
my early roles didnt fall into the current standard definition of an S&C coach, and
in those days they certainly didnt have S&C in the title! I got into S&C straight
after my Bachelors degree in 1994, when I took on a research assistant role at
Loughborough University, researching and validating a set of fitness tests and
fitness training guidelines for the Metropolitan Police. These are now being used
across the UK.
Mitch Alboms book, The Five People you Meet in Heaven, inspires the theme for this short
series of articles. Based on interesting, inspiring and challenging people we meet on our
journey, the purpose is to share experiences that people have had along the way, and which
hold some significance for their own development.

the five people you meet in heaven

remember it, there was nothing resembling You Tube,
Facebook etc, and not even really the Internet?
Mark: In my early years I was very fortunate to be in a
fantastic environment for learning. I was situated in an
office alongside world class coaches for England rugby,
GB athletics, England volleyball and British swimming.
We would speak every day about physical training and
science support. I would also watch them train their
athletes on a daily basis.
In addition, the England rugby fitness support team
were based in the same office, headed by Dave Reddin.
I learnt a lot from Dave and I also credit him for helping
me to break into the profession in the first place. As I
was based at Loughborough University, I was also
fortunate to be situated next to a world class sport
science department, and I took the opportunity to learn
from (and collaborate with) many of the academics and
researchers within the department.
Finally, many courses and conferences were held at
Loughborough back then, so I was able to fall out of my
office and be at a world class conference in no time!
Nick: What was one of the most enjoyable aspects of
your Loughborough days?
Mark: As a student, it was travelling to experience the
Nottingham nightlife! As a sport scientist and S&C
coach, I really enjoyed working alongside great people in
the best environment for high performance sport that
there could be.
Nick: And then the formation and move to the English
Institute of Sport. How did that change things for you?
Following my Masters degree in 1996, I was

appointed as the sport science officer at Loughborough
University, which then led to my becoming sport science
manager four years down the line. Despite the titles,
over these eight years I was heavily involved in the
delivery of all aspects of S&C to high performance
athletes in both Olympic sports and professional sports.
Indeed my role with the athletes I worked with was
exactly the same as that of an S&C coach today, and I
was fortunate to work with European and World
Medallists in sports as diverse as athletics, rugby,
football, swimming and taekwondo.
However, that said, these early sport science roles
also involved major components of sport science
delivery, which is what I feel was the key to my all-round
development. The experience I got from delivering
physiology,
nutrition,
biomechanics
and
sport
psychology support to elite athletes was invaluable to
me as an S&C coach and now as an applied sport
scientist.
In terms of remembering those days, what I seem to
remember most is the confused identity of the discipline:
I presume because it was finding its feet! There were
various titles for what was essentially an S&C coach.
These included fitness advisor, fitness trainer, and
physiologist. Associated with this there were also no
standard entry criteria for the profession, and so
practitioners had very diverse backgrounds and skill sets.
Networking at Loughborough
Nick: Thats a great synopsis of the world we grew from.
How did you learn, network and share back then? As I
Mark: I had spent quite a while (12 years in all) at

Loughborough, so I was ready to change from both a
professional and personal perspective. I wanted to
specialise and I wanted to take on the challenge of
building a department and facilities from scratch. The
head S&C role for the EIS North West was ideal for me.
It allowed me to focus only on S&C and to build a
support service from scratch. When I started, there was
just me. There were no facilities and no athletes
accessing coaching. I relished the new challenge. When
I left there were eight coaches, two world class facilities
and over 200 athletes from a wide variety of sports
receiving S&C support.
From my personal coaching perspective, I also had
the opportunity to work with the GB cycling team during
a remarkable period in the programmes development.
The cyclists, the support team, the management and the
coaches were all extraordinary, which is why they have
had so much success.
Moving to the States

Nick: Ok, so why the move to the States?
Mark: I was firmly committed to my role with the British
cycling team and the English Institute of Sport, so I
must say I definitely wasnt looking for another post.
However, there were three major factors that really drew
me to this role. Firstly, there was the opportunity to
work with NBA athletes; second, the progressiveness
and professionalism of the Oklahoma City Thunder
Organisation, and lastly the opportunity to apply the full
range of my S&C and sport science skill sets.
This is the first ever full-time applied sport science
role in the big four US sports and I could see that the
likelihood of this kind of opportunity coming up again
was very slim. This meant I just had to seize the
opportunity right then and there. And things are going
very well and Im really enjoying the move.

10
Future of EIS and UKSCA?
How S&C is faring
Nick: You have been present at the dawn of the

beginnings of the EIS and the UKSCA. How important
were these organisations for S&C in the UK and what are
your thoughts as to their future post-2012?
Nick: Undoubtedly S&C is in fashion now, and with it has

come a large number of individuals and organisations
providing S&C services. Have you any thoughts on the
current state of the industry?
Mark: Both organisations were pivotal to my career and

to the success of British sport moving forward.
The EIS provided the ideal environment in which to
deliver best practice coaching to athletes and also to
further my development as a practitioner and leader.
The EISs infrastructure, collective intelligence,
resources and leadership is at a world class level. Im
very confident that the organisation will continue to play
a huge part in the success of British sport moving
forward.
The UKSCA helped me by honing my teaching and
assessing skills as a consequence of over seven years of
assessing and tutoring for the organisation! In terms of
contributions to British sport, one of the major
achievements of the UKSCA is that it has, for the most
part, standardised the entry criteria into professional
practice. UKSCA accreditation is now a requirement for
all institute and Olympic sport practitioners and it is also
a requirement for a growing number of teams within
professional sports. This has created a need for both
current and aspiring coaches to become accredited. And
so this need,, combined with the educational
opportunities that have been provided, has led to
improvements in S&C coaching knowledge and coaching
abilities across the board.
What also helps is that the UKSCA assessment
process is set up in such a way that it assures both the
minimal practical and underpinning knowledge
standards of an individual. This is in contrast to the
NSCA system, for example, which does not have
practical components. The practical side makes it a more
robust form of assessment.
Mark: I think S&C as a discipline is thriving, and so it

should be. Like any discipline there are varying levels of
delivery. But on the whole, compared to other nations,
the delivery in the UK is at a good level, particularly in
the Olympic sports and Institutes. The good thing is that
the accreditation is pretty much universally recognised,
so nowadays there arent too many individuals in the UK
calling themselves S&C coaches who have not got the
accreditation.
I think the time is right now for a higher level of
accreditation, which would be able to distinguish
between different levels of practitioner. Im aware that
this is something that the UKSCA are investigating. I
also feel that S&C coaches on the whole would benefit
from utilising scientific methodologies and technologies
to a much greater extent. This is something I did within
my role at British Cycling and also something I really
pushed with the coaches I managed at the English
Institute of Sport.
To further explain, I view S&C as a sub-discipline of
sport science. A S&C coach should, for example, be able
to ensure that the first principles of science (validity and
reliability) are met when conducting any form of S&C
assessment. In terms of technologies, a S&C coach
should be able to draw upon tools and technologies such
as force plates, video analysis software, heart rate/
accelerometers, GPS systems and running gait analysis
methodologies to help inform their coaching practice.
In the future Id like to see a growing number of S&C
coaches who combine an excellent sport science
pedigree with a high degree of practical specialism in
S&C coaching.

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk 11
Nick: You have placed a strong and appropriate

emphasis on the development of the 'science'. We have
the word coach in our title though! Could you expand on
what 'a high degree of practical specialism in S&C
coaching' means in terms of the skill sets and how these
may be developed?
Mark: A high degree of practical specialism in S&C
coaching means the same as good practical coaching
abilities. So if you take my description of what I consider
to be the way forward in terms of S&C coaches, I think
they should have a broad science background as a base,
with good practical coaching abilities on top ... the best
of both worlds if you like! My feeling is that, all else
being equal, a strength and conditioning coach with a
good understanding of science will be a better coach
than one who has not.
Good practical coaching abilities include the ability to:
1. Detect and correct technique in all manner of
activities
2. Motivate, encourage and stimulate athletes
Personally, Ive been focused solely on doing my job

well. Fortunately, I have spent a lot of time in the
physiological sports field, where the impact of what I do
can be related directly to performance improvements on
the track, on the road or in the pool. So my worth has
been proven, if you like, through the evidence-based
impact I have had on many of the sports I have worked
with. The success that the British cycling team had over
the eight years I was with them has indirectly affected
my profile somewhat, but not hugely.
Anyhow, Im in the USA now, so what better place to
begin to learn the art of self promotion?!
Nick: How would you compare the UK scene to that with
which you are now involved in the US?
Mark: Very hard to answer this one as I have only been
here six months (at time of writing), and also I have only
been exposed to S&C environments within the sport of
professional basketball. Id like to save the answer to
this for another article, so that I can base it on much a
much more credible and broad ranging exposure!
3. Be adept at assigning and adapting training loads
The role of the applied sport scientist
4. Be creative and adaptable, both during programming

and also during sessions
Nick: Tell us more about your current role.
5. Communicate effectively with coaches and athletes in

a manner that is professional and engaging
Mark: My title is applied sport scientist and essentially

I utilise scientifically based methods to enhance the
player preparation and recovery process. An important
6. Be a good model for the discipline ie, be able to

perform most of the exercises prescribed, at least to
a reasonable level.
Internet guru?
Nick: Why have you not become an Internet guru? LOL
Mark: Self promotion doesnt come naturally to me. So
I havent been proactive in terms of getting my name
and skill sets out there. Im a realist and I do accept that
self promotion, done skilfully, can definitely boost your
opportunities and income. There are people in the
business of health, fitness and conditioning that have
made a lot more money than I ever will! I see that
packaging concepts and then franchising them is the
way to go if you want to succeed in terms of becoming
a guru. Also, the odd book and DVD can help, along with
presenting at major conferences.
12
Scientifically monitor and evaluate all aspects of physical and

mental recovery
and developed by one individual or through an

integrated approach. For instance, the diagnosis of
physical/physiological limiting factors to competition
performance for an individual may well require the
integration of skill-sets of a biomechanist, performance
analyst, S&C coach, and physiologist. The head of the
performance team would therefore have to have good
skill-sets across the board and also have good leadership
and project management skills.
So my approach would not be to go straight ahead
and pick one specialist from each of the sport science
and conditioning disciplines. I would work backwards
from the primary objectives through to the skills
required and then to the employment process. Since this
is an S&C forum, for me the kinds of S&C coaches that
would be most employable in many instances would be
those with good sport science knowledge combined with
a high level of practical coaching ability ... and of course
the right personality characteristics!
The last thing I would say about the team I would
employ is that it would have to be made up of people
who have had a blend of different experiences. Each of
these experiences could bring something different to the
mix. Table 2 shows some of the ingredients that I believe
would add value to a performance team.
Identify and then support individual and team sports

nutrition and dietary requirements
Nick: And lastly, five people you might want to meet in

S&C heaven?
Table 1. The purpose of a high performance sport science

programme
Mark: This would be an eclectic mix, composed of the

following:
The processes below would be operated at both the

team and individual level
Assist medics with diagnosis of injury risk
Assist medics with scientific monitoring and evaluation of
rehabilitation process
Detailed modelling of competition performance, at the team
and individual level
Diagnosis of physical/physiological limiting factors to
competition performance, at the team and individual level
Identification of key physical/physiological capacities that
would benefit from enhancement, at the team and individual
level
Plan and conduct physical training, with the aims of
addressing limiting factors and enhancing capacities for team
and individual
Scientifically monitor and evaluate physical performance
training
aspect of this role is to lead and implement an ongoing

programme of player monitoring and evaluation. The
monitoring and evaluation methods I use are drawn
from the various disciplines of physiology, biomechanics,
strength and speed science, rehabilitation science and
S&C.
Id love to give more specific practical examples but
I cant give anything more than that away I am afraid!
What I can say is that, crucially, outcomes from this
monitoring and evaluation process are followed up by
individually tailored intervention strategies that I
oversee. On many occasions, these intervention
strategies will involve physical training. This is where my
combined S&C and sport science experience really
comes to the fore because I essentially act as a strength
and conditioning coach in these instances, or work with
the S&C coach to assist in this delivery. The S&C coach
I work with has had more than 17 years experience in
the NBA, so he really knows his stuff!
Nick: If you had carte blanche to set up and run your
own performance programme, who would you employ
and in what roles?
Mark: Ive seen and been part of a lot of successful
programmes in my career. Consequently, Ive learnt a lot
about the critical importance of the human resource. I
would have to begin the process by considering what the
primary objectives of the performance programme was,
as this can of course differ between organisations,
companies and teams. I would then identify what
processes would need to be developed and implemented
in order to achieve these objectives.
The next stage would be to go about the task of
identifying and selecting people who I knew had the
necessary skill-sets to deliver these processes. As an
example, in the table above I have identified some of the
processes that I believe would be essential for a sport
science programme supporting a high performance
professional team sport. These processes could be led
Charles Atlas, Jesse Owens, Yuri Verohshansky, Albert

Einstein and Bruce Lee!
Experience from another completely different industry, ideally
at managerial level
Experience working with both Olympic and professional
sports
Experience in academic or clinical research
Experience working within sporting programmes outside of
the UK
Experience in running a company at some level
Experience in marketing and PR!
Experience of having competed at the highest level in their
sport
Experience of having designed and developed a product
Table 2. Ideal experience ingredients contained within a high
performance sport science team
My thanks to Mark Simpson for his time and effort in

allowing me to conduct this interview in several
stages, over several month and several edits! Mark
has expressed his support of the previous Meg Stone
article and carries on the message of the inextricable
link of sport science and strength and conditioning.
Congratulations to Mark and the Oklahoma City
Thunder who had a highly successful and
unprecedented 2011-2012 season, clinching their
division, winning their first ever Western Conference
title, and reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in
the team's history. The Thunder eventually lost out to
the Miami Heat, but second place in the whole of the
NBA was a remarkable achievement.
For more information on the team go to:
http://www.nba.com/thunder/

COVER FEATURE
Strength and conditioning

for sprint hurdles
By Paul Read
Introduction
The male sprint hurdles is a highly dynamic Olympic event with distinct technical
requirements due to the need to execute a succession of jumps interspersed with
sprints. Competition event distances are set at 110m (outdoor) and 60m
(indoor). Hurdle height is set at 1.067m (for males) with the distance to the first
hurdle 13.72m from the start. For the 110m hurdles event, a further nine hurdles
are placed at 9.14m intervals and the current world record, (at the time of
writing), is 12.87s, set by Dayron Robles of Cuba.
The aim of this article is to provide a needs analysis of the event relating to
the biomechanical and physiological aspects, injury considerations, suitability of
fitness tests and training approaches to assist strength and conditioning (S&C)
professionals in optimising performance with their athletes.
Needs analysis
Paul Read, MSc, BSc (Hons),

ASCC, CSCS, is a strength and
conditioning coach and lecturer
in S&C at the University of
Gloucestershire. He works with
elite athletes in a range of
sports such as athletics,
fencing, football, rugby, golf
and mixed martial arts
Elite hurdlers adopt a stride pattern of eight strides to the first hurdle, although
some exceptional athletes have been shown to use seven.77 Following clearance
of the first hurdle, typically three strides are used between hurdles, with the
fourth used to negotiate the hurdle, and the race is completed with six strides to
the finish.77
During the acceleration phase, EMG analysis of the sprint start suggests the
rear leg exerts 61% of the force.18 In the same study, a large contribution of the
erector spinae, vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius was reported. As the
acceleration phase progresses there is an increasing contribution from the gluteus
maximus, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris and
gastrocnemius.18
The gluteus maximus and vastus medialis appear to be the most active while
the foot is on the ground, whereas the biceps femoris, vastus lateralis and rectus
femoris are most active when the foot is off the ground.18 This may be as a result
of the increased need to stabilise the knee joint while the foot is on the ground,
resulting in an increased recruitment of the glutes (providing external rotation of
femur and hip extension), while the vastus medialis will play a prominent role in
knee stability.
At this point it should be considered that the mechanics of sprint hurdle starts
may differ due to the added demand of negotiating the first hurdle after 13.72m.
Subsequently, the time available in which to accelerate is reduced; the
requirement to produce significant concentric force is paramount. This highlights
the importance of maximum strength demonstrated by the strong correlation
(r=0.94) between 1rm squat and 10m sprint times.85

14
cover feature
Energy system demands

Anaerobic production of ATP from phosphocreatine has
been shown to dominate in the high hurdles,81, 77, with
anaerobic metabolism exceeding 90%.77 Through the
use of mathematical equations, contributions were
identified as 95% anaerobic to 5% aerobic in the 60m
event and 91.2% to 8.8% in the 110m. However,
Astrand and Rodahl,3 reported an approximate
anaerobic-aerobic ratio of 85% at 10 seconds of
maximal work.
Injury incidence
Specific data relating to injuries in the sprint hurdles is
scarce; however, DSouza24 reported a large proportion
of injuries were sustained during training over a seasonlong period (see Table 1 for the anatomical regions
injured). Also sprints and sprint hurdles displayed the
highest injury rate of all the events analysed, with 12
out of the 18 hurdle subjects experiencing an injury.
Confirming this, Watson and Di Martino79 studied 257
track and field high school athletes, with half the total
number of injuries occurring in sprinters.
The most common injuries included posterior tibial
syndrome, ankle injuries and patellar tendonitis. A
consideration for the S&C coach is providing a detailed
assessment due to inhibition of the gluteus maximus
and gluteus medius, key hip extensors and hip
abductors respectively following ankle injuries.14, 34
The role of the hamstrings

A key concern has long been the reduction of hamstring
strain injuries.87 Silent at toe off, the hamstrings become
active during late swing phase when the hip is highly
flexed and the knee is extending, remaining active
through the terminal swing and the early and midstance phases.87 This suggests the hamstrings function
eccentrically to control hip flexion and knee extension
during swing phase and concentrically as a hip extensor
during the stance phase. It has also been shown that
peak stretch occurs late in the swing phase due to hip
flexion,73 with a majority of hamstring strains occurring
in the biceps femoris.20 Interestingly, stretch in the
biceps femoris has been shown to be significantly
greater during swing phase than in the other hamstring
muscles.72
Effective programme design needs to consider the
hamstrings, and in particular the biceps femoris. Due to
the kinematics during sprints, eccentrically strong
hamstrings with optimal length tension relationships
may provide a suitable environment for injury
prevention.12 Exercises such as nordics and stiff-legged
deadlifts should be considered a key component of any
prehab and performance programme in addition to
rotational movements to fully recruit the biceps
femoris.67
Further to this, the velocity of hurdle clearance
depends on the speed of the lead leg during the take-off
phase with the knee swing of the lead leg amounting to
more than 13m/s-1, while the speed of the foot of the
lead leg is 18.2m/s-1, more than double the horizontal
velocity of the centre of mass during take-off.17 As such,
the inclusion of high velocity eccentric training for the

hamstrings is also suggested.
Fitness testing
Power countermovement jump (CMJ) and squat
jump (SJ), power clean
As identified above, a key aspect of the sprint hurdles is
the start and acceleration phase. Evidence exists of
strong correlations between countermovement jump
(CMJ) and sprint performance (r = 0.88 and r = 0.86),53
velocity out of the blocks,62 and 10m sprint time from a
start block.61 The use of a single leg (CMJ) to determine
power ratios and imbalances between the two legs may
also be apparent. It is worth noting that Bracic et al11
identified elite sprinters who demonstrated that lower
bilateral deficits in CMJ produced higher peak forces (r =
0.63). Additionally a higher total impulse of force on the
blocks was shown.
Bilateral deficits also tend to be higher in elite
sprinters compared to team sport athletes.9 This is an
important consideration with regards to the
identification and correction of strength imbalances
between limbs, as in addition to performance
decrements, it has been reported that a discrepancy
>15% is an important injury predictor.21 Subsequently
effective programme design should incorporate the use
of unilateral exercises, including split squats, lunges,
step ups, single leg Romanian deadlifts and unilateral
plyometrics.
Assessing performance in the squat jump versus the
CMJ is a good determinant of the athletes ability to
utilise the mechanisms of the stretch shortening cycle
(SSC) and their elastic potential, switching rapidly from
an eccentric to concentric contraction. The ability to
optimise the use of the SSC in the CMJ has been defined
as the Eccentric Utilisation Ratio.60 Athletes should be
able to jump higher in the CMJ versus the squat jump or
non-countermovement jump as has been previously
established.82 If a difference in jump height is not
evident, it provides the S&C coach with a clear window
of opportunity to enhance the stretch shortening cycle
(SSC) and rate of force development (RFD) abilities of
the athlete.
The use of Olympic lifts to enhance RFD is now
common practice. Channel and Barfield15 provided
support for their inclusion as part of an effective S&C
programme in their analysis of traditional lifts (squats)
versus Olympic lifts. A significantly higher correlation
was noted between power clean and VJ (r=0.75) versus
the squat and VJ (r=0.42). Additionally, Hortobagyi et
al47 noted that athletes displaying the highest power
clean also scored highly in jumping and sprinting tests.
Lower body strength 1RM squat

Chaouachi et al16 examined the relationship between one
rep maximum squat, t-test, sprints and five-jump test in
professional basketball players. Significant correlations
with sprint performance were noted (r=0.63); however,
agility was not observed, indicating the importance of
developing strength to enhance the athletes ability to
overcome inertia. Also resistance training has been
Region
Shin
Back
Ankle
Knee
H/string
Foot
Thigh
Hip
Shoulder
Elbow
% Injury
occurrence
25
8.3
16.7
16.7
8.3
8.3
8.3
16.7
8.3
Table 1. Anatomical injury locations as reported by DSouza24

cover feature
Physical characteristic
Test
Rest period
Anthropometry
Height/weight/body fat
n/a
Flexibility/movement screen
Overhead squat
n/a
SJ,CMJ, S/L CMJ, Power clean (if

technique appropriate), RSI (various
heights)
5 mins
Power
Strength
1RM squat / bench press/ pull up
Speed/acceleration
5,10,150 metres
Table 2. A suggested testing battery for sprint hurdles athletes
shown to improve initial acceleration in sprinting,22 with

maximum strength correlating highly (r=0.86) with elite
sprint performance.89
Reactive strength index (RSI)

Short contact time in the landing phase is a key
determinant of successful hurdling,17 completing an
efficient transition from hurdle clearance to running
between the hurdles.
On the basis of these findings the ability to effectively
switch from an eccentric to concentric contraction is an
essential requirement, suggesting the use of plyometrics
and the development of SSC capabilities.
The ability of the muscular system to promote
stiffness, neutralising ground reaction forces is essential,
allowing the SSC properties of the tendon to work
efficiently with ground contact times following hurdle
clearance reported at 0.08s.17 This provides justification
for the measure of RSI as a means to quantify SSC
performance,31 categorised by the interaction of jump
height divided by ground contact time.59 The use of drop
or depth jumps from various heights using a contact mat
can determine the athletes ability to switch effectively
from an eccentric to concentric contraction with measures
of ground contact time and jump height recorded.
Upper body strength 1RM bench press / pull up

The upper body has been identified as a key component
in sprinting in particular, the shoulder complex,
primarily the pecs and deltoids.41 The arm swing,
however, remains controversial with suggestions of no
direct contribution to forward movement or horizontal
propulsive forces.42 This may be due to the simultaneous
forward-backward action of contralateral arms,
cancelling out the effect.90
In spite of this, two important roles have been
identified; first to counteract the momentary momentum
of the legs, controlling the rotation of the trunk,41,55 with
angular momentum balance of the arms reducing torso
rotations.64 In the sprint hurdles, event this is probably
a key function as the lead arm is contralateral to the lead
leg during hurdle clearance.
The second role involves the enhancement of vertical
propulsive forces, accounting for up to 10% of the
upward lift.41 The arms have a mechanical advantage in
vertical propulsion as there is a synchronised upward
and downward movement, ensuring no cancellation of
propulsive force. This mechanism is also probably
present in the take-off phase prior to hurdle clearance:
however, this is speculative due to the lack of research
available. Efficient sprinters display a mechanical model
where the arm swing originating from the shoulder with
a flexion and extension action (at the shoulder and

elbow), corresponds to the flexion and extension taking
place at the ipsilateral shoulder and hip.90
When testing upper body strength, it is common to
include upper body pushing/pressing. Empirical evidence
supporting this with sprinters has been reported as the
bench press scores of former 100m world record holders
were consistently 1.90-2.14 times body weight.33 A case
could also be argued for testing antagonist strength,
utilising upper body pulling to ensure joint health and
optimal power production.4 Additionally, the contribution
of the posterior oblique sling system75 consisting of the
gluteus maximus and contralateral latissimus dorsi,
(connected via the thoracolumbar fascia linkage), is
highly active in running actions.
Flexibility and ROM

If a sprint hurdler is unable to adequately flex their lead
leg to their trunk when clearing a hurdle, they will have
to go higher over the barrier to ensure a proper
clearance.54 This requires greater energy expenditure in
addition to longer airtimes and disruption of hurdle
mechanics.
A simple movement screen can be utilised to identify
flexibility and movement deficiencies. One such example
is the overhead squat test.43 This allows a total body
assessment of movement to guide stretching and
strengthening prescription.
It may or may not be within the remit of the S&C
professional to perform range of movement tests to
identify joint restrictions and manual muscle tests to
assess weakness. It is beyond the scope of this article to
discuss specific details of such tests; however the reader
is encouraged to view the work of Kendall et al48 for more
information.
Speed/acceleration
As stated above, the requirement for high levels of
acceleration is a fundamental aspect of sprint hurdle
performance. As such, test distances to assess first step
quickness and reaction time (5m) and acceleration
(10m) are recommended. Measurement of first step
quickness over 5m is indicated due to the specific event
demands dictated by the short time available in which to
accelerate prior to negotiation of the first hurdle.
Although this approach may provide important
information, potential measurement error is likely to
increase as even with timing gates, the error associated
with a 10m sprint is between 1% or 0.02s23 and 2% or
0.04s.29 As such, the use of timing gates is essential.
Additionally, measurement of peak speed is also
suggested; however, to the knowledge of the author

16
cover feature
Phase /
emphasis
Session 1
Load
Reps / sets
Session 2
Load
Reps / sets
Base
Conditioning
HC & jerk
Overhead SQ
DB BP
Lunge
BB roll out
70%1rm
70%1rm
>70%1rm
>70%1rm
5x3
4x6-8
4x6
4x6
3x10
Hang snatch
Front SQ
Nordics
DB row
Cable anti-rotations
70%1rm
>70%1rm
BW
>70%1rm
>70%1rm
5x3
4x6-8
3x6-8
4x6
3x10e/s
STR
SQ snatch
Bench step up*
B/O row
Stiff legged D/L
80-85%1rm
>85%1rm
>85%1rm
>85%1rm
5x3
4x4e/l
4x4
4x4
SQ clean
Back SQ*
BP
SN grip D/L
80-85%1rm
85%1rm
>85%1rm
>85%1rm
5x3
4x4
4x4
4x4
P/SPD - STR
PW clean & jerk

Back squat*
BP*
MB back toss
80%1rm
90%1rm
90%1rm
Explosive
5x3^
3x3
3x3
5x3
PW snatch/split
Split squat*
B/O row SG
Clean/snatch pulls
80%1rm
90%1rm
90%1rm
>80%1rm
5x3^
3x3
3x3
5x3
Table 3. Periodised plan for sprint hurdles

*Indicates opportunities to insert complexes. ^Suggested use of cluster sets
there is currently no hurdle specific test for peak speed

or speed endurance. A suggested testing battery is
detailed in Table 2.
Training for performance enhancement

Strength training
A key factor in determining hurdling performance is
sprinting speed.56 Thus, it should be considered that the
ability to run at maximal speed requires high levels of
force production.6 It is worth noting that it has been
indicated that force applied to the ground is the most
important determinant of running speed, resulting in a
greater displacement of the athletes body and an
increased stride length.80 Further to this, significant
correlations (r=0.77 0.94) have been reported
between peak power and maximum strength.1 With this
in mind it should be noted that gains in strength may
only be maintained for two weeks.47 As such, including
strength sessions and strength maintenance exercises in
each phase of training may be advisable.
Complex training
Differing neural adaptations can be expected from heavy
and light loads in training. One such training strategy is to
combine the two methods. This phenomenon of
combination training has been attributed to enhancing
post activation potentiation (PAP). This involves the
completion of an exercise under load, for example a heavy
back squat, followed by an empirically similar exercise that
emphasises speed of movement such as a CMJ jump.
There is a large body of research pertaining to PAP
for a review see Ebben.26 The exact mechanisms of PAP
have not been established; however, enhanced
neuromuscular drive44 increased phosphorylation of
myosin regulatory light chains and an increased cross
bridge attachment rate68 are plausible explanations.
The benefits of complex training are clearly evident.
Adams et al2 measured the CMJ of three groups after a
training intervention with increases in the heavy squat
group (3.3cm) and plyometric and light load group
(3.81cm). In contrast, the combined group of squats
and plyometrics increased by 10.67cm. In support,
Eduardo et al27 performed complex training with high
school basketball players twice a week. Increases in
squat strength, CMJ height and medicine ball throw
performance were evident, whereas the resistance
training-only group reduced their previous levels.
Additionally, further increases in CMJ height (4%)
post PAP intervention have been reported.36 However,

females only achieved increases of (0.42%). The
authors suggested that the males may have displayed
less neural inhibition, higher nervous system activation
and a better ability to deal with fatigue.
Complex training does not always show a positive
effect, and in some instances performance decrements.89
However, loads up to 70% 1rm were used for three reps,
which may not have provided sufficient intensity
stimulus as has been suggested previously.40
With various discrepancies in the research, coaches
are advised to perform testing and monitoring when
implementing complex training on an athlete-specific
basis. Greater results may also be achieved once a
suitable training age has been established.44
Rate of force development (RFD)

Success in sprinting and the sprint hurdles requires force
generation in a rapid manner. Rate of force development
(RFD) has been defined as the change in force
development divided by the change in time.72 Optimal
production of rapid force requires neuromuscular
activation,71 and is a representation of the athletes
ability to accelerate. This suggests the inclusion of
ballistic or explosive exercises to enhance acceleration
and running velocity. Various types of jumps, sprints and
plyometrics can be utilised to enhance this quality, but
there is also a strong argument for the inclusion of
weight-lifting movements.
The use of Olympic lifts has been indicated in the
enhancement of RFD.46 This is supported by McBride et
al58 in a comparison of power lifters, Olympic lifters and
sprinters, with the Olympic lifting group displaying the
highest levels of peak force and power outputs. Such
evidence gains further momentum as Garhammer37
reported that Olympic lifts displayed significantly higher
power outputs than the traditional lifts, namely the
squat, deadlift and bench press.
Olympic lifts are also adaptable in their application, as
indicated by the use of squat cleans/squat snatches to
allow greater loading in strength phases, whereas, power
clean/power snatch variations can be used to target
strength-speed performance. Additionally, pulling from
different heights (box or hang positions) can assist the
S&C professional to avoid monotony with their athletes.
Cluster training
Manipulation of the structure of the training set is often
overlooked, with people opting instead for traditional

cover feature
Phase 1
eccentric jumping
Phase 2
low intensity fast
plyometrics
Phase 3
hurdle jumping
Phase 4
depth jumping
Emphasis
Optimal landing
mechanics
Short GCT
Legs like stiff springs
Stay on balls of the feet
Short GCT
Some degree of
jump height
Short GCT
Max jump height
Sample exercises
Jump and stick

Jump up to box
Single leg jump and stick
Ankling
S/L ankling
Hurdle jumps
Depth jumps
Multiple depth jumps
Table 4. Suggested progressive model for fast SSC training plyometrics. Flanagan and Comyns31
approaches completing all the required reps in

sequence. More recently, an intra-repetition rest (IRR)
methodology termed the rest-pause set,31 or cluster
set,37 has been suggested as an effective method for
enhancing RFD and power output.
IRR may improve the quality of each repetition,
theorised by the fact that partial recovery between reps,
increases peak power, barbell velocity and displacement
with reductions in fatigue.38 The effect is a subsequent
increase in the power output of the set.52 As such, cluster
training may be particularly suitable with Olympic lifts
where RFD is paramount.
Reductions in RFD and peak power have been shown
with 5-9 maximal contractions.74 Thus, utilising low reps
and clusters to promote power in peaking phases,
enhancing RFD may improve sprint performance. IRR
allows partial replenishment of phosphocreatine (PCr),
whereas traditional sets result in subsequent depletion.
Careful consideration of the goals of each training
phase is needed, as clusters may not be suitable for
strength gains as opposed to traditional set structure.69
A number of theories have been proposed to explain

the underlying mechanisms of the SSC. Examples
include the contribution of elastic strain energy,60
involuntary nervous processes, such as GTO inhibition
and myotatic stretch reflex,10 increased active range of
movement,7 length tension characteristics,28 pre-activity
tension51 and enhanced co-ordination due to the
involvement of the pre-stretch.8
When designing plyometric programmes, it is
essential to consider the specifics of the ground contact
used in the sport/event. Two categories of SSC have
been categorised70: slow SSC (>250milliseconds) or fast
SSC (<250milliseconds). In the case of sprint hurdles it
Intention of velocity
A key aspect in training sprint athletes is to coach
explosive concentric contractions. Behm and Sale7 used
two groups incorporating either a ballistic or isometric
action over 16 weeks of training. The principle stimulus
for the high velocity response was the attempt to
perform ballistic actions. The type of contraction was
shown to be of lesser importance, whereas the intention
to move the weight quickly provided the greatest
contributing factor. Training applications may include
utilising a slow eccentric tempo, such as in a squat
followed by an explosive concentric contraction to
enhance RFD. Athletes may need verbal cues to provide
the correct stimulation during such lifts.
The training considerations discussed in this review
may assist in the design of suitable periodised training
programmes for enhancing sprint hurdle performance.
See Table 3 for an outline incorporating many of the
aspects reviewed above.
Plyometrics
In elite athletes, ground contact times (GCT) have been
established at 0.08s.17 This suggests sprint athletes
must be able to switch rapidly from an eccentric to
concentric contraction, minimising the amortisation
phase
utilising
the
properties
of
the
SSC.
Eccentric/concentric coupling has been shown to
produce more powerful contractions than a purely
concentric action.50 This may be due to an enhanced
ability to store and utilise elastic energy during the
concentric phase as a result of the prior eccentric
action.49 Additionally, increased propulsive force as a
result of efficient SSC mechanics aids in a reduction of
the metabolic cost of movement,8 with estimates of
approximately 60% of the total mechanical energy
recovered in economical sprinting.76
18
cover feature
could be argued that both are evident, as contact time
when landing from a hurdle is approximately 0.08s.17
However, the start/acceleration phase utilises slow SSC
mechanics with the force exerted by the front leg during
the push off applied for >250 milliseconds in elite
sprinters.64
Training slow or fast SSC requires different
approaches. A progressive model of development for
fast SSC abilities is suggested (Table 4), based on the
work of Flanagen and Comyns.31 Examples of slow SSC
include vertical jumps (emphasising acceleration),
whereas exercises such as depth jumps (classified as
fast SSC) are more suitable for top speed sprinting.58
In a training setting, jump mats can be used as a
feedback mechanism and motivational tool to provide
information as to the jump height and RSI emphasising
short GCT. Additionally it should be considered that
technique drills for acceleration and speed development
would be utilised; however these may fall under the
remit of the technical coaches at high levels of
performance.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Monitoring by foot contacts'

Typically, plyometric training is monitored by totalling
number of foot contacts. General recommendations
ensure that elite athletes are limited to 140 contacts,
whereas less experienced athletes reduce the total
number of contacts to <100.4 This may be an
oversimplification, as the intensity of the exercises
selected will dictate the appropriate number of contacts
due to the eccentric demand placed on the
musculotendinuous unit, ie, depth jump (high eccentric
demand) versus jump to box (low eccentric demand). It
has also been suggested that athletes should not
perform plyometrics unless they can squat 1.5 2.5
times their bodyweight.45 Such an approach will delay
the development of effective SSC mechanics; low and
medium intensity plyometrics, such as jump and stick
and
ankling
should
be
incorporated
during
developmental phases.31 Therefore, S&C coaches should
quantify the intensity of the drills provided using a
grading approach as suggested by Ebben et al,25
considering; double versus single leg contact, jump
height, use of added resistance and the integration of
overhead targets.
Regarding effective prescription of programme
variables, it should be considered that SSC function is
significantly affected by fatigue, with reductions in flight
time (p <0.001) and peak force (p <0.01) and increased
GCT (p <0.05) recorded 15 seconds following the
completion of a drop jump,19 suggesting that the
efficiency of the SSC mechanism was reduced.
Subsequently, a training prescription of two to three
sessions a week of < 10 reps/sets with a work to rest
ratio of 1:5 in a non-fatigued state is recommended.25
Summary
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
The sprint hurdles is an explosive event, requiring the

development of a number of specific qualities such as
maximal strength, reactive strength, effective SSC
mechanics, power and RFD. These components of fitness
should be incorporated as part of a periodised plan,
implemented concurrently to the technical and speed
development work on the track.
There are also a number of methods and techniques
in the toolbox of the S&C professional such as Olympic
lifts, plyometrics, complexes and cluster training to
enhance performance and maximise the time available
developing their athletes.
20.
21.
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22
Internships ensuring a
quality experience for all
By Ian Jeffreys and Graeme Close
Introduction
Ian Jeffreys, PhD, FNSCA,

ASCC, CSCS*D, is editor of
Professional Strength &
Conditioning
Graeme Close, PhD, ASCC, is a

senior lecturer in exercise
metabolism and sports nutrition
at Liverpool John Moores
University. He has published
several papers in sports
nutrition focusing upon free
radicals and antioxidants and is
accredited with BASES
(physiologist) and the UKSCA.
Over the last five years he has
worked as a nutrition and S&C
consultant with various sports
teams and individual athletes
and is currently performance
nutrition consultant to Munster
RUFC. Graeme is also a
former professional rugby
league player.
With the increased acceptance of the role strength and conditioning (S&C) plays
in maximising performance across a range of sports and levels, there has been an
associated increase in the number of people considering strength and conditioning
as their preferred career option. This has had a knock-on effect on the number of
people undertaking a range of activities designed to enhance their employability
within the field.
A typical job advertisement for a S&C coach asks for three things: firstly,
applicants are usually expected to have an appropriate level of education a
Bachelors, or increasingly a Masters, degree; secondly, it is expected that they
possess a formal professional accreditation; and thirdly, that they have an
appropriate degree of experience.
In many instances it is this latter requirement ie, the experience that
provides a challenge, especially for aspiring coaches coming from an academic
development route. And it is this requirement which has led to a massive growth
in the number and popularity of internships within the S&C field. Undoubtedly, a
high quality internship can provide an appropriate route for gaining excellent
experience and can be an effective route into the profession for many aspiring
S&C coaches. However, there are also internships that do not reflect the highest
standards, and often do not enhance the employability of the intern. The ability
to evaluate the quality of an internship and the benefit to be gained from the
programme is essential. This article will attempt to look at the characteristics of a
good internship and to give guidelines on effective internships for both employers
and interns.
What are internships?

Internships have existed for many years and in a variety of professions; they have
often been associated with higher education establishments, providing a key
vocational element to various courses. In their simplest form, internships are
essentially a form of work experience. However, they differ markedly in terms of
what kind of qualification that the interns possess at the outset, and in the specific
role that the intern is expected to fulfil. It must be pointed out at this stage that
work shadowing or the carrying out of menial tasks unrelated to the professional
role are not internships. Internships must be seen as a method of gaining
experience for a specific professional career, and must involve the carrying out of
key roles associated with the profession. This should all be conducted under the
guidance of an appropriately skilled and experienced practitioner.
It is important to note that high-quality internships should be beneficial to both
the employer and the intern, and be highly specific in the benefits to be gained
for both. For the S&C intern, an appropriate internship should consist of
developing the required applied and professional skills involved in the effective
delivery of the discipline. For the S&C coach this would involve the planning,
delivery, monitoring and evaluation of training. In this way, a quality internship
can provide the link to experience that prospective coaches are missing. This type
of experience can also enhance the likelihood of gaining professional
accreditation, as interns will learn to plan, deliver and evaluate the training of an
athlete as required for the case study element of the ASCC.
The employer should be able to use the internship programme as a means of
identifying talented S&C coaches, who are then able to move into employment
within their organisations. Having an intern also means that they have an
additional member of staff who can assist a current professional carrying out his
or her job.
Internships cure or curse?

It has long been a goal of the UKSCA to foster the development of strength and
conditioning to the point where it is seen as a key profession within the coaching
and sports science setting in the UK, where strength and conditioning coaches are
regarded as highly skilled professionals with appropriate levels of remuneration.
A high quality internship can provide for an excellent learning experience for an
intern and provide a route to employment within the industry. However, poor
internships
internships will not enhance an interns employability,
and may well also hinder the development of the
profession. For example, since some clubs are now
advertising for unpaid interns with a masters degree and
professional
qualifications
(such
as
UKSCA
accreditation) and it appears that they are managing to
recruit to these posts, there follows that there is a
significant danger of our profession becoming devalued
and turning, ultimately, into a voluntary service.
And, although internships can offer clear benefits to
both employer and intern, not all internships adhere to
the highest standards of provision. Internships should
be linked directly to a specific role, and the employer
should be able to provide appropriate employment
routes for the interns, to similar roles within the
organisation. But all too often internships are used by
employers to plug a gap in the organisations current
provision, and seldom, if ever, lead to a full-time job
there. And these jobs are sometimes unrelated to the
type of activity an intern is interested in pursuing, with
the result that they spend far too long on something
they are not interested in, often with little or no direct
supervision or mentoring.
It is also becoming common practice that the
internship requires long, structured hours, often on 12or 24-month contracts and employers are therefore in
danger of contravening UK laws on minimum wage. In
the UK, the legal definition of work includes a job with
set hours, a defined role, and being engaged for an
extended period of time. If an intern fulfils these criteria
then it could well be the case that they are entitled to at
least the minimum wage. It is at this point that the
benefit of the internship to the intern starts to become
unclear, and it can be charged that organisations are
simply using interns as unpaid staff and are not focused
on developing a clear learning path for them.
So, to sum up, disturbing trends that have emerged
on the internship front, include:
1. A large number of roles within sports organisation
being fulfilled by interns at the expense of full or parttime strength and conditioning coaches
2. Supervisory or management roles (eg, head of sport
science) being advertised as internships
3. Organisations advertising for interns but with little or
no detail on the supervision and mentoring provided
within the internship
4. Internships that never lead to full-time employment,
with organisations simply employing interns on an
annual basis
5. An increase in the skills and qualifications being asked
for internship applications, (eg, UKSCA accreditation,
Masters degrees) qualifications appropriate for a
full-time strength and conditioning coach
6. Organisations advertising internships but simply not
possessing the required personnel to provide
appropriate mentorship and supervision of such
individual
7. Internships working extremely long and structured
hours with the vast majority of their time spent doing
jobs that are unlikely to increase their skill set and
employment opportunities such as cleaning gyms and
washing supplement bottles.
CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITY INTERNSHIPS

Quality internships essentially revolve around four key factors:
1. Effective pre-planning and evaluation of the internship
2. The identification of clear roles and responsibilities for the
intern and the organisation, built around the professional
development of the intern
3. The provision of effective supervision and mentoring
4. Where possible, financial remuneration to allow interns
from all socio-economic backgrounds to gain the required
experience.
negatively on the perceived value of a high quality S&C

coach and the development of the profession will
consequently be weakened.
Effective pre-planning
Quality internships require a great deal of planning, on
the part of both the employer and the intern. Employers
should think carefully about the roles they require interns
to take, and how these will enhance the employability of
the intern. Employers should carefully look at the typical
skills, knowledge and abilities that a successful S&C
coach will need to develop and then build their internship
around this. They should then assess their own ability to
provide for an effective internship that has direct benefit
to the intern in relation to their chosen profession.
At no point should the aim of the internship be to fill a
role via an internship because the budget precludes the
employment of a full-time coach. Additionally, an honest
evaluation should be made of whether the organisation
can provide the appropriate supervision and mentoring
required for an effective internship. Likewise, pre-planning
should identify the most effective methods of recruitment
to ensure that interns entering the programme are able to
fulfil the roles and responsibilities required.
Interns themselves should also take considerable
time in planning an appropriate internship. They should
clearly identify the benefits they wish to attain with the
internship, and then choose an appropriate organisation
that can fulfil these goals. Ideally, they should
communicate with the organisation to clearly ascertain
key details about the internship, in terms of their roles
and responsibilities and also in terms of the mentorship
and supervision they will receive. They should also look
at previous internships and, where possible, talk to past
interns about their experiences.
Each of these has the potential to slow the

development of strength and conditioning as a
profession and to significantly reduce the employment
opportunities available to skilled and qualified S&C
coaches. If organisations feel that they can fulfil S&C
roles with internships, this will ultimately impact
24
internships
Roles and responsibilities

Effective preplanning should then develop into a clear
role description for the intern and for the organisation.
This should clearly outline the tasks the interns they will
be responsible for, and the key performance indicators
by which their performance will be evaluated. For the
intern, these should match with the benefits they
identified previously which they wish to attain via the
internship. The role description should also clearly
outline the length of the internship, the expected
engagement hours and any necessary details on
remuneration, benefits etc. This should then guide the
recruitment of an intern who will be able to fulfil the
roles and responsibilities required.
Additionally the roles and responsibilities of the
organisation must be outlined. This should include
details on any initial induction requirements for the
intern, as well as any immediate training they may need
to do to enable them to undertake the key roles and
responsibilities associated with their role description.
Critically, this must also highlight the personnel
responsible for the supervision, mentoring, training and
evaluation of the intern.
In reviewing potential internships, interns are advised to

investigate who will be responsible for the supervision and
mentoring, and to ensure that an appropriate amount of
time is ring fenced to ensure the quality of the supervision,
mentoring and feedback processes. Additionally, they
would be advised to find out about any past interns who
worked in the organisation and to see how successful
these have subsequently been in gaining employment.
Key requirements to look for in an

effective internship
As has been highlighted, an effective internship can
provide an excellent learning experience. However, not
all internships are created equal and while a number of
excellent internships do exist, there are as many do not
adhere to the highest standards. Potential coaches
entertaining the idea of an internship should do a great
deal of planning and clearly outline the benefits they
wish to gain from the internship. In searching for an
effective strength and conditioning internship, the
following may provide useful guidelines in evaluating the
benefit to be gained from the internship.
POTENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION
OF INTERNSHIPS
Supervision and mentoring

It is highly likely that a S&C intern will not possess the
required proficiency in these skills to fulfil a professional
role. For this reason, interns cannot and must not, be
expected to work independently. Instead they must be
allocated appropriate supervision and mentoring to
ensure that a supportive learning environment is
established. Although the quality internships do provide
this, it is unfortunately not always the case and there
have even been instances of organisations asking for
internships to run certain parts of their provision.
Clearly, there cannot be appropriate supervision in these
instances and such opportunities should not be
advertised as internships.
In all likelihood, the success of the internship will be
closely linked to the quality of supervision and
mentoring that the interns receive, and this should be a
key element of an effective internship. For this reason, if
an organisation is to run an internship then it must
ensure that it has the appropriate supervisory
procedures in place. Supervisors would be expected to
have extensive experience in the related discipline and
to possess the appropriate professional and academic
qualifications. Additionally, they must allocate an
appropriate amount of time to supervision and
mentorship. All too often these tasks are not allocated
appropriate time by the employer and this will prevent
the appropriate supervision and mentoring taking place.
Supervisors should be expected to provide ongoing
feedback on the interns performance, and appropriate
support where required. This feedback process should
involve regular performance reviews, where key
development objectives can be established. Ideally, this
should also involve the identification and allocation of
appropriate training, as and when required, and this
should be budgeted for in the internship planning.
At the end of the internship there should be a formal
performance review, involving an evaluation of the entire
process and work quality of the intern: he or she should
be provided with a document outlining the roles they
have fulfilled and their performance within these roles.
For potential interns, this supervisory and mentoring
process is perhaps the most crucial in determining the
overall benefit they are likely to gain from the internship.
1. Does the internship list a person responsible for

supervision and mentoring?
2. Does this person have the appropriate experience,
vocational skills and qualifications to provide an
appropriate level of mentoring?
3. Does the person have time allocated to the supervision
and mentoring of interns?
4. Does the organisation clearly outline the roles and
responsibilities of the intern?
5. Do these roles and responsibilities match the key learning
aims of the intern?
6. Are the working hours and conditions appropriate for a
professional internship, and fit in with any other
professional commitments the intern may have?
7. Does the organisation provide any specific training or
professional development opportunities such as paying for
part time masters degrees?
8. Does the organisation currently employ past interns?
9. Does the organisation have a successful record of interns
subsequently entering employment?
Summary
Quality internships provide a highly effective learning
opportunity for prospective S&C coaches, giving them the
experience they need to enter the profession. However,
there is a growing and worrying trend for employers to
look at internships as simply a way of adding to their
staff, with little thought as to giving the internship the
structuring of a quality learning experience. This will
significantly reduce the benefits gained from the
internship, ultimately affecting negatively the perceived
value of a S&C coach and subsequently the development
of the profession as a whole. Interns are advised to use
the guidelines listed above to closely examine the finer
details of the internship, and to carefully evaluate the
benefit they will gain from their investment of time and
effort. Organisations looking to offer internship are also
advised to look at the guidelines, and to honestly assess
whether or not they can offer appropriate internships
that provide maximum benefits to the intern as well as
the organisation.

PERFORMANCE NUTRITION
The role of -Alanine in

building muscle strength
By Craig Sale and Bryan Saunders
Two nutrition experts discuss the use of -alanine supplementation as an

effective method of increasing muscle carnosine, which in turn leads to
increased exercise performance, particularly during high intensity exercise.
Although high doses of -alanine have been associated with paraesthesia,
this is not considered to be a serious disadvantage and can be avoided
through the use of slow release formulations, or through the provision of
multiple smaller doses throughout the day. So far, improvements using the
supplement have been seen in cycling, rowing, boxing and swimming. This
article will look at the mechanisms by which beta alanine improves athletic
performance and discuss practical strategies for it use.
Dr Craig Sale, BSc (Hons), MSc,
PhD, is a reader in applied
physiology at Nottingham Trent
University and is the research
coordinator for the sport, health
and performance enhancement
research group. Craig has spent
the last 10 years investigating the
impact of exercise and nutrition
on health and disease in humans,
specialising in bone and muscle
health, injury and metabolism and
nutritional supplementation for
sport and exercise.
SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS

Occurrence
-alanine is half the dipeptide carnosine (-alanine + histidine)
Carnosine is found naturally in a variety of tissues
The highest concentration is in skeletal muscle where the content is ~13 mmolkg-1dm
(vegetarians) to ~30 mmolkg-1dm (high meat eater)
Synthesis of carnosine in muscle is limited by -alanine synthesis in the liver and its
provision in the diet from the ingestion of meat.
Function
Carnosine contributes to the buffering (works to maintain pH) of hydrogen cations in
muscle
Carnosine in muscle is particularly important in delaying the onset of local muscle
fatigue during sustained or intermittent high-intensity exercise
Maximum levels of carnosine in muscle, with increased tolerance of lactic acid, build up
during intense exercise, and can only be achieved by supplementing with -alanine.
Availability & performance
Dr Bryan Saunders, BSc (Hons),

MSc, studied for an undergraduate
degree in sport science, and
mathematics at Nottingham Trent
University before focusing on
sports science during a masters
degree at Loughborough
University. He returned to
Nottingham Trent University in
2009, and recently completed his
PhD entitled: Effects of Buffering
Agents on High-Intensity Exercise
Performance and Capacity.
-alanine is synthesised in the liver and is available also in the diet of meat eaters
-alanine content in the diet varies greatly but it is believed to be low today in the
Western urban diet and is of course absent in the vegetarian diet
Supplementary -alanine added to the diet results in an increase of 80% or more in
muscle carnosine content, with positive benefit on anaerobic exercise performance
Natural dietary intakes of -alanine in the form of carnosine in muscle meat vary from
0, 100, 400 and >400 mg per day in vegetarians, low, moderate and high meat eaters
respectively
Faster and more efficient means to increase muscle carnosine can be achieved by
using sustained release tablets (Carnosyn SR)
High doses of -alanine (>10 mgkg-1BM of free powder, or >20 mgkg-1BM of a
sustained release formulation Carnosyn SR) may induce a tingling sensation called
paraesthesia
Increased muscle carnosine content is associated with increased ability to undertake
intense anaerobic exercise. Gains might also be experienced in apparently more aerobic
forms of exercise, when this includes periods of altered power output or where muscle
blood flow is reduced
Muscles are less fatiguable and the capacity to undertake strenuous activity is
increased
Athletic performance in sports such as cycling, rowing, boxing and swimming have
been shown to be improved with -alanine supplementation
Improvements can be achieved in around four weeks with doses comparable to those
found in the natural diet
If supplementation with -alanine is stopped, the muscle carnosine level slowly drops
back to the pre-supplementation level with a half life of five to nine weeks. It will take
25 to 45 weeks before basal levels are reached.

26
performance nutrition
Carnosine
What is carnosine?
Carnosine (-alanyl-L-histidine) is a cytoplasmic
dipeptide found in high concentrations in the skeletal
muscle of vertebrates and non-vertebrates, as well as in
the central nervous system. Carnosine has been
attributed various roles, including Ca2+ sensitiser,23
antioxidant,4 inhibitor against protein glycosylation16,17
and protein cross-linking.15 However, its role as an
intramuscular pH buffer is undisputed, due to its
molecular structure and its millimolar concentration in
the muscle, which make it a suitable buffer over the
physiological pH range.3
In human blood, carnosine released from damaged
muscle cells or taken in through the ingestion of muscle
meat is broken down by the enzyme carnosinase to its
constituent amino acids, -alanine and histidine,1
allowing transportation to other organs and tissues.
Importantly, the enzyme carnosinase is not found in
muscle; with the -alanine and histidine entering the
muscle being resynthesised to carnosine by the enzyme
carnosine synthase.
What influences muscle carnosine levels?

Perhaps the major influence on muscle carnosine levels is
species. Human carnosine concentrations range from
17.5 4.8 mmol.kg-1dm in females to 21.3 4.2
in
males.24
Furthermore,
higher
mmol.kg-1dm
concentrations are found in fast-twitch (type II)
compared to slow-twitch (type I) muscle fibres,8,14 with
human m vastus lateralis carnosine content shown to be
17.8 1.9 mmol.kg-1dm in type I fibres and 29.6 2.1
mmol.kg-1dm in type II fibres.14 Higher concentrations
have been reported in sprinters, rowers29 and bodybuilders,42 which is suggestive of an adaptation to chronic
training, although it is unclear whether these elevated
levels are more indicative of a higher meat diet in these
populations,13 secondary to hypertrophy of type II fibres
or in the case of Tallon et al42 due to an effect of orally
administered steroids including testosterone.
The synthesis of carnosine in muscle is limited by the
low concentration of -alanine and the relatively high
Km that -alanine has for carnosine synthase;27 in
contrast, histidine is present in much higher
concentrations in muscle and has a lower Km for
carnosine synthase.20 Individuals eating a mixed diet will
encounter small amounts of -alanine in their diet from
the breakdown of carnosine and derivatives of this in
meat; this, in the modern diet, will typically provide
between 50 and 400 mg per day.
In contrast, in vegetarians, muscle carnosine is
limited by synthesis of -alanine from uracil degradation
in the liver, resulting in comparatively low levels (13
mmol.kg-1dm in the m vastus lateralis) being recorded in
the muscles of trained females.11,21 Similarly, Everaert et
al9 showed a reduction in muscle carnosine of between
17 and 26% in m soleus, m gastrocnemius and m tibialis
anterior in vegetarians compared with omnivores.
Effect of -alanine on carnosine levels

Harris et al10 were the first to report on the effect of
dietary supplementation of -alanine on skeletal muscle
carnosine content over three individual studies. The
intention of the first of these studies was to compare the
ingestion of -alanine in free form (0, 10, 20 and 40
mg.kg-1BM) with an equivalent dose (40 mg.kg-1BM)
contained within a chicken broth. However, participants
complained of symptoms, described as an unpleasant
Participants who took their -alanine in chicken broth did not

report any symptoms of paraesthesia
prickly sensation (known as paraesthesia) on the skin

around the body following administration of the higher
doses of free -alanine (from 20 mg.kg-1BM). This
paraesthesia was evident in increasing participant
number and intensity with increasing doses from 20 to
40 mg.kg-1BM of -alanine. Interestingly, no participants
reported these symptoms when ingesting 40 mg.kg-1BM
-alanine in the chicken broth. Paraesthesia was
associated with a longer time to peak plasma
concentration with the ingestion of the chicken broth
compared with supplementation of free form (90
minutes versus 30 to 40 minutes), as well as an
attenuation of the peak concentration (although the area
under the plasma concentration curve was unchanged).
Having confirmed that the peak elevation in plasma
-alanine concentrations, and the time to peak
concentration were unaffected following two weeks of
supplementation, Harris et al10 demonstrated that four
weeks of supplementation with -alanine (4.0 g.d-1 in
the first week rising to 6.4 g.d-1 in the fourth) increased
muscle carnosine by ~65% in the m vastus lateralis.
Similarly, Hill et al14 showed that carnosine was
increased by ~50% following four weeks of -alanine
supplementation at an identical dose to Harris et al,10
which was further increased to ~80% when
supplementation was extended to ten weeks, although
this just failed to reach significance.
Nonetheless, this suggests that a four-week period of
-alanine supplementation at 6.4 g.d-1 is not enough to
reach a threshold level for carnosine storage in the
skeletal muscle. Stellingwerff et al37 showed a linear
dose response to -alanine supplementation that is not
dependent on baseline muscle carnosine, muscle type,
or the daily dose of -alanine, but is dependent on the
total amount of -alanine consumed.
Sustained-release formulation
Interestingly, following the findings of Harris et al,10 and
subsequent confirmation by others, in relation to the
complaints of paraesthesia in some individuals, a
sustained-release formulation (Carnosyn SR) was
developed by Natural Alternatives International in the
US, which is available to the public from Nestle
PowerBar.

-alanine improved punch force and frequency during repeated bouts of boxing
This formulation imposes a physical restraint on the

rate of release of -alanine, greatly attenuating the peak
concentration achieved with a single dose of 1600 mg,
without affecting the six hour area under the plasma
concentration curve. This result indicates bioequivalence
with administration of the same dose as free powder,12
but importantly limits the associated symptoms of
paraesthesia. Stellingwerff et al37 reported some
relatively low level symptoms of paraesthesia following
ingestion of sustained release tablets in 1600 mg (2 x
800 mg) doses, although reported symptoms did not
differ from those experienced by the placebo group.
Similarly, participants who ingested the sustained
release tablets experienced significantly reduced
symptoms of discomfort compared to those ingesting
pure -alanine in solution, while whole body retention of
-alanine was improved.5
The development of the Carnosyn SR sustained
release tablets has allowed similar, and possibly greater,
increases in muscle carnosine content while minimising
the discomfort associated with supplementation at this
level.
Does -alanine supplementation improve exercise

performance and capacity?
High-intensity exercise results in the accumulation of
metabolites, including hydrogen cations (H+), which
contribute to the decline in muscle pH shown during
exercise. A decline in intramuscular pH interferes with
several metabolic processes, explaining a reduction in
force production and the onset of fatigue.36 An increase
in muscle carnosine content increases muscle buffering
capacity, potentially mediating an improvement in
exercise performance and capacity where this is limited
by the accumulation of H+ and a subsequent drop in pH.
The Cycling Capacity test (CCT110%) is a reliable
exercise test for the determination of high-intensity
cycling capacity, and can be used for nutritional
interventions designed to affect intracellular pH changes
during exercise.31 Hill et al14 showed that the total work
done (TWD) during the CCT110% was increased by 13.0%
alongside a 58.8% increase in muscle carnosine

following four weeks of -alanine supplementation (4.0
g.d-1 in the first week rising to 6.4 g.d-1 in the fourth);
when supplementation was extended to ten weeks,
carnosine was increased by 80.1% and TWD by 16.2%.
Similarly, Sale et al30 confirmed the effect of -alanine
supplementation on high-intensity exercise capacity
using the CCT110%, with TWD increased by 14.6%
following four weeks supplementation (6.4 g.d-1),
although muscle carnosine was not directly measured in
this study.
Effect on high-intensity exercise

Further research into the effects of increased muscle
buffering capacity due to increased carnosine on singlebout high-intensity exercise has been equivocal. Stout
and colleagues observed a positive effect of -alanine
supplementation on neuromuscular fatigue in men,38
women39 and the elderly.40
However, Derave et al6
supplemented sprint trained athletes up to five weeks
with -alanine and showed no effect on 400m running
performance (lasting ~52 s). Baguet et al2 showed a
non-significant (P = 0.07) effect of -alanine
supplementation on 2000m rowing performance
(typically lasting ~400 s). That said, there was an
absolute improvement in performance that was
correlated (r = 0.498) with increases in muscle
carnosine concentration.2 Van Thienen et al43 showed
that those supplemented with -alanine had an
increased peak (+11.2%), mean (+4.9%) and final
(+10.9%) power output during an all-out 30 s sprint
performed following a simulated endurance cycle race.
Several studies have investigated the combined
effects of six weeks high-intensity interval training
(HIIT), with or without -alanine supplementation.
Smith et al34 showed HIIT improved absolute values of
fatigue following three and six weeks in both the alanine and placebo groups, although there was no
difference between groups. Similarly, Walter et al44
showed no added benefit of -alanine supplementation
to HIIT on VO2peak during a graded exercise cycle.

28
Olympic sporting event
Recent summer and winter Olympics gold medal time

Men
Women
Running
400m hurdles
800m
1500m
47:63
1:40:91
3:34:08
52:70
1:56:19
4:10:23
Swimming
100m freestyle
200m freestyle
400m freestyle
47:52
1:43:14
3:40:14
53:00
1:53:61
4:01:45
Flat water kayaking
500m K1
1000m K1
N/A
3:26:46
1:51:46
N/A
Cycling
Track team pursuit
3:51:66
3:14:05
Rowing
2000m 8+
Double Sculls
5:48:75
6:31:67
6:10:59
6:55:82
Table 1. Olympic sporting events of a duration which theoretically may evoke an ergogenic benefit from -alanine
The training protocol used in these studies may have

been a superior stimulus to the untrained population,
rendering any changes in muscle carnosine ineffective.
Smith et al35 showed VO2peak and time to exhaustion were
improved during graded exercise cycles at three weeks
in both the placebo and -alanine groups, although a
further increase from three to six weeks was only
observed in those participants supplemented with alanine. In addition, there was an improvement in total
work done during a 110% VO2peak test from pre- to midtraining and from mid- to post-training in both groups.
However, there was no effect of -alanine
supplementation or training on ventilatory threshold.
These results suggest some potential for -alanine
supplementation in further enhancing the benefits of
high-intensity interval training.
A number of studies have investigated the effect of alanine supplementation on high-intensity intermittent
exercise, which requires individuals to continually repeat
maximal or near maximal bouts of exercise interspersed
with recovery periods. Hoffman et al19 observed no effect
of -alanine supplementation on fatigue rates in 26
collegiate football players during repeated line drills (3 x
~40 s). Sweeney et al41 investigated the effect of five
weeks of -alanine supplementation on 5 x 5 s repeated
sprints with 45 s passive recovery. Participants
performed two sets of running sprints with a two-minute
active recovery between sets. The authors showed no
effect of -alanine supplementation on horizontal power
or performance decrement, although mean power was
lower in both groups following supplementation. This
was attributed to a change in pacing strategy in both
groups, suggesting the participants were not fully
familiarised with the protocol.
Saunders et al32 were the first to investigate the
effect of -alanine supplementation on repeated sprint
performance throughout simulated games play, and
showed that 15m sprint performance during the
Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (LIST) was
unaffected by -alanine in elite and non-elite athletes,
although this may have been due to the lack of
deterioration in performance, in both groups, prior to
supplementation, which might have masked any effect
of increased muscle carnosine content.
Repeated sprint performance and football

Saunders et al33 also showed an improvement in YoYo
Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2 (YoYo IR2)
performance in amateur footballers throughout a
competitive season. Furthermore, supplementation
improved performance to similar levels shown with preseason and intense training programmes. The YoYo IR2
is an exercise capacity test that evaluates an individuals

ability to repeatedly perform and recover from intense
exercise, and has been shown to be associated with a
decline in muscle pH22, which suggests improvements
were probably due to an increased muscle buffering
capacity resulting in an attenuation of the reduction in
intracellular pH during high-intensity intermittent
exercise.
Despite several studies reporting no effect on
repeated sprint performance, the results of Saunders et
al suggest that team sports players may benefit from alanine supplementation to improve sport specific fitness
throughout a season.
Recently, Donovan et al7 showed that -alanine
improved punch force and frequency during repeated
bouts of boxing, providing further evidence to suggest
that increased muscle buffering capacity can improve
prolonged intermittent exercise performance.
In a recent meta-analysis of the literature, Hobson et
al18 concluded that -alanine supplementation was
effective in improving high-intensity exercise of
durations between 60 240 s (P = 0.001) and in excess
of 240 s (P = 0.05), but not less than 60 s (P = 0.3). A
timeframe between 60 and 240 s is a period when
anaerobic energy sources can contribute between 20
and 60% of the total energy requirement,25 resulting in
a large accumulation of H+. The median overall effect of
-alanine supplementation was a 2.85% (-0.37 to
10.49%) improvement in the outcome of an exercise
measure, when 179 g (total dose over time period) of alanine was supplemented.
From the available research to date, it can therefore
be concluded that -alanine supplementation elicits a
significant ergogenic effect on high-intensity exercise,
particularly in exercise capacity tests with exercise
durations between one and four minutes.
Where do we go from here?

There is now accumulating evidence to support the
ergogenic effects of -alanine on exercise performance
and capacity that is limited by increasing acidosis.
Future investigations should focus on the potential
ergogenic effects on applied performance in events of a
duration theoretically limited by increasing muscle
acidosis (Table 1).
Further research is required to examine the potential
for -alanine to increase the amount of high-intensity
work performed during periods of intense training.
Similarly, further research is also warranted on
prolonged intermittent exercise capacity such as the
YoYo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 and Part B of the
LIST,28 performed following five sets of the LIST, and

intended to exhaust participants within ten minutes. A
capacity test of this sort may be more sensitive to
changes in muscle buffering capacity than the
performance measures in the main part of the LIST.32
Long-term supplementation studies are required to
determine the upper limits to muscle carnosine
concentration and concomitant improvements to
exercise capacity and performance. Research is also
needed to determine whether these are influenced by
other factors including body mass, age and gender.
Subsequent effects on the washout period could be
investigated, as well as long-term health implications.
No evidence currently exists in relation to the need for
taking a dose relative to body mass, although this is
possible in the future. Similarly, there is limited evidence
with regards to an appropriate maintenance dose of alanine, but this could prove to be as low as 0.8 1.6
g.d-1 in future studies.
5.
Practical recommendations
10.
To attain significant increases in muscle carnosine within

two to four weeks, ingest 3.2 6.4 g.d-1 -alanine, by
taking two 800 mg sustained-release tablets two to four
times a day, as per the manufacturers instructions.
Separation of the doses by two to four hours is required
in order to minimise the incidence of paraesthesia, which
is associated with the time to peak plasma concentration
attained.
Currently,
at
least
until
long-term
supplementation studies have been completed, it would
be advisable to take breaks from supplemental -alanine
at the higher doses.
Use a sustained/timed release formulation of alanine to minimise the symptoms of paraesthesia and
maximise the rate of muscle carnosine accumulation. It
is important to remember that the sensation of
paraesthesia has nothing whatsoever to do with the
effectiveness of -alanine.
-alanine should be considered by athletes
competing in high-intensity events with an exercise
duration between one and six minutes, as this will be a
duration most susceptible to any benefits to increased
muscle carnosine. Similarly, athletes competing in
events of a longer nature may also see some benefit
with supplementation, although further research
evidence is required. Athletes should ensure that any
supplements used are screened by an accredited
laboratory such as NSF (www.nsf.org) or HFL
(www.hfl.co.uk), to ensure there has been no
contamination with steroids or stimulants.
Individuals engaged in a structured training regime
for their team/event should consider supplementation
with -alanine, as there is evidence to suggest that
supplementing with -alanine alongside training could
result in further improvements above training alone,
although further evidence is also required here.
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ISSN 1757-5834

The journal of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association

CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: USING HIGHINTENSITY ENERGY-SYSTEM CONDITIONING

The UK Strength & Conditioning Association

INTERVIEW WITH MARK SIMPSON

1 Woodville Terrace, Lytham, Lancashire FY8 5QB.

INTERNSHIPS ENSURING A QUALITY

THE ROLE OF -ALANINE IN BUILDING

Letter from the Editor

Ian Jeffreys, PhD, FNSCA,

PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk

Twelve more accredited tutors

The UKSCA has been working with

Following our advertisement for new

F troop session on Saturdays

General preparation phase

PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk

Typically 15:15 x 10-20 reps = 5-10

Typically 15:15 x 16-20 reps = 8-10

Typically 30:15 x 6-12 reps =5-10

Typically 40:20 @ 92.5:65% x 5-10

60-180 s @ 40-60% MAS

Typically 4-6 min x 1-6 sets

sport-specific additions to the running drills (ie,

Determination of 100% MAS

grinder as the exact measures of distance and time

Description and rationale for various

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk

1:1 Active recovery

1:1 Active recovery

1:1 Active recovery

1:1 Active recovery

1:1 Active recovery

1:1 Active recovery

Table 2. Standard F Troop Saturday morning workout = 36 mins

clearly be seen as a progression from the F Troop

the ability to absorb contact with an elevated breathing

Full contact sparring, but only

No rest during the set

Table 3. Saturday morning harden up workout = 40 min

PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk

Table 4. Total annihilation workout = 40-mins

work:rest ratios and varying work lengths.

work:rest ratios to induce a high level of energy system

Three-way energy system

20 s, top must pin, bottom

10 s rest to alternate top

Table 5. Complete towel up workout = 40 mins

PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

110 s @ 40-60% MAS

100 s @ 40-60% MAS

Table 6. Three-way energy system continuous workout

Rowing max aerobic power

only three workouts with circuit training. By this, I mean

Baker, D. Recent trends in high-intensity aerobic training for field

1:1 passive rest

110 metres add the time for all

~1:1 passive rest

PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

UKSCA | Issue 27 | w: www.uksca.org.uk e: info@uksca.org.uk

INTERVIEW: THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN