Author: Andre Coleman

Sources of stress in elite football players.Abstract

In this piece we shall look at stress, its definition, and its potential occurrence in the world of the professional football player. We will examine the possible sources and use current literature sources to support our assertions.

Having done that we shall examine in detail the case of Mr Vasey, a youngster who embarked on a professional football career but did not make it onto the elite circuit. We shall examine his personal account for evidence to support or refute our assessment.

If you read some of the tabloid newspapers, you could be forgiven for thinking that an elite footballer’s life is little more than huge amounts of money, fast cars, a succession of pretty women and endless adulation from mindlessly adoring fans when performing on the football pitch. Some of the more disreputable papers may also dwell on a slightly different (but generally equally false) aspect of their life, the drink, drugs, sordid sex romps in hotel rooms and gambling.

The truth of the matter, in the vast majority of cases, is that the elite footballer is a finely honed athlete at the peak of his training. He is required to perform daily in training routines and in the gym, less frequently on the pitch, and put himself at risk of career threatening injuries on a regular basis. All this is done in the full knowledge that he has worked his way up a professional ladder to a comparatively short window of elite performance and that there are always many more hopefuls who are climbing up behind him either waiting to push him off or to watch him as he falls.

You may regard the introduction as rather melodramatic, but it is intended to illustrate the very different perceptions that are commonly held about the lifestyles of the elite footballer. In this piece we are going to review the stresses and pressures that are commonly experienced by this elite group and also how they (generally) manage to cope with them.

We also intend to illustrate the theoretical problems faced by the elite footballer with a real case study of a young man, Mr Peter Vasey who has gone a long way to becoming one of the elite group and then, for various reasons, which we shall discuss, decided not to pursue it further.

Stress and Stress management

We all think that we know what stress is and that we can easily recognise it. It actually proves to be a very hard item to define as firstly, it is important to distinguish between physical (biological) stress and psychological stress. The two are clearly related but fundamentally different. Secondly, stress is a multitude of different responses to a multitude of different potential causes.

In this piece we are going to consider the various causes of psychological stress on elite footballers. In this context we can look for a definition of stress in a particularly informative article by Crampton et al. (1995) . She reviews the various definitions of stress.

“Hans Selye (1956), a pioneer in stress research, has defined stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demands made upon it” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 1992, p. 597). It is considered to be an internal state or reaction to anything we consciously or unconsciously perceive as a threat, either real or imagined (Clarke, 1988). Stress can evoke feelings of frustration, fear, conflict, pressure, hurt, anger, sadness, inadequacy, guilt, loneliness, or confusion (Cavanagh, 1988). Individuals feel stressed when they are fired or lose a loved one (negative stress) as well as when they are promoted or go on a vacation (positive stress). While many individuals believe they must avoid stress to live longer, Freese (1976) argues that it is the salt and spice of life and that to have no stress we would have to be dead.”

Selve defines the basic “biological” interpretation of stress while the Kreitner definition starts to incorporate the possible psychological elements that generate the biological responses. Clarke adds to our understanding by considering the psychological responses that can be produced by various stresses and Cavanagh modifies the definition further by introducing the concept of positive and negative stress. Freese makes the very perceptive comment that stress is an integral and inevitable feature of life itself. This particular insight can be taken rather further insofar as there are some individuals who find stress hard to cope with (non-copers) and others who appear to positively thrive in stressful situations (copers)

In terms of our footballers under consideration, we must accept that stress can, and does affect performance as we shall discuss (see on). Basic psychological theory shows us that individuals who are less than optimally stressed may not make enough effort to achieve their designated goal whereas those who are overstressed may not be able to concentrate on the task in hand and perform to their maximum capacity. In either eventuality it is clear that optimal performance is impaired. Equally it follows that there is an optimal amount of stress to achieve optimum performance. In practical terms, that “optimal amount” is only really possible to quantify in retrospect, and that is why many would describe the work of the team manager, coach and trainer as an art rather than a science.

Haspels (2004) looked specifically at the levels of stress in pre- and post-match footballers. Unsurprisingly, he found that the highest levels of stress were found pre-match in an International game. One of the standard measures of stress in the resting subject is the cortisol level. Unfortunately physical activity also puts up cortisol levels so one of the major predictors of stress was rendered useless in this study. Haspels also found that the players performed best when their stress levels were controlled before the game

Work by Anshel (2001) looked at the causes of acute stress on the playing field and came to the rather surprising conclusion that the major causes of stress in that particular situation was consistently found to be receiving what was perceived to be a bad call from the referee and making a major physical error (missed kick etc.) When these eventualities occurred, the athletes concerned tended to make negative cognitive appraisals followed by an avoidance coping strategy. The same study also found that approach coping was most commonly seen after positive appraisals. These observations clearly support the transactional coping model. The use of appraisals and coping strategy was directly dependent on the perceived nature of the stressful event.

Stress is an inherent part of football. It may, in part, be added to by the unrealistic expectations of the coaches, managers and the fans. Every team in the league is told that “this year the cup will be ours” at the beginning of the season and all the training, playing and motivation will be directed towards winning it. The reality, of course, is that only one team will win it.

Continued stress has been cited as the main reason for many of the younger players (including our study subject) for their lack of enjoyment and subsequently leaving the game. It is interesting to note that many sources cite youth as one of the causes of acute stress on the grounds that the youngster may not yet have developed the physical sports skills and coping strategies that the older, more experienced players have. We will not consider this element further as our concern in this piece is primarily the elite footballer who, by definition, has already mastered his game.

In broad terms, according to Lazarus (1999), coping with stress consists of a person’s conscious attempt at managing the demands and intensity of events perceived as stressful or improving one’s personal resources (e.g., positive affect, confidence, self-control) in attempting to reduce or manage one’s perceived stress intensity. He also observes that one of the critical factors in an athlete’s adoption of a particular coping strategy is their cognitive appraisal of the stressful event or situation. Lazarus sums up his appreciation of the coping response as an athlete’s ability to accurately appraise the situation and the subsequent use of an appropriate coping strategy as the critical factor in explaining an athlete’s physiological and psychological adaptation to stress in sport.

Method

Our method of investigation falls into two parts. In terms of the stresses faced by elite footballers and their coping mechanisms, we have consulted, appraised and quoted authoritative literature on the subject. In terms of the real problems faced by Mr. Vasey, we have interviewed him and the results of the interview are appended to this piece as appendix I

Sources of potential stress

Clearly there are a great many sources of potential stress that our hypothetical elite footballer may face. Broadly speaking they can be categorised into:-

Sport related stress.
– Performance anxiety
– Alpha male problems in a team game
– Age
– Competition stress
– Constant motivation
– Exercise dependence
– Constant levels of fitness
– Injury concerns
– Dietary concerns
– Drug monitoring concerns
– Premature retirement

Financial
– Living up to a perceived lifestyle
– Transient nature of income
– Income dependent on continued performance

Publicity related
– Media attention
– Family intrusion
– Privacy intrusion

Direct stress-related problems
– Drink
– Drugs
– Relationship problems
– Cognitive functioning

Let us consider each one of these potential stresses in turn

Sports related stresses

Performance anxiety

In a well written and comprehensive article, Poczwardowski and Conroy (2002) discuss the stresses and coping mechanisms of elite performers. They categorise the various coping mechanisms into 36 sub-categories on the basis of direct interviews. The standard categorisations of problem-focused, emotion-focused, appraisal-focused, and avoidance-focused etc. were amplified and extended to cover a greater rang of detected strategies. For example “greater motivational changes after failure” was reported by one athlete as a stimulus to train harder so as not to fail a second time.

Stress can affect different sportsmen in different ways. Some appear to thrive and perform well, others find that it is a bar to optimum performance. Those elite footballers in the first category do not need any intervention as far as their performance in the game is concerned but an interesting study by Solberg et al. (2000) looked at the use of different relaxation techniques pre- and post performance in elite athletes. They found that athletes who practised meditation-related relaxation techniques had their blood lactate levels returning to normal quicker than their non-relaxed counterparts. Contrary to expectation however, they found no significant difference in their levels of pre-exercise anxiety.

Alpha-male problems in a team game

This is an anecdotally reported phenomenon which does not appear to have been investigated from a scientific perspective. The typical alpha-male personality type is over represented in the elite footballer community. Aggression, speed, firmness of decision making, independence and rapid responses are all prized attributes of the elite footballer. These are seldom attributes that are seen in the personality types that are happy playing as an integral part of a team. Football, by its very nature, is played by a team of eleven on the pitch and off the pitch, a very much larger team is involved. Prima Donna behaviour, typical of the alpha-male, cannot be easily accommodated in such circumstances. It may be tolerated as long as the player concerned is delivering the results, but it can be an enormous cause of stress when the results stop being delivered.

Age

Footballers get older. In terms of their professional use, they age perhaps faster than professionals in other fields. There is a very narrow “window of opportunity” for them to be at the top of their chosen field. To play at elite level for more than a decade is considered to be quite unusual. Part of the reason for this is the natural ageing process which is present in every other individual, but also there is the ever-present problem of both career threatening injury and also the huge wear and tear on the joints (see on) which can give rise to significant health impairment in later life.

Turner et al. (2000) examined this problem in some detail and their results make impressive reading. Their cohort were all professional footballers. 32% of whom reported having surgery on at least one occasion. Of those, over half had knee surgery and a quarter of those had complete joint replacements. 15% reported
having hip surgery with another 9% awaiting surgery.

Others in the group were having non-invasive treatments. Nearly half had physiotherapy in one form or another for injuries sustained during their career and over a quarter were having some form of analgesia or anti-inflammatory drugs for pain associated with football injuries.

Osteoarthritis (OA) was diagnosed in at least one site in nearly half of the respondents and the vast majority of those were hips and knees. Significantly nearly 10% were registered as disabled due to OA and, very significantly, 72% of all respondents agreed with the statement “I am concerned with how OA may affect my body in the future”, clearly a major source of potential stress.(Barlow et al. 2000)

Although joint problems were, predictably, seen as the most common pathology, other morbidity was found. Neuropsychological problems were not uncommon, presumably related to episodes of concussion or repeated trauma such as heading the football. 10 of the group reported problems such as memory complaints, dizziness and headaches.

Sport related problems included early retirement, enforced reduction in working hours or even a change to a sedentary occupation. Not only can all of this be viewed as a major source of stress to those who are suffering because of it, but also it must be stressful for the still-active player who may know what may be in store for him.

Competition stress

This is an area that has been extensively studied. Competition stress can be an enhancer for some players but equally it can be an inhibitor for others. There is a distinction to be made between the trait of anxiety and the state of anxiety which is quite significant and, to a large extent, is a reflection of the ability of the individual to cope with and handle the stress levels.

Sanderson and Reilly (1983) did the classic study in this field. Their target group were elite athletes. They found that the group of athletes who had the anxiety trait correlated highly with those who had high pre-race anxiety states and this correlated highly with the actual race performance. Very significantly, the greatest reduction in post-race anxiety levels was seen in those runners who performed well in their races.

Constant motivation

In order to maintain elite footballer status a player must find a source of constant motivation. Initially, in his adolescent training days, the motivation may be personal glory and the goal orientated drive that comes with wishing to achieve professional status.

Having achieved that goal however, the player must then find other motivational drives to maintain his progress. For some, it drive comes from considerations of status and wealth, for others it could be the need for adulation and fame, others may have personal goals of achieving the pinnacle of their chosen profession, these are the achievement-junkies that are seen in any professional walk of life. Whatever the motivation, success invariable comes at a cost. Decisions, and therefore usually sacrifices, have to be made along the route of attainment and achievement.

In this piece we are considering specifically the elite footballer who, by definition, has managed to achieve the peak of his career. We should perhaps also consider the other athletes who by virtue of circumstance, situation, lack of motivation or perhaps even random differences in pre-natal myelination patterns, do not actually achieve the top of their profession. We shall discuss one such case in the case-study at the end of this piece. For every elite footballer, there are many who do not make the top echelon of players. There are arguably even more stress factors in this group who what to achieve but for one reason or another, cannot.

As far as motivation is concerned, this is a major concern of every coach and manager in the country for reasons that we have set out above. Most premier teams will have psychologists who are motivational specialists. Motivational theory is evolving at a rapid rate and reversal theory is the current “idea of the moment”. A particularly good book on the subject is edited by Apter (2001) . It deals with not only the current thinking on the subject but also the actual evolution of the reversal theory from its conception in the 70’s through to the applications of the present day. Significantly it also deals with the specific subject of stress engendered by the motivational process. It is a highly technical book and therefore we do not propose to enter into detail about its contents, but it highlights the psychological issues of burn-out, apathy and depression that are commonly seen in constantly ( and inappropriately) motivated players.

In the context of elite footballers, there is a fascinating and short article by McNair (1996) which looked at the effect of verbal encouragement on maximal effort output. The game of football is anecdotally renowned for the aggressive verbal abuse beloved by many trainers, coaches and managers. One may argue that it is only a manifestation of their own frustrations and stresses that causes them to behave in this way and it is certainly a cause of stress to the players (clearly it is intended to be). McNair’s paper produces a cast-iron rationale for this “encouragement” as he found, by means of a very simply designed study, that verbal encouragement does increase the maximal output of skeletal muscle. Interestingly, while measuring the actual power output, he also measured the EMG tracings of the afferent nerves supplying the relevant muscles and found that verbal encouragement did not change the EMG readings, so the actual cause of the improvement was not ascertained but it was nonetheless real.

Constant levels of fitness

Constant levels of fitness are clearly a pre-requisite for an elite footballer. There may well be periods of injury where the fitness levels fall, but they must be quickly re-established in order to achieve optimum performance levels. Fitness, in general terms equates with earning power and job security for a elite footballer, so the overriding goal must be to achieve peak fitness at all times. This, in certain circumstances, can become an obsession (See on – exercise dependence)

Exercise dependence

Many studies have shown the exercise can give rise to demonstrable health benefits – both chronic and acute. There are some people for whom exercise actually becomes an obsession (Hurst et al. 2000). This is a real disease entity resulting in behaviour patterns that compel an individual to exercise despite the presence of obstacles. It also can produce both psychological and physical symptoms of withdrawal, if exercise cannot be taken (Pierce, 1994) ( Veale, 1995) (Thaxton 1982). These patterns are commoner in women and often associated with eating disorders but they are also seen in male athletes. Bamber et al. (2000) has authored a paper which produced a qualitative analysis of the whole issue. She found that elements of an eating disorder were always present to a greater or lesser degree, but that this was hard to quantify as many athletes will pursue closely monitored dietary regimes in any event.

This syndrome is commonest in women, but does occur in men, particularly it seems in those who have low self-esteem or a poor self-image. It may be thought that such traits are unusual in the context of elite footballers but perceived body image does not always reflect the true physique. Any experienced healthcare professional will tell you about the anorexic or muscle dysmorphic who perceives something quite different when they look in the mirror. It is commonly believed that such conditions are a result of compensation syndromes. People may have a need to try to excel in one area if they feel that they are in some way failing in another.(Bamber 2003)

Injury concerns

Injury is the footballer’s constant fear. Football is a fast and occasionally violent game with frequent body contact being an intrinsic part of the game plan. Injury can vary from trivial to catastrophic or even life-threatening. Most injuries will have an impact on the elite footballer either at the time of the injury or, as we have seen above, at a later stage in his life. We have referred earlier to the comparatively short earning window of the elite footballer and clearly there will be considerable stresses involved if that window is cut short for any reason.

Because of the huge investment that the average elite footballer represents to any club, a huge amount of energy and resources are employed to get an injured player back onto the field of play. It has to be said that the vast majority of professional clubs act responsibly in allowing injuries to heal properly before returning the player to training, but there will be the inevitable pressure on the less-than-scrupulous coach to get the player back on the field before full recovery has taken place. This has costs to the player in terms of impaired performance and also in terms of long term problems arising from an incompletely healed injury.

Ekstrand et al. (2004) looked at the problem as a result of the 2002 World Cup. They cite one of the major reasons for injury as being the frequency of the matches in a packed calendar for the top players. Injuries which would normally be regarded as comparatively minor did not get the usual chance to heal completely before the next game was due to be played. This resulted in a rising accumulative total of injuries above what might otherwise be expected over a comparatively short period.

The study found that, over the ten months of the World Cup games the average player played 36 matches. The top players form each team played, on average, 46 matches over the same period. The survey showed that the players who played in the World Cup matches sustained 29% more injuries than players from the same teams who did not play. 32% underperformed when compared to their normal standard. These players had played statistically more matches than those who were felt to have played better than expected. One major finding was that 60% of the players who had played more than one match in the week before a World Cup match were either injured or underperformed during the World Cup game. The clear inference from this study is that tiredness and physical burnout affects performance in elite footballers. At the highest levels, players, clubs and coaches should be aware that this is a real phenomenon. And, at the very least, is a considerable cause of stress to the players.

Orchard and Seward (2002) Took this concept a stage further and looked at the injuries sustained by the entire Australian Football League over seasons from 1997-2000. Their findings are a major source of concern to the elite footballer world.

In a season each team of 40 players would expect to receive 39 separate injuries. Clearly some players would be injured more than once (The major predisposing factor for injury is a pre-existing injury). The injury prevalence of players missing through injury in a week was 16% with a recurrence rate of 17%. They found that the commonest injury was to the hamstrings, followed by ACL strains and then groin injuries. For an elite footballer who depends upon his ability to play for his income, these figures represent a great cause of potential stress.

Before leaving this area, we should consider one other area of injury which we touched upon earlier, and that is the sequelae of concussion. Bloom et al (2004)

looked at this particular problem in great detail with particular reference to the psychological changes that were observed to occur after the injury. After suffering a concussive injury, the elite footballer was found to suffer from a greater incidence of symptoms of isolation, pain,anxiety, and disruption of daily life as a result of the injury. The investigators found that a source of added stress was, unexpectedly, from other team members who appeared to be giving support but were subliminally putting pressure on the injured athlete to return to play. The investigators found a worrying number of unexpected psychological symptoms including anger, denial, depression, distress, bargaining, and shock. Clearly this needs to be both recognised and addressed if the impact of the injury is not to be a further source of stress to the injured footballer

Dietary concerns

The elite footballer must always be at peak fitness and as a result his diet must always be under scrutiny. Fitness generally needs a BMI in the region of 20-23. Significant weight gains beyond this range not only reduce performance levels but also increase the wear and tear on the joints. We have already discussed the extent to which the knee joint is stressed during football training and playing. Adding weight to this joint is clearly only going to add to the degenerative changes that occur.

An elite footballer needs to be able to accelerate his body mass rapidly in a given direction. It follows that the greater the body weight, the greater effort is needed. He will know this both at a cerebral level and also at an instinctive level. He will know that if his weight goes up significantly then it becomes harder for him to run as fast and to turn as efficiently. The average elite footballer is therefore very careful with regard to his diet. The average man in the population can afford to go out for an occasional extravagant meal or the odd evening or two at the pub without worrying too much about the consequences. The consequences for the elite footballer are that, in doing such things he would have to reduce his calorie intake over the next few days in order to maintain the status quo. This again can become a major source of stress for many.

As the years go by, the average male tends to become slower and to put on weight as a natural process. This insidious reduction in the body’s efficiency is obviously a concern to a footballer who will often try to combat this trend with ever more aggressive training programmes and dietary regimes – again another source of stress.

Drug monitoring concerns

A number of elite footballers have hit the headlines lately as a result of random drug tests, either through failing or missing them. Doping and drug-enhanced training is a fact of professional football life in the current climate. It follows that the regulatory powers have to be ruthless in their quest for a drug-free sport. The fact that some players do gamble against the odds and take performance enhancing medications and drugs is a reflection of the stress and pressure that they feel under to constantly perform. It equally follows that they must feel that their performance is not good enough if they need to resort to such measures.

The problems do not stop at performance enhancing drugs. Stress and other factors may tempt a player to use drugs of a different sort. Recreational drugs are common in elite footballer circles. In support of this statement we would consider the paper by Turner (2003) In which he states that a recently retired elite footballer claimed that 80% of elite footballers in Australia had either been offered or used recreational drugs. This statement was extensively reported in the Press and other sources quoted the figure as being nearer 30%. The truth of the matter will clearly never be known but it can be contrasted with the figure from the UK which shows that over 18% of all the positive drugs screening tests done on athletes are currently for recreational drugs. This can be put in perspective against the 35% positive findings for stimulants and 25% for anabolic agents

Premature retirement

Retirement is a fact of life for all workers. As we have discussed earlier, retirement from active playing – and therefore from a high earning capacity – tends to come at a much earlier age for a footballer. It is therefore a major incentive to keep playing at a high level for as long as possible.

Retirement through the natural ageing process is something that the elite footballer obviously has to come to terms with. It is comparatively unusual for a top rank footballer to be playing into his forties. He may have the experience to play well, but he is always judged on his results, and the fact of the matter is that there will always be younger players who will generally be faster and filled with raw enthusiasm ready to jump into any vacant slot at the top. The elite footballer therefore knows that his playing days are always numbered.

We have discussed earlier the problems faced by the elite footballer in respect of the ever-present danger of injury. Clearly a career-ending injury can come at any time. It can be career-ending because of a dramatic incident such as a major fracture of a major bone or it can be a more subtle process, a bad tackle gives rise to an ankle injury which, in turn gives rise to an unstable ankle that does not allow the pivoting action necessary for efficient play. It becomes obvious that the player is not performing as well as another player in the squad and therefore he is replaced with greater frequency and then he becomes dispirited and eventually dropped from the team. The end process is just the same in either eventuality – cessation of an active playing career and the concurrent loss of high earning capacity.

The result can be devastating for a man who, in order to achieve elite footballer status, may well have devoted a substantial proportion of his adolescent and adult life to improving and perfecting his football skills. He finds himself effectively out of a job at an age where most men are still looking forward to at least twenty more years of productive work. The immediate openings for him are limited to training, coaching or managing, all of which are highly competitive as they have been filled by his footballing predecessors and generally, they are not as well paid as his previous career. The stresses and psychological traumas are all too easy to see if the elite footballer has not been particularly level-headed in his approach to the profession.

The unlikely body of Windsor Insurance Brokers Ltd. published a study of an investigation into the career-ending incidents of professional footballers in the UK (1997) which makes interesting reading. They did not analyse the actual levels of stress that we are concerned about in this piece, but their findings make sobering reading to the current generation of elite footballers. It would appear that few elite footballers actually reach retirement age without a significant injury. That injury is responsible (either directly or indirectly) for the eventual d

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the report is to analyse the position of Fitness Express, a business consisting fourteen fitness clubs and recommend Steve Taylor and Dave Courteen on how they can improve the business over the next five years. To achieve this, an analysis of both the external and internal environment of the business will be considered. A study of the external environment will be done with the help of the Porter’s five forces analysis followed by a life cycle study leading to a PESTEL analysis. This will be followed by a SWOT analysis to study the internal environment of the business. Thus by analyzing the external influences and the strengths and weaknesses of the business, a conclusion will be drawn on the development options of the business.

NATURE OF THE BUSINESS

Position to date:

Fitness Express was founded by Dave Courteen and Steve Taylor in 1987. The business constituted 14 fitness clubs as of January 2000. By then over 190 staff were employed. The partnership of Dave and Steve had matured into a highly professional business in the last 13 years providing first class systems for the customers.

Mission:

The mission of Fitness Express was to bring excellence, a passion for health & fitness, and professionalism to the fitness industry. A fitness club is where the customers come to feel good, have fun and keep fit at the same time. Fitness Express ran on this philosophy.

Short Term Objective:

The business was projected to turnover in excess of ?2million that year.

Long Term Objective:

They intended to develop a winning service formula and to create first class systems and routines to bear their offering.

Key personnel:

The business was run by Dave Courteen and his partner Steve Taylor. They had employed over 190 staff.

STRATEGY

Fitness Express was born in June 1987. From the beginning it was evident that the skills of the partners complemented each other. Dave was the negotiator and Steve was the man-manager. Dave enjoyed building the business; Steve was good at the operational side.

Staff were hired on the basis of their personality rather than on their fitness. Dave and Steve paid great attention to the personal development and training their staff.

The policy of Fitness Express was “EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE”, which required friendly and approachable staff. Gym users were frequently spoken to. In order to maintain a friendly environment they greeted their customers by their first names.

The partners also realized that there was enthusiasm amongst the under-represented part of the population who were over 40’s and 50’s “de-conditioned” segment. This saw them place an emphasis on developing the club as a place to come and socialise.

Four years into the business, Dave and Steve realized that they should expand their business. As they had no funds to build new health centres in different venues, they began to offer consulting services to independent hoteliers like Best Western Hotels. They also had an opportunity to work with Thomas Cook on their ?4milloin staff leisure facility which secured them the contract to run Legal and General’s facility in Tadworth, Surrey.

DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS

1. Deal with Swallow:

The Swallow Hotel Group approached Fitness Express to merge in a joint venture. In that case 50% of the shares would be acquired by Swallow. All the leisure centres would be run by Fitness Express. The hotel will continue to employ their own staff. They will be supported by a Fitness Express Team.

2. To expand through acquisition:

Following 12 successful years, Fitness Express was cash rich with over ?300,000 sitting in the bank to use in acquisitions. So another option was to expand through acquisition. There was existing a similar contract management company as Fitness Express but far less profitable per club. Integrating them into Fitness Express and expand their business seemed to an alternative.

3. Organic growth:

Organic growth can also be considered as an option. Fitness Express was running a tight ship and there was limited room to increase the earnings potential within the existing clubs. They already ran added-value revenue generating services, such as a holiday club, but perhaps more could be done with the existing hotels such as running weekend fitness breaks.

IDENTIFYING SOURCES OF COMPETITION
1. THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS

Threat of new entrant might not be a matter of huge concern as there are high barriers to entry in this industry. Highly developed equipments and expert staff requirement make it difficult for fitness centres to enter in the market.

2. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS

With the membership levels rising steadily and the market getting oversaturated the buyer powers were high.

3. BARGAINING POWERS OF SUPPLIERS

It was important to invest with hotels of the right hotels. But the number of quality hotels being less the bargaining powers of suppliers was high.

4. THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES

The threat from the substitutes was not very high as there were few companies in the UK of the same stature as of Fitness Express. One of these was a similar contract management company with thirty contracts, but their profit margins were comparatively low compared to Fitness Express.

5. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

With the merger activities going on the competition were on the high. LivingWell, the health clubs operated by Stakis, the hotel and casino group, had overtaken David Llyod Leisure. Cannons and First Leisure also came close to merging their health and fitness business.

LIFE CYCLE OF THE BUSINESS

Development Stage

Users/buyers:

Dave and Steve started their business as they took over the total control of the gym of the Barnham Broom hotel in Norwich. The business depended on the membership fees and the customers were those who were the members of the hotel leisure club.

Competitors:

Competitors were very few.

Growth Stage

Users/buyers:

A monthly guest appearance on local Radio Broadlands ‘fitness phone-in’ programme for 30 minutes seemed to be effective. Answering listeners, questions on fitness, e.g. how to work off excess fat gained over Christmas, gave FE wide coverage in the local area.

Competitors:

At this stage they were entry of the competitors. There was a high competition to niche the market position.

Shakeout Stage

Users/buyers:

A swimming pool was added to the hotel site. The facilities attracted more people. Thus there was increase in the number of customers. Fitness Express effected a change in the payment structure.

Competitors:

Very high competition led to develop the business in other venues.

Maturity Stage

Users/buyers:

They began to offer consulting services to independent hoteliers like Best Western Hotels. They also had an opportunity to work with Thomas Cook on their ?4milloin staff -leisure facility. Thus their business continued to develop at other venues.

Competitors:

Three new contracts were established in 1993. One of them was located only five miles away from their base at Barnham Broom. So the competition was high and there was a threat of losing customers.

Decline Stage

Users/buyers:

With the days going through the contract expiry dates were around the corner. Thus it was evident that there could be a decline soon.

Competitors:

The issue of the contract was solved by ensuring that one would serve the family and children while the other would serve only the older group people. Thus the competition was reduced

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPANY’S MARKET POSITION

1. POLITICAL:

Political issues include government policies or legislation. For a fitness organization, there is very little to be concerned about trade restrictions and tax.

2. ECONOMIC:

Economic issues are a key factor for a fitness company. Fitness companies are leisure service providers. There might be a decrease in number of customers when there is an economic decline. People will not spend money on leisure activities when they have less disposable income.

3. SOCIOCULTURAL:

Population demographics are an important factor which influences a fitness company. This includes age, sex and income of people. There is high demand from both young and old people for fitness and physical development. Fitness is also independent of sex. As discussed in the economic issues, fitness companies provide leisure facilities the economic condition of people is a matter of concern. Fitness Express was based on urban centre in East Anglia. This was strength of the business.

4. TECHNOLOGICAL:

While technological issues might favour the company in terms of providing high barriers to entry for new entrants, it might be a matter of concern for the high demand and expectation from customers. Highly developed equipments and expert staff requirement make it difficult for fitness centres to enter in the market. At the same time in order to compete with the existing competitors, a fitness company should be aware of the technological developments and provide the latest equipments to its customers.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL:

Environmental factors could come in way of a fitness company. Energy consumption is high as the equipments run on electricity. Hence the environmental protection laws can come in the way.

6. LEGAL:

Being a fitness company, legal issues come into play in health and safety matters. Rules and regulations should be strict regarding quality of equipments used. All the staff should be well qualified and trained. This in turn will have an impact on the staff costs.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

Weakness

Experience of Dave and Steve
Both Dave and Steve were highly respected within their industry
Excellent Customer Service provided by Fitness Express
Staff recruitment policy
Wide coverage in the local area through media
Small business of 14 clubs
Despite the number of staff they employed, Dave and Steve were still very hands-on
Increase in staff cost
High buyer power
High supplier power

Opportunities

Threat

Growing the business in other venues
Deal with Swallow
Including acquisition
Organic growth
Expiry of contracts with customers
Customer loyalty and insufficient facilities
Competition
Loss of niche market power

STRENGTH
Steve worked with a large sports retailing outlet in York as a student, where he gained valuable experience in managing the operations of a large facility. Dave did his summer job in Lowesoft. He was involved in designing a mobile gym and providing fitness assessment for holidaymakers during his summer job. These experiences paid off when they started their own business. Steve involved himself in the operational side of the business. Dave looked upon developing the business.
Their strength was the respect they enjoyed within the industry. Dave was also appointed as Chairman of the Fitness Industry Association (FIA). The goodwill in the market certainly attracts customers towards a business.
The policy of Fitness Express was “EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE”, which requires friendly and approachable staff. Gym users were frequently spoken to. In order to maintain a friendly environment they greeted their customers by their first names.
The quality of the staff, and their ability to communicate with the guests would be the most important factor whether or not a guest would return the following year. Staffs were more likely hired on the basis of their personality than on their fitness, and any future business run by Steve would pay great attention to the personal development and training their staff.
Word of mouth and the local PR that they encouraged generated membership for their club. A monthly guest appearance on local Radio Broadlands ‘fitness phone-in’ programme for 30 minutes seemed to be effective. Answering listeners, questions on fitness, e.g. how to work off excess fat gained over Christmas, gave FE wide coverage in the local area.
WEAKNESS
Building the small empire of 14 clubs had taken Dave and Steve over 12 years. Their competitors had a more widespread business.
Despite having employed over 190 staffs, Dave and Steve were both still very hands-on. Managing at both the tactical and the strategic level was physically exhausting and they knew that it was unsustainable in the long run.
Since the industry demands well qualified and trained staff. This will have an impact on the staff costs.
With the membership levels rising steadily and the market getting oversaturated the buyer powers were high.
As the number of quality hotels to deal with was few, the bargaining powers of suppliers were high.
OPPURTINITIES
Four years into the business, Dave and Steve realized that they should expand their business. As they had no funds to build new health centres in different venues, they began to offer consulting services to independent hoteliers like Best Western Hotels. They also had an opportunity to work with Thomas Cook on their ?4milloin staff leisure facility which secured them the contract to run Legal and General’s facility in Tadworth, Surrey.
A deal with Swallow, a major UK hotel chain meant that 50% of the shares of FE would be purchased by them. All the chain’s leisure facilities would be managed by Fitness Express on a ‘joint venture’ basis, with the hotels continuing to employ their own staff, but supported by a dedicated Fitness Express team. This came as a big opportunity and everyone was exited.
Following 12 successful years, Fitness Express was cash rich with over ?300,000 sitting in the bank to use in acquisitions. There was existing a similar contract management company as Fitness Express but far less profitable per club. Integrating them into Fitness Express, with all the personnel and cultural issues that would emerge, would be even more difficult, especially given the geographic spread of the contracts they would be buying.
Organic growth can also be considered as an option. Fitness Express was running a tight ship and there was limited room to increase the earnings potential within the existing clubs. They already ran added-value revenue generating services, such as a holiday club, but perhaps more could be done with the existing hotels such as running weekend fitness breaks.
THREAT
One of their customers was the Hotel Norwich who served notice to leave, with their contract of two years expiring over the following three months. Applying this to their other contracts, Dave and Steve realized that within two years the basis of their entire business could collapse. So they went back to all their sites and renegotiated their contracts. Most customers eventually agreed to a three-year contract with a six-month notice either way. This was a mere temporary solution. But it was to be kept on mind that expiry of contracts is a continuous threat for Fitness Express.
A ‘disaster’ hotel was taken on. The management of the hotel was not committed to the customer service and facilities were not up to the mark to generate sufficient turnover (e.g. there was no car park), so quickly the two partners realized that this could never be made to work satisfactorily. Luckily the contract being an incorrectly-worded one, they found a way to get out of the agreement after one year. Though they incurred a loss of ?30k but overall disaster was avoided. So it was important to grow with the right hotels. But were there sufficient hotels of the right quality out there?
With the merger activities going on the competition were on the high. LivingWell, the health clubs operated by Stakis, the hotel and casino group, had overtaken David Llyod Leisure. Cannons and First Leisure also came close to merging their health and fitness business.
Three new contracts were established in 1993. One of them was located only five miles away from their base at Barnham Broom. This came as a potential threat. The high competition in the market can also affect loss of the market power that the company secured over the past years.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

As the options of further growth of the Fitness Express seemed to be three-fold, with the analysis of the macro and the microenvironments it can be concluded that expanding Fitness Express through acquisition would be a good option. Though the deal with Swallow is attractive financially, but to sell the company and let the business become another highly professional fitness chain does not seem to be the best measure. Again they were running in a tight ship and there was limited room to increase the earnings potential within the existing clubs. The only way to grow significantly was to increase the number of clubs. Dave and Steve were highly respected in the industry. They were very experienced. Fitness express provided excellent customer service. With these strengths, the company should focus on acquiring another management company and work on the improvements of the existing infrastructure to make it pay.

Exploring sport opportunities for young athletes with different abilities

Abstract

The aim of the study is to develop a new terminology from the negative term of “disability” and to try and hava an inclusive system during physical activities in schools. In addition is tries to highlight the importance of having more inclusive sport opportunities for everyone and to improve the self-esteem of people with different abilities.

In Malta few athletes with different abilities have the opportunity to be included into sport activities. In schools there is not much time allocated for persons with disability both during physical education lessons and also during break time. As the athlete with different abilities starts thinking seriously of sport activities he encounters a lot of mishaps primarily the over-protection from parents and organisers. In addition he also faces the disadvantage of the lack of sport opportunities for him. This reason led the researcher to investigate what is really going on, both during childhood when it comes to school activities i.e. physical education lessons, and at later later stage during adolescence and adulthood when it comes to sport opportunities offered by society.

This study is made up of five chapters which start from the history and defenition of disability and ends up with the guidelines to a way forward.

Introduction

The aims of the study are:

To try and transit from a terminology that might sound negative “disability” to a better word “Different abilities”
To try and have an inclusive system during physical education in both primary and secondary schools
To have more sport opportunities which include everyone both for leisure and also on a professional level
To strengthen the self-esteem of persons with different abilities

The study is made up of five chapters. Chapter 2 tackles the history of disability and sports. An overview of the study background and key terms used within the study investigation are also provided.

Chapter 2 gives an overview of some basic terms and general knowledge related to disability and sports which give a better understanding of the aims of the study. An evaulation and illustrations from experts regarding sport and disability sectors also follow.

Chapter 3 investigates the approach taken and the processes involved in achieving the dissertation objectives. Details of the sources used as well as a description of the method used to collect the primary and secondary research data are also provided.

The study concludes with an evaluation of the achieved results in the previous section. The conclusions derived state the opportunities available and what can be really done to enhance further inclusion into sport for persons with different abilities, compared to the literature review findings. A study critique concludes the dissertation.

CHAPTER TWO:

History of disability

1.0 Introduction

1.1 History

People with different abilities better known in society as people with a disability have always been in existence. For many different reasons they have become more present in the twenty first century than before.

About ten percent of the population is considered to have different abilities and the parliament directives of the late twentieth century improved the accessibility and availability of services and facilities for this group which is considered to be the largest minority group in society. This resulted in more individuals with different abilities going along more easily with their daily living. These people are being more recognized in society even in sport. Athletes with different abilities have been participating since at least the last hundred years. However it has only been from recent times that these athletes started receiving the appreciation that they merit and have also been recognized as athletes.

The roots of the link between sport and disability to disability sport started primarily during the 20th century and developed into a new movement. This movement has developed up to the point so as to include the complexity of its members and also restructuring of its aims and visibility. Athletic opportunities have expanded so as to have individual accomplishments of athletes with different abilities. These overlooked and unseen sportspersons are gaining increased recognition firstly as athletes and above all as humans with different abilities.

Exceptional performances by top athletes with different abilities are purely seconds or tenths of seconds behind those of top able-bodied athletes, in sport disciplines like downhill skiing and swimming. Athletes with bi-lateral leg amputations finished a hundred metre race in 10.85 seconds and others with less severe impairments finished in even less time. A top male wheelchair athlete finishedd a marathon at an average of 3.5 minutes per mile and managed to complete marathons in almost ninety minutes or less, while a female wheelchair athlete did the same marathon in an hour and forty nine minutes.

1.2 Definition of Disability

The terms functioning and disability must be defined clearly in order to understand the interrelationship between functioning and disability. The term “functioning” describes the functions and structures of the body. It helps to grasp an individual’s interaction with a health condition and the environmental and personal contexts. Disability is viewed as the result of the interaction between individual functioning and the environment when linked with a health condition. The level of difficulty is highly dependent on the degree of functional autonomy and independence of persons living with disabilities, be they sensory, physical or mental. Accordingly, functionality is defined as the ability to perform those activities necessary to achieve well-being through interaction between the biological, the psychological (cognitive and affective) and the social spheres (Sanhueza Parra, 2005), and whose loss entails the risk of disability and dependence. Care thus avoids what Morris (2001) terms the social construct of dependence, which negates the individual. For people with disabilities, respecting their right to care gives them access to assistance from others and to essential technical aids, and a physical and social environment that is adapted to their particular impairment.

Following the environmental approach taken by WHO, functional autonomy may therefore be defined as the ability to perform functions related to daily life, such as those activities necessary to achieve well-being through appropriate interaction between the biological, the psychological (cognitive and affective) and the social. This enables the individual to live in the community with little or no help from others, albeit with assistive technology. (United Nations, 2012 pg 183)

… Very often, lay and, sometimes, professional people do not seem to make a distinction between such terms as Impairments, Dis-abilities, Handicaps. These are often taken to mean one and the same thing. But this is wrong. The World Health Organisation, in 1980, published a manual titled International Clasification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps, whereby, three distinct and independent were proposed, each relating to a different plane experience.

… Disability is “any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being”. It represents objectification of an impairment and, as such, reflects disturbance at the level of the person.

… Disability is concerned with abilities in the form of activities and behaviour a person`s body is expected to carry out as essential components of every day life, such as represented by tasks, skills, and behaviour. Disability signifies a departure from the normal in so far as the performance of the individual is concerned as opposed to that of the organ or mechanism. ( Troisi, 1992 pg 3 & 4)

CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW

Young people are often seen as challenges to most people in society. This is exactly what the article “Positive Youth Development through Sport” edited by Nicholas L. Holt declares.

According to Holt speaking from the perspective of Positive Youth Development (PYD), argues that young people are frequently pointed out as problems in society waiting to be solved. However young people are understood to embody potential, awaiting development.

Holt points out that sport itself provides a developmental context that has been associated with PYD, but sport on its own does not lead to PYD. In fact he points out that in some environments there are instances when negative outcomes arise from sport participation. Thus it is the manner in which sport is structured and delivered to children that influences their development.

Nicholas Holt quotes Larson and expresses that, organized activities can provide youth with opportunities to experience positive development. He states that sport is the most popular organized activity into which youth engage (Larson and Verma 1999).

Both theory and research point out the importance of structural out-of-school-time (OST) activities as important assets in the positive development of youth (Mahoney et al. 2005).

Holt in his article says that youth participation in organized sports has been linked to indicators of adolescent’s physical, social, psychological, and achievement related behaviour and development. Researchers (Barber et al. 2001: Eccles et al. 2003) found that, in comparison to non-participants, youth who participate in sport enjoyed attending school more, received more frequent educational and occupational support, had higher academic performance, longer periods of tertiary education by age 25, and attained a job at age 24 that offered autonomy and a promising future. Although there where diverse research findings regarding the relationsip of sport participation and alcohol use, some found a relationship between sport participation and a lower level of alcohol use (Peretti-Watel et al 2003). Other findings indicated a positive relationship between sport participation and alcohol use. Sport participation has also been consistently linked to a lower use of cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, and ‘other drugs’ (Page et al 1998). Furthermore it was also related to lower rates of depression and lower incidence of suicidal behaviour.

Researchers and youth advocates have proposed important benefits of sports involvement. However, to date, little research has accounted for the dynamic ways in which youth spend their free time.

A book entitled No one`s perfect, tells the story of a Japanese Boy who despite being born without arms and limbs he managed to do it his way into sport.

This Japanese little boy, named Ototake, came home from school one day and told his parents he had signed up to play basketball. In contrary to other parents who would be delighted to such a request, they where shocked. Oto was born with no arms and no legs. Despite his disability, this extraordinary young man has always proven a hard-worker, rich in versatility and with an upbeat approach to life. This positivity served him as valuable as limbs. No One’s Perfect is his true account of how he slam-dunked one challenge after another, including basketball.

Ototake says that thanks to having short arms and legs plus a wheelchair, he was a winner in the popularity department. He found himself always the centre of a circle of friends. With time the typical willfulness of an only child began to kick in. Ototake maintains that at first break time, when everyone would be playing tag in the playground, or physical education lessons, were dead boring for him since with his power wheelchair he could not keep up with his friends. Thus he usually yelled for them to come and play with him: “If you want to play in the sandbox, follow me!” Strangely enough, the kids who had been happily chasing one another a short while before would all troop after the wheelchair to the sandbox.

Ototake highlights that looking back to school days, most people with disabilities admit that recess was the worst part of their day. This is that particular time when ordinary children, unless they are real bookworms, would enjoy. The main reason is that for disabled kids the forty five to fifty minutes of a class period pass quickly enough while they sit quietly in their seat, but during breaks, when they can`t join in the fun their classmates, they feel greater sense of isolation so they can`t wait for recess to be over.

Evaluation of Exercise Tests Used to Examine Aerobic Capacity

Aerobic exercise was developed by Dr. Kenneth Cooper in 1969, to study why some individuals with superior muscular strength, scored poorly in long distance running, cycling or swimming regimes (Cooper, 1969). Dr. Cooper’s research involved using a bicycle ergometer to measure sustained human performance, in terms of an individual’s ability to utilize oxygen (Cooper, 1969). The data Dr. Cooper collected for his research is the foundation for the development of all modern aerobic tests and programs (Cooper, 1969). Aerobic exercise describes a physical activity performed at moderate levels of intensity for extended periods of time; ultimately increasing heart rate (Donatelle, 1969). This includes exercises like long distance jogging but not sprinting (Donatelle, 1969). In aerobic exercise, glycogen is decomposed to produce glucose; however, when glucose levels are minimal, fat is broken down (Donatelle, 1969). The ability an individual’s respiratory and cardiovascular systems can meet the oxygen demands of exercising muscles is called aerobic capacity (NYCFD, 2006). It is the maximum volume of oxygen muscles will intake during exercise (Donatelle, 1969). High aerobic capacity translates to better performance (Donatelle, 1969), not only because oxygen is efficiently delivered to and used by muscles, but also because recovery from extreme efforts by the muscles is faster (NYCFD, 2006). To boost aerobic capacity, heart rate needs to be worked up to 70% to 85% of its maximum; this is known as the heart’s “Target Heart Rate” or “Training Sensitive Zone” (NYCFD, 2006). This can be done by participating in aerobic training that recruits large muscle groups, such as those in the legs (NYCFD, 2006).

As exercise intensity increases, oxygen consumption (VO2) linearly relates to workload, but only to a certain point, where VO2 plateaus, even as exercise intensity rises (McArdle et al, 2001). This plateau value, known as the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), is synonymous with aerobic power (Peterson, 2004), which is defined as the extent at which aerobic capacity, the peak aerobic energy strength, is exploited (Sports Resource Group, 2003). However, VO2 max is not the only predictor of aerobic capacity (Peterson, 2004); expressed as a fraction of VO2 max (% VO2 max ) (Peterson, 2004), the physiological value (LT), typically known as lactate threshold or anaerobic threshold (Peterson, 2004), also provides valuable information. LT defines situations when glycogen decomposition does not meet the required energy demands of the exercising muscles (Donatelle, 2005), and measures the degree of muscular and metabolic stress during exercise (Peterson, 2004). It is the point above resting level, when light elevating levels of exercise causes glycogenolysis increases (Peterson, 2004), and lactate begins to accumulate in active muscles and blood (Farrell et al, 1993). Although lactic acid build up is removed gradually by slow oxidative muscle fibers, lactic acid often builds up in muscles before LT is reached (Peak Performance, 2006). Since there is no definitive start point in lactic acid build up, a set lactate accumulation value of 4 mmol/L of lactic acid in the blood is usually used as the point of onset of blood lactic acid (OBLA) (Peterson, 2004).

LT is considered to be a more accurate predictor of aerobic capacity than VO2 max, however, it pertains only to the local muscles’ training state (Peterson, 2004). The LT phenomenon helps to explain why individuals with similar VO2 max can differ in endurance performance times (Peterson, 2004); those with a higher LT exhibit better ability to exercise because they use a larger fraction of their aerobic capacity (85-90% VO2 max) (Peterson, 2004). Factors leading to these results include examining whether subjects have undergone previous strength and endurance training in the muscles being analyzed and the percentage of Type 1 muscle fibers in the targeted muscles (Peterson, 2004).

Exercise tests that informatively examine aerobic capacity, should help describe the overall changes in the cardiovascular system, as well as the local changes in the muscles, active in exercise (Peterson, 2004). Theses changes, collectively known as adaptations (Peterson, 2004), include increase in plasma volume, blood flow redirection to active muscles, heart size enlargement, heart rate reduction (HR), stroke volume elevation (SV), increase in cardiac output (Q), total muscle blood flow increase during maximal exercise and blood pressure reduction (Peterson, 2004). When capillary density is increased because of aerobic exercise, muscles take in more oxygen (Peterson, 2004). The local adaptations of the muscles that should be regarded as a part of examining aerobic capacity include: increase in the number and size of mitochondria, more carbohydrate oxidation because of increased oxidative enzyme activity, improved fat metabolism, the amount of muscle and type of muscle fiber evident during the exercise (Peterson, 2004).

Today, common forms of aerobic capacity testing are the treadmill (TM), walk tests and cycle ergometer (CE) tests (Peterson, 2004). These methods are effective because they require the use of large muscle groups and are also cheap and straightforward enough for subjects to handle (Peterson, 2004). In all incidences, the clinical exercise testing protocols would involve initial warm-up; gradual increasing loads of uninterrupted exercise, with adequate duration per level; and finally a recovery period (Fletcher et al, 1995).

Endurance running can be defined as maintainable velocity over a given distance (Peterson, 2004). Measuring aerobic capacity using treadmill facilitated tests require subjects to walk at a light pace, then gradually pickup the workload at set time intervals (Donatelle, 1969). The equipment used is an accurately calibrated, standard treadmill with variable speed and grade capability (Fletcher et al, 1995). Subjects should refrain from tightly grasping handrails on the treadmill during the test, as this results in decrease in VO2 and increase in muscle exertion and exercise time (Fletcher et al, 1995). The duration of an average protocol is 6 to 12 minutes (Fletcher et al, 1995), but a number of different protocols exist, varying in the increments of time or amount of increase in workload (Fletcher et al, 1995). The ideal protocol however, should be tailored to the type of subject being tested (Fletcher et al, 1995).

The values usually measured in TM tests, VO2 and peak cardiac power output (CPOmax) , (Fletcher et al, 1995), give an idea about an individual’s aerobic capacity, and are used as data for many different studies. For example, studies have used TM tests to determine aerobic capacity of subjects (Williams et al, 2001 and Cooke et al, 1998). Their data gave evidence that CPOmax during exercise, was significantly related to aerobic capacity and also correlated to exercise duration (Williams et al, 2001 and Cooke et al, 1998). CPOmax was found to be an independent mortality predictor (Williams et al, 2001), and using TM cardiopulmonary exercise testing is beneficial because it is non-invasive, therefore less stressful for patients to participate (Williams et al, 2001 and Cooke et al, 1998). This finding was consistent in a population of normal subjects and individuals with heart disease (Cooke et al, 1998), and ultimately gave a more definitive idea about the extent of cardiac impairment of patients with heart failure (Williams et al, 2001 and Cooke et al, 1998).

A lower impact alteration of the TM test is the six minute walk test (6MWT), which is cheaper and simpler to conduct (American Thoracic Society, 2002). This test is usually used on patients with health problems, and measures the distance of hard, flat surface subjects can briskly over in 6 minutes (American Thoracic Society, 2002). The test is useful for evaluating the body’s overall and local adaptation responses involved in exercise (American Thoracic Society, 2002). This includes pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, systemic circulation, peripheral circulation, blood, neuromuscular units, and muscle metabolism (American Thoracic Society, 2002). However, since the 6MWT evaluates the submaximal level of functional capacity (American Thoracic Society, 2002), information generated is not specific about the causes of limitation (Johnson, 2004).

Measuring performance at submaximal levels of exertion, the 6MWD gives a good indication of the level of functional exercise in daily physical activities (American Thoracic Society, 2002). However, for patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the test generates a similar stress as a maximal test (Johnson, 2004). In studies conducted using a population of patients with cardiac and or respiratory problems (Solway et al, 2001), the 6MWT was established to be the easiest to administer, most tolerated by patients and most reflective of daily activities, out of 2-min walk tests (2MWT), 12-min walk tests (12MWT), self-paced walk tests (SPWT), and shuttle walk tests (SWT) (Solway et al, 2001). In order to study the effects aerobic and strength training have on improving aerobic endurance and muscle strength in female cardiac transplant recipients (Haykowsky et al, 2005), the 6MWT was administered to measure cardiac transplant patients’ aerobic endurance before and after placing them in aerobic training programs (Haykowsky et al, 2005). However, firm conclusions on the usefulness of the test in clinical practice, are still lacking (Opasich et al, 2001). In a study to investigate the correlation between walk test performance, cardiac function and exercise capacity (Opasich et al, 2001), it was found that for moderate to severe chronic heart failure patients, the 6-min walk test is not related to cardiac function and only moderately related to exercise capacity (Opasich et al, 2001). Therefore, the paper deemed the test to have only limited usefulness as a decisional indicator in clinical practice (Opasich et al, 2001).

Some disadvantages of the 6MWT is that being a time controlled test, the only way a subject can show improved aerobic capacity in subsequent testing, is by walking faster (Johnson, 2004). However, for some COPD patients, walking faster is difficult due to factors such as stride length (Johnson, 2004); a TM test on the other hand can accommodate for a steeper grade, hence allowing patients to show improvements in their overall condition (Johnson et al, 2002). TM testing can be deemed better than 6MWT as it is more versatile; it can be used with or without advanced monitoring such as continuous electrocardiography or expired gas analysis (Johnson, 2004). However, TM tests are more expensive and require more expertise (Johnson, 2004). Although 6MWT is a good test to repeat for the purposes of documenting decline in exercise tolerance (Johnson, 2004), TM tests are better at documenting improvements in function because they test at constant workload, and is therefore more sensitive (Johnson, 2004).

For individuals untrained in cycling, VO2 max is higher when tested on TM compared to CE (Peterson, 2004), while trained cyclists generated only slightly higher VO2 max values when tested via CE compared to TM (Peterson, 2004). VO2 values from TM tests are generally higher than those attained from CE protocols (McArdle et al, 2001). The cause is because most individuals are more comfortable walking or running, as oppose to cycling (McArdle et al, 2001). It could also be because CE testing causes discomfort and fatigue of the quadriceps muscles (Fletcher et al, 1995). Leg fatigue of an inexperienced cyclist causes subjects to stop before reaching a true VO2max (Fletcher et al, 1995), making the value 10% to 15% lower in CE than TM tests (Fletcher et al, 1995).

In cycling terms, endurance performance is the power output maintained for a given time (Peterson, 2004). CE tests require an initial power output of about 10 or 25W, followed by a 25W increase in 2 to 3 minute increments (Fletcher et al, 1995). Arm ergometry would require a similar approach, but with a smaller initial power output and lower incremental increases; usually every 2 minutes (Franklin, 1985 and Balady et al, 1985). Studies have also shown that it is possible to measure actual aerobic capacity in a single session by continuously increasing the load (Birkhorst & Leeuwen, 1963).

The equipment used for CE tests can either be mechanical or electrically braked cycles with adjustable variable force on the pedals (Fletcher et al, 1995). The highest values of VO2 and heart rate can usually be obtained with pedaling speeds of 50 to 80 rpm (Fletcher et al, 1995). The cycles are calibrated in kilopounds (kp) or watts, where 1 W corresponds to about 6 kilopound-meters per minute (kpm/min) (Fletcher et al, 1995). This can be converted to oxygen uptake in milliliters per minute for aerobic capacity measurement purposes (Fletcher et al, 1995). A cycle ergometer is usually less expensive, more space efficient and less noisy than a treadmill (Fletcher et al, 1995). Other advantages of CE tests are that upper body movement of subjects’ are reduced, which facilitates measurements in blood pressure and making ECG recordings (Fletcher et al, 1995). CE tests also give precise quantization of external work, ultimately facilitating the calculation of certain parameters for aerobic capacity examination (Johnson, 2004). Like the TM test, it is important that subjects refrain from exercising their arms in a resistive fashion, because this results in attaining inaccurate data for aerobic capacity (Fletcher et al, 1995).

In studies of patients with COPD, in addition to being inconsistent with patients’ normal activities, CE tests are less commonly used because they produced significant respiratory differences when compared with walking tests (Johnson, 2004). However, CE tests have been useful for identifying that the pathology of Gulf War veterans (GV) with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), do not show a decreased aerobic capacity like most normal CFS patients (Nagelkirk et al, 2003).

Overall, although TM, 6MWT and CE tests are all used to examine aerobic capacity, there are fundamental differences between the three tests (Peterson, 2004); these include differences in the muscle group exerted, pattern of muscle use, contraction speed and time of muscles and the metabolic processes (Peterson, 2004). In summary, TM and walking tests are more likely to identify oxygen desaturation (Turner et al, 2004). 6MWT is the easiest test to perform (Turner et al, 2004), and is adequate for most purposes (Johnson, 2004). However, depending on how and what the data from the aerobic capacity testing is used for, an important factor for choosing the most suitable test is the population of subjects being observed.

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Proposal for Exercise Referral Scheme

According to the NHS (www.nhs.gov.uk), approximately three million people within the UK are diagnosed with osteoporosis, and 230,000 fractures occur every year as a result of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition that affects the bones in the skeletal system, due to a loss of calcium and other mineral content, causing a loss of bone mass therefore bones becoming weak and brittle (Lawrence and Barnett, 2006). Due to this a person with osteoporosis is more susceptible to break or fracture a bone with a minor fall during daily activities, compared to a person with healthy bone mass; especially seen in the wrists, hips and spine (www.nhs.gov.uk).

A number of common risk factors for osteoporosis have been identified; gender, age, diet, family history, low body mass, smoking, hormones, lack of physical activity and medication (Durstine and Moore, 2003; Lane, 1999; Lawrence and Barnett, 2006; www.nos.org.uk). However the most common cause of osteoporosis is seen to be due to hormones. Woman have been seen to be more susceptible to osteoporosis than men, especially over the age of 45, due to a decrease in the hormone oestrogen after the menopause, however men with low testosterone levels are also at high risk (Durstine and Moore, 2003).

Awareness of osteoporosis arises from the number of fractures and mortalities from fractures that occur every year. Goodman (1985) found that calcium alone can prevent bone reduction, however this ‘combined with exercise, ideally before menopause, can prevent bone loss’. Exercise has been seen as a key factor in reducing the risk of fractures and consequentially falls in individuals with osteoporosis, through improving balance, mobility, flexibility, coordination and muscle strength as peak bone density is maintained as well as the rate of bone loss is reduced (Bass et al. 2001; Deal, 1997; Sherrington et al. 2004). With risk factors for osteoporosis identified; intervention for prevention and management schemes, focusing specifically on exercise, nutrition and life-style (Notelovitz, M 1993) should be created to concentrate on the individual’s weaknesses.

The aim of the scheme is to focus on prevention and management of fractures from falls, for individual’s suffering from osteoporosis, to improve the individual’s quality of life by becoming more active in a safe and supervised exercise environment, through the formation of best practice through existing research evidence. The scheme will focus on osteoporosis sufferers, however specifically targeting sedentary populations and pre and postmenopausal women.

The scheme will take a multidisciplinary team approach. The use of general medical practitioners will be required. The role of the general practitioner (G.P) is to prescribe and inform the client about a suitable exercise referral system, once a physical examination and a medical history of the client is obtained. The G.P is responsible for the overall management of the client, therefore explains the risks and benefits of the proposed scheme to the client. The roles of physiotherapists and occupational therapists are also required within the scheme. Physiotherapists play a key role in the scheme, they are there not only to exercise the clients, however educate and reassure them about the benefits of physical activity for the client’s specific condition (Guideline 4, Section C; NQAF). They will also play a large role in supervising clients who are in the high risk category of osteoporosis. A nutritionist will also be part of the multidisciplinary team, as diet is a major factor that influences the onset of osteoporosis. Lastly, an advanced exercise instructor will be used and will play a key role in the multidisciplinary team. The practitioner will hold Level 3 of the National Occupation Standards (Guideline 7, Section A, Guideline 1, Section C; NQAF) therefore allowing the instructor to adapt physical activities to meet the needs of the client, and create long term exercise program plans. The role of the instructor is to do a pre-exercise assessment to assess the client’s current physical status, and to create an exercise programme to benefit the client’s medical condition. The exercise instructor will focus on cardiovascular training, muscle strength, flexibility and functional ability.

G.P’s will discuss the benefits of the scheme to the client, and the client will need to reach Stage 3 of the ‘Change of Behaviour’ Model (Prochaska and DiClemete, 1992); therefore showing signs that they are ready to change their current ways of living to adapt to a more physical lifestyle to facilitate their medical condition, once this has been established a needs assessment, programme plan and evaluation may occur (Parker and Parikh, 2001), this follows Guideline 2 in Section C of the NQAF document, which state ‘Instructors should understand and apply a proven model of behaviour change in interactions with referred patients participating in the referral scheme’.

The initial stages start with medical examinations of the client, which will be conducted through the G.P to determine the clients current medical status (heart rate and blood pressure included) and medical history, the clients family history and any medications the client may be on, allowing the G.P to refer the client to an appropriate health care professional (Duty of care; NQFA). Confidentially consent forms are signed by the client stating the G.P is able to pass relevant information to the exercise practitioner about the client therefore allowing the exercise practitioner to draw up a suitable exercise programme relating to the clients current condition. During the first session the client will present a G.P referral letter to the exercise practitioner, stating reasons for the referral and the clients’ medical history allowing the exercise practitioner to conduct appropriate testing examining the level of fitness and current physiological and psychological status to assess the amount and level of physical activity to be prescribed (Guideline 1, Section B; NQAF). The client will be informed of the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale during testing therefore will be able to stop at any time if exhaustion or pain is to permit, and the use of a cycle ergo-meter is recommended (ACSM 2009).

As the scheme focuses on individuals with osteoporosis, especially targeting that of a sedentary population, as well as pre and postmenopausal women, the scheme will be a home and community based scheme lasting 20 weeks in total.

Initially, homes will be assessed by Occupational Therapists to focus on possible modification to reduce the risk of falls and inevitably fractures in osteoporotic patients. Cumming et al. (1999) found that home visits through occupational therapists could reduce the risk of falls, consequentially reducing the risk of fractures. Occupational Therapists have been chosen as they are trained and have experience in home modification. Chang et al. (2004) supports the findings of Cumming et al. (1999), through stating home assessment is an effective way of reducing risks of falls consequentially reducing anxiety of falling allowing an individual to feel confident around the home. In assessing a home one may look at improving floor surfaces, for example securing rugs properly, as well as applying non skid mats and grab bars to bathrooms (O’Hara et al. 2007)

Clients will visit a nutritionist during the beginning of the programme to obtain adequate information on diet. ‘Calcium is one of the main bone forming minerals’ (Palacois 2006). Santora (1987), Williams (1999), and ACSM guidelines (2009) recommend that postmenopausal women should obtain 1000-1500 milligrams of calcium per day and 400-800 IU per day, while pre menopausal women should obtain 1000-1300 milligrams. Studies support these recommendations stating a higher bone mass density and lower bone loss is achieved through adequate calcium intake (Cumming et al. 1997).

Physiotherapists will be involved in home based programmes once a week, lasting up to 30 minutes. Focus will be to assist those at high risk of fractures due to osteoporosis, as well as the sedentary population. It will focus on improving an individual’s quality of life therefore attention will be on muscle strength, balance, mobility, posture and functional ability ultimately reduction pain (Bennell et al. 2000). Exercises will be gradually introduced, especially to that of the sedentary population, to minimize fatigue and reduce soreness (Forwood & Larsen 2000, cited in Bennell et al. 2000). Chair-based sessions will be used, as these have been noted to improve one’s mobility, flexibility and muscle strength (Durstine and Moore, 2003; Lawrence and Barnett, 2006; Sinaki et al. 1984 and 1986 cited in Avioli, 1993), as well as specific exercises depending on the individuals’ weaknesses. Postural taping is recommended to maintain correct posture during exercises (Bennell et al. 2000). Safe activities should be repeated to continue to improve and maintain muscle strength.

Community based exercise programmes, run by a qualified advanced exercise instructor, will involve the use of a local leisure centre and swimming pools. Exercise sessions will be open to individuals suffering from osteoporosis. Gym based exercise sessions will be once a week, lasting around 60 minutes at a time, low intensity exercises with focus on aerobic and resistance exercises will improve individuals’ general fitness, muscle strength, posture, balance, flexibility and functional ability. Aerobic exercises will include activities such as walking on treadmills and cycling on a cycle ergometer as these benefit bone mass maintenance (Durstine and Moore, 2003). Resistance exercises with the use of free weights and elastic bands will be used in supervision of instructors (ACSM 2009). These are beneficial to improve individual’s strength and balance. Bennell et al. (2000) found weight training in pre-menopausal woman increases strength in the lumbar region of the spine. Hartard et al (1996, cited in: Bennell et al. 2000) stated that 70% of 1RM was effective in maintaining hip and spine bone mass in postmenopausal women. Here, the clients will be closely monitored by the exercise practitioners, especially during balance training. Attention will be made to ensure the exercise environment is safe and hazard free, for example no lose mats or exercise equipment across the floor.

Swimming sessions will also be held once a week, lasting 30 minutes per session. Swimming is recommended especially for individuals where resistance exercises are intolerable (ACSM 2009). Swimming is beneficial to strengthen back extensor muscles, improve balance and increase individuals’ general fitness levels; a study by Koichi et al. (2008) on water exercises recommended deep water running for elderly individuals with poor balance.

The scheme itself will be monitored for evaluation annually through the local Primary Care Trust; who provide funding for the scheme to occur, to review and impose any modifications needed (Guideline 3, Section D, NQAF). At the end of the programme a follow up assessment will occur identifying the clients’ physical and psychological behavioural changes and long term goals will be considered.

Individuals who are susceptible to fractures therefore being at higher risk of falling may be more reluctant to participate in exercise, therefore motivational strategies are needed to further incline the client to participate with no hesitation. Motivational strategies such as goal setting and feedback on the clients’ progress will be used, which relates to Guideline 5, Section E in the NQAF, as well as informing the client about supervision of exercise from the exercise practitioners. The advantage of group exercise sessions allows social interaction among individuals with similar medical conditions; through positive encouragement from peers, adherence can be created. Clients will be closely monitored by the health care professionals. Communication between G.P’s and exercise practitioners are vital to assure no negative health changes of clients occur. Record activity books, which will be filled out every session, will be given to clients within the programme to assess progress; these also play a key role in prevention of drop out. Exercise practitioners will have good understanding of behaviour changes therefore will be able to identify and intervene if negative change is observed.

Adherence and long term goals will need to be promoted during the programme to prevent drop out. This can be achieved through encouragement, positive feedback; as this creates confidence, realistic goal setting and pre, mid and post assessment follow up on the clients’ progress through the use of a patient activity log book. These are seen to be affective as the client will be able to observe their progress. Post-programme follow up is particularly important as it benefits long term adherence (BHFNC).

In conclusion, the aim of the scheme is improve an individual suffering from osteoporosis’ quality of life through multidimensional strategies through the use of best practice and existing research evidence, allowing the individual to become more active in a safe and supervised exercise environment.

Ethics in Sport- The Case of Cycling

Introduction

The Higher Moral and Ethical Ground

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

As one of the world’s more demanding sports, cycling extracts as well as expects a maximum performance from its professional participants. It pits them directly against the world’s best in the sport on almost every outing, thus creating a field of competition whereby they are judged, and rated in almost every outing against the leading stars. Unlike other team sports whereby one’s performance is measured, and or gauged against those of a like skill or position, cycling does not provide this cushion or hedge. One’s performance comes under direct scrutiny each, and every outing with time sheet comparisons to indicate one’s standing, be it the mountain climbing segment, sprints, or overall balanced performance through a stage or Tour. The demands of strength, endurance, intestinal fortitude, and mental stamina that is spread in most cases over days, and in the case of the Tour de France, weeks, creates an atmosphere of pressure to perform that is unknown in any other type of professional sport.

Dr. Alejandro Lucia (Cheung, 2003), a world recognized authority in the physiology of professional cycling, has stated that the training as well as discipline required to participate exact a high mental toll that is also a factor of the high stress of physical conditioning as well as genetics. As would be expected, each country with major participants in professional cycling has its own cycling federation, however, the Union Europeenne de Cyclisme, European Cycling Union, is the confederation that oversees the Union Cycliste Internationale, International Cycling Union, which is the professional organization that oversees professional cycling events globally (UEC, 2007). This organization has the responsibility for the issuance of licenses to professional cyclists, along with the enforcement of rules and regulations, which in this instance includes doping (UCI, 2007a). The professional cycling devisions that the the UCI oversees are road cycling events, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, BMX, Trials, indoor cycling, and para-cycling (UCI, 2007a).

The International Cycling Union is a non-profit-making organization that was founded on 14 April 1900, and is headquartered in Aigle, Switzerland (UCI, 2007b). The organization’s aims represent:

The regulation of professional cycling on the international level,
The promotion of cycling internationally, in every country as well as at all levels,
The organization of professional cycling World Championships for all cycling divisions,
The encouragement as well as maintenance of friendly and professional relationships between all cycling divisions,
The promotion of sporting ethics as well as fair play,
The representation of professional cycling along with the defence of its interests internationally,
And the collaboration with the International Olympic Committee concerning cycling events held in the Olympics (UCI, 2007b).

It is item 5. the promotion of sporting ethics as well as fair play, along with morals that represents the focus of this examination. And in keeping with such, the International Cycling Union has adopted a ‘Code of Ethics’ that defines and specifies the conduct of action, and rules governing all professional cycling events (UCI, 2007c). It specifies that all executive, management, administrative, cyclists, and other individuals and associations in any way affiliated as well as coming under the aegis of the International Cycling Union must adhere to said ‘Code of Ethics (UCI, 2007c). It sets forth that on a daily basis, all participants must comply with the rules of the ‘Code of Ethics’ with respect to (UCI, 2007c):

human dignity,
principles of nondiscrimmination concerning race, gender, ethic origin, gender, philosophical as well as political opinions, religion, marital staus, or any other forms of discrimination for whatever reason,
the principle of nonviolence in any form as well as the exerting of any type of pressure, and or harassment by any means, specify physical, professional, mental, and sexual,
the maintenance of integrity,
to hold the priority of the best interests of the sport on a daily basis,
to hold the priority of the interests of the sport as well as its athletes regarding financial interests,
to protect the environment,
to maintain neurality in political issues, and
Olympism.

Within this ‘Code’ it is required that all parties uphold the principles as well as interests of professional cycling as well as refraining from any behaviour that might jeopardize the sport, and or the reputation of the UCI (UCI, 2007c). Within this framework is the important concept of ‘integrity’, which means “the firm adherance to a code of … moral or artistic values … (Interactive Playground, 2007). The preceding is specially inportant in the context of this examination as it focuses on the ‘ethical and moral questions’ of drug use in the sport. Integrity represents a skill that is learned over time (Interactive Playground, 2007). As a part of the UCI ‘Code of Ethics’, integrity, under Article 4, is stated as the fact that all parties associated with the UCI shall therefore refrain from the asking for, acceptance of, and or proposal, either directly or indirectly, that any payment as well as commission, along with any advantages and or services of any type that has not been agreed to or authorized by the UCI shall not be undertaken (UCI, 2007c). Furthermore, under inetgrity it also states that when any type of offers of the aforementioned variety are made, that the UCI be so informed (UCI, 2007c). Said conditions under integrity, Article 5, go on to add that parties as covered under their association with the UCI can only accept symbolic gifts that are bestowed in the spirit of freindship as a matter of local custom, and that any other types of gifts are to be forwarded to the UCI (UCI, 2007c). The ‘Code’ goes on to cover such fields as ‘Conflict of Interests’, and Confidentiality’ in laying out specific terms of conduct (UCI, 2007c).

In keeping with the foregoing, the UCI has established an ‘Ethics Commission’, that has been granted authority in the following areas (UCI, 2007c):

to oversee and ensure that all facets of the ‘Code’ are respected,
to field and receive complaints with regard to any infringement to the ‘Code’,
to provide advice as well as assistance concerning ethical matters in all phases of the ‘Code’,
to provide advice on the avoidance as well as resolution of conflicts of interests,
to recommend sanctions as a result of offences against the ‘Code’,
to set forth measures for the application and adherence to the ‘Code’, and
to put forth proposals recommending programmes to teach and advise on ethics.

The foregoing represents an extremely important facet in this discussion in that the UCI has taken an active stance in the areas of ethics, and morals, as defined by integrity. The foregoing represents a critical aspect in the examination of breaches, and scandals that have befallen the sport of cycling that have made the news recently, particularly in the instance of the most recent winner of the Tour de France.

The Consequences of Individual Actions

As indicated in the UCI’s ‘Code of Ethics’ as well as by the actions taken by this organization as far back as the 1960s when an article representing doping was introduced into the organization’s rules, drugs have been a key consideration in ensuring that a level as well as trustworthy representation of the sport was, and is a part of its operation (UCI, 2007d). The preceding focus was further enhanced by the following subsequent rules, and regulations (UCI, 2007d:

in 1966 a similar article, on doping as referred to in 1960, was added to the UCI Technical Guide,
in 1967, the UCI published its first list representing substances that were prohibited,
in 1967 the UCI put into motion the first sanctions taken against riders that refused to undergo testing,
1967 represented the publishing of the first Medical Control Rules, which were the forerunner to the Anti-doping Rules

The above historical understanding of the stance, and active programmes of the UCI is important in the context of recent events on doping in the sport of cycling. This examination shall cover the most noteworthy of these types of events, noting that doping issues have been a part of individual athlete rule broaching since the 1960’s (UCI, 2007d).

The Tour de France represents professional cycling’s most premier, and prestigious event. It’s “…scale and social and cultural significance demands the academic attention that it has not always received …” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 1). Covering in excess of 4,000 kilometres throughout France, and a few neighbouring countries, millions of on-hand spectators as well as hundreds of millions across the globe via television, and other forms of media follow the event. First conducted in 1903, the Tour has been held as a pinnacle of sporting fairness that shows athletes at their best over three weeks of grueling competition through mountains, and flat stages that average around 150 plus kilometres per day (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 228). Waddington (1998, p. 161) advises “…that a good Tour takes one year off your life, and when you finish in a bad state, they reckon three years… You can’t describe to a normal person how tired you feel…”. They add that “…fatigue starts to kick in on the Tour after ten days if you’re in good shape, and after five days if you’re not in your best condition physically” (Waddington, 1998, p. 161). Waddington (1998, p. 161) adds that “Then, it all just gets worse and worse, you don’t sleep so much, so you don’t recover as well from the day’s racing, so you go into your reserves, you get more knackered, so you sleep less… It’s simply a vicious circle”. Robert Millar, a Scottish cycling professional who rode in the Tour, goes on to state that “It takes two weeks to recover from a good Tour, three months to recover from a bad one” (Waddington, 1998, p. 161).

This event is being utilized in the context of this examination as a result of the intense competition between riders to look good on the world stage in cycling’s biggest event. The preceding translates into the fact that the “…Tour de France cannot avoid seeing an increase in the demands on competitors with the ever-growing importance of television, whose systematic coverage of every stage has also brought in, on top of the necessary battle for the stage win, the necessary battle for permanent presence in front of the TV cameras, therefore making races ever faster” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 229). They add that there is a “… long-standing presence of doping in the Tour brings us back to the excessive nature of the race” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 229). The first instance of doping in the Tour de France occurred in 1924 as a result of the confessions of the Pelissier brothers who admitted using “…cocaine for the eyes, that’s chloroform for the gums” ” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 230). The next significant doping issue occurred in 1955 when Tour riders Jean Mallejac, Ferdi Kubler and Charly Gaul” admitted to taking substances (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 229-230). Doping issues were subsequently repeated in ” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 230):

1966 representing the first year in which “…-doping tests were carried out in the Tour de France …” (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 230).
In 1975 the first rider tested positive for doping,
In 1977 another incident was uncovered,
In 1980, there was another issue of a rider testing positive for drugs.

But, the most noted example came in 1998 when the winner of the Tour, Marco Pantini tested positive in a subsequent race called the Tour of Italy in 1999 (Appleyard, 2006). In 2000, Frenchman Richard Virengue, a celebrated rider in the Tour, admitted to using drugs during a Festina trial (Dauncey and Hare, 2003, p. 232), with the biggest scandal taking place in 2006 when major Tour riders Jan Ullrich, a winner of the Tour in 1997, and Ivan Basso where forced to withdraw from the event (Leicester, 2006). But, for the first time in the history of the Tour de France in 2006, the winner was later declared ineligible and stripped of his title after testing positively for drugs (Bagratuni, 2006). Subsequent testing after the Tour was completed found that Landis tested positive for the 17^th stage to Morzine that he won in what has been termed “… spectacular fashion after a long ride over 130 kilometres …” that included “… three major alpine peaks” (Bagratuni, 2006). The discovery wound up causing the cancellation of a later racing event in the Netherlands as well as Denmark, and set off an international furor over doping that had been building for years (cbc.ca, 2006a). The scandals brought back to the forefront past cycling scandals, as a result of the magnitude of the 2006 Tour winner being stripped of his crown. A lot of journalists stated that the 1998 scandals nearly killed the Tour’s integrity as well as value when an employee of the Festina team was arrested with a carload of “… performance enhancing drugs …” that included one called erythropoietin (EOP), which is “… a hormone that helps the blood carry more oxygen …” which thus lets riders carry on longer as well as faster (cbc.ca, 2006a).

That incident lead to the arrest of six members of the Festina cycling team, out of nine utilized in the Tour, who admitted to the use of drugs that aided in their performance, along with the leader of the Credit Agricole team Christophe Moreau, who later in that same year “… tested positive for anabolic steroids” (cbc.ca, 2006a). The litany continues with the following incidents as well as allegations (cbc.ca, 2006a):

2002 saw Stefano Garzelli, the “… leader of the Vini Caldirola team …” (cbc.ca, 2006) tested positive for probenecid. The preceding is a diuretic that is often used to mask the presence of other drugs.
2003 saw Igor Gonzalez, a Spanish cyclist, being banned from the Tour de France after he tested positive for an anti-asthma.
2004 saw the police in France seize EPO, amphetamines as well as male hormones, and the arrest to Cofidis team cyclists.
Lance Armstrong, the most celebrated Tour winner was accused of doping allegations, and later cleared.

The preceding has damaged the reputation, and sporting fairness of cycling, and represents a long list of doping scandals that have also rocked other sports. The spectacular performances of the 1970s, and 80s East German swimming teams saw a large number of stellar performers later come down with negative health and side effects “…such as liver cancer, organ damage, psychological defects, hormonal changes and infertility …” that called into question that they might have taken performance enhancing drugs (cbc.ca, 2006b). Kornelia Ender, the winner of four gold and the silver gold medals during the 1972, and 76 Olympics revealed she had been taking drug injections since she was 13 (cbc.ca, 2006b). Her situation mirrors that of other East German swimmers Barbara Krause, four gold and silver medals, Carola Nitschke, and others (cbc.ca, 2006b). Incidents of doping scandals hit the 1983 Pam Am Games that was held in Caracas, Venezula, U.S. Track and Field, professional baseball and football in the United States, and a host of other sports (cbc.ca, 2007a). The pressures to perform in all manner of sports is clear, and in the case of professional cycling has been particularly damaging owing to the international nature of the sport.

The Higher Moral and Ethical Ground

The preceding examples as well as histories of cycling, and other scandals have left the sport in a serious state of affairs. These events, and created a situation that has put “,,, cycling at a fork in the road” (Case and Sachs, 2006). The failure of Floyd Landis to pass drug tests after winning the Tour de France resulted in the disbanding of the entire team as sponsors canceled their contracts (Abt, 2006). Gibbs (2000, p. 4) opens up a broad range of considerations in the case of ethics that takes into account that it, ethics, brings with it the responsibility for others. He states that ethics also takes into account that “We also are responsible for each other in a mutual way when justice requires us to become present, one-to-another” (Gibbs, 2000. p. 4). A situation that is made even more the case in cycling as a team is built to promote one rider, and when that rider or members of the team fails, the entire team suffers. The case of the collapse of Floyd Landis’ team after the 2006 Tour scandal is evidence of this point. Gibbs (2000, p. 4) stated the foregoing above, which in a team sport such as cycling makes such a bind more important. He adds that “…we are bound asymmetrically to each other, and ethical mutuality is possible only because of that excess of responsibility” (Gibbs, 2000. p. 4). And add that such represents a community whereby the actions of one affect the standings of others. As a community, cycling represents a prime example of the foregoing.

Mottram (2003, p. 52) brings forth an interesting proposition that “The motivating factors for drug misuse do not necessarily lie in the hands of the athlete”. He (Mottram, 2003, p. 52) points to a number of studies whereby “…the majority of athletes, coaches, medical practitioners and others involved in sport do not favour the use of performance-enhancing drugs”. There is an ‘however’ he states, which represents that “…these results may reflect the respondent’s ethical and moral attitudes to the problem, but in practice the pressures of competition may compel them to take a more pragmatic approach to drug taking” (Mottram, 2003, p. 52). Gibbs (2000, p. 4) adds to the foregoing in stating that “…ethics are the will, conscious intentions, deliberate choices, or the perfection of an individual rational life”. Sports, and in this instance cycling, embody rules of fair play, ethics, and other value systems that the public idealizes, and seeks to believe in a world of uncertainty, corporate, and political corruption. Fans, and more importantly children, tend to view winning athletes as role models, thus when that trust is shattered it damages not just the individual, but the sport as a whole. Dauncey and Hare (2003, p. 182) describe this as “The spectators’ ‘ethical’ analysis of the conduct of their favorite riders is arguably more complex than that of the Tour organizers (limited to the rules of the race) or that of the French state (limited to French law and Republican values towards sport) or that of cycle sport’s international ruling bodies such as the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)”.

Conclusion

Ethics is a concept, ideal, and principle that is rooted in moral philosophy. Plato’s dialogues delves into the question “…of the subjectivity or objectivity of morality provides the focus for the earliest complete works of philosophy …” (Graham, 2004, p. 1). Our belief, and use of moral values represents an evolution of the human spirit that is traced back to Plato, and his teacher Socrates. They held that “… there is a radical difference between the world of facts, and the world of values, between physis and nomos to use the Greek words, the difference being that when it comes to matters of value, the concepts of true and false have no meaningful application” (Graham, 2004. p. 1). Thus, Graham (2004, p. 1) holds that “By implication, then, in ethics there is no scope for proof and demonstration as there is in science and mathematics; ethical ‘argument’ is a matter of rhetoric, which is to say, of persuading people to believe what you believe rather than proving to them that the beliefs you hold are true”. Rist (2001. p. 1) states that there is a core concern in ethics that is “…widely admitted to be a crisis in contemporary Western debate about ethical foundations”. He tells us that we are members of a larger community and that what binds us together in a livable society is the belief, and practice of ethics as a matter of trust (Rist, 2001. p. 205).

He (Rist, 2001. p. 119) brings up the foundational principle of “…the problem of the relation between fairness and justice (in what circumstances and by what criteria should people be treated equally”, and that rules are seemingly needed if fairness as well as rights “… are to be enforced”. He continues that ethics refers to the good life for humans as a whole, and that morality “…is limited to what we are told we ought, or more probably what we ought not to do” (Rist, 2001, p. 120). Hare (1997, p. 1) tells us that ethics can also be termed as a moral philosophy whereby it represents the point that “…philosophers come closest to practical issues in morals and politics”. Outka and Reeder (1993, p. 29) advise that the idea representing moral philosophy is and has been central to the history of philosophy and figures prominently with regard to “…recent moral, legal, and political thought and action”. They bring forth the interesting proposition that “…there is agreement on very general principles … (of morality) … such as the Golden Rule, and disagreement over more specific precepts, or that there is agreement over general moral ends and disagreement over particular means or purely factual considerations”. Morality represents the concept of does and don’ts, and that the “…mark of a civilized society is that its members share this concept, for only because they have it do civilized people acknowledge that human conduct everywhere is properly judged by standards accessible to members of societies other than their own, whose opinions they are not entitled to ignore” (Outka and Reeder, 1993, p. 29). The preceding is central to this discussion of the ethical, and moral questions of drug use in cycling.

The ‘Code of Ethics’ as defined by the International Cycling Union has nine key points, representing (UCI, 2007c):

human dignity,
principles of nondiscrimmination concerning race, gender, ethic origin, gender, philosophical as well as political opinions, religion, marital staus or any other forms of discrimination for whatever reason,
the principle of nonviolence in any form, as well as the exerting of any type of pressure and or harassment by any meas, specify phyical, professional, mental and sexual,
the maintenance of integrity,
to hold the priority of the best interests of the sport on a daily basis,
to hold the priority of the interests of the sport as well as its athletes regarding financial interests,
to protec the environment,
to maintain neurality in political issues, and
Olympism.

The foregoing harkens back to Gibbs’ (2004, p. 4) statement that we are “…responsible for each other in a mutual way when justice requires us to become present, one-to-another”. He adds that “…we are bound asymmetrically to each other, and ethical mutuality is possible only because of that excess of responsibility”. That sense of community represents what the International Cycling Union is, and thus the highly damaging effects of individual actions to the whole. As the overall governing body of cycling, the International Cycling Union seeks to make these principles a reality, however, it has failed to manifest these into the consciousness of some of its members, which represents a real source for concern. It, the taking of drugs, has been stated by the International Olympic Committee in the following manner (Mottram, 2003, p. 52-53):

“… the use of doping agents in sport is both unhealthy and contrary to the ethics of sport, …it is necessary to protect the physical and spiritual health of athletes, the values of fair play and of competition, the integrity and unity of sport, and the rights of those who take part in it at whatever level”.

It, drug use, represents a condition that “…is contrary to the very principles upon which sport is based” (Mottram, 2003, p. 53). Dubin (1990) states that “Sport is considered as character building, teaching ‘the virtues of dedication, perseverance, endurance and self-discipline”. He adds the important observations that “’sport helps us to learn from defeat as much as from victory, and team sports foster a spirit of co-operation and interdependence…import(ing) something of moral and social values and…integrating us as individuals, to bring about a healthy, integrated society’ drug abuse would have no place in sport” (Dubin, 1990). Thus, the question, in light of the preceding examples of drug use, is why so many athletes have resorted to cheating”, and “Why are the rules that govern sport often regarded as obstacles to be overcome or circumvented rather than as regulations designed to create equality of competitive opportunity and to define the parameters of the sport?” (Dubin, 1990). The unfair advantage of the use of drugs in sport lessens the outcome, and masks the potential of those who have superior abilities that are hidden by cheaters. It reduces the concept of sport itself, which is defined as “an activity, pastime, and competition … “ (Allwords.com, 2007). The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, 2007) states “The spirit of sport means competing fairly and performing to the best of your ability…the pursuit of excellence with honor”.

The international implications of doping in sport has drawn the attention of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2005) which drafted doping in sports, whereby it stated that “… sport should play an important role in the protection of health, in moral, cultural and physical education and in promoting international understanding and peace”. The preceding is a broader application of the meaning and purpose of sport than addressed in this examination, but nevertheless is an important facet in the understanding of the attention and implications of sport in our lives, as stated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, 2007). Such higher ideals were and are behind the International Cycling Union’s ‘Code of Ethics’, and the personal as well as individual responsibility of each and every person as well as organization affiliated or associated with it. Loland (2002, p. 143) advises that “…fair play is commonly understood as a set of norms for rule conformity and justice…”. He continues that (Loland, 2002, p. 144):

Fairness, represents when “Parties voluntarily engaged in sport competitions ought to act in accordance with the shared ethos of the competitions if this ethos is just”.
And that fair play provides for an equal platform of rules, regulations, methodologies and systems whereby “…competitors are given equal opportunity to perform by eliminating or compensating for significant inequalities that the competitors cannot influence in any significant way and for which they cannot be held responsible”.

Loland (2002, p. 144) states that unless there is fair play, then the performance of athletes is not based upon talent, but some hidden advantages that corrupt the outcome and prompts inequality. The use of substances to enhance sport’s performance represents an issue that is as old as sport itself (Mottram, 2003. p. 307). Fair play is the operative concept behind the rules and regulations of the International Cycling Union, and is the ethical and moral foundation. The efforts of the ICU, as put forth by McNamee and Parry (1998) is that “… the moral structure of sport in terms of an implicit ‘social contract’ (and thus to offer a rationale for why we should condemn cheating and so forth) needs further careful exploration through studies of both the history of sport and the contract tradition”. Midgley (1974. p. 143) continues that “the social contract is just one sort of analogy for underlying moral structures that seem to bind societies together, as a ‘conceptual tool used by the prophets of the Enlightenment to derive political obligation from below rather than from above’”. Fairness and justice go to the root of modern civilization as the basis for order, and cooperation. Hare (1970. p. 179) argues that it is “…our duty to obey the rule ‘always keep your promises’ is simply part of a game (the institution of promising, in this case), and that we could just as easily decide not to play, in which case the duty would disappear”. He concludes that “For unless one accepts this principle, one is not a subscribing member of the institution which it constitutes, and therefore cannot be compelled logically to accept the institutional facts which it generates.” (Hare, 1970. p. 179).

The preceding are the principles and reasons for the existence of the International Cycling Union and its binding ‘Code of Ethics’ on its members. It is the duty of these members to uphold and adhere to the principles of this ‘Code’ as it represents the foundation for public trust and belief in the fact that the outcome of competitions reflects honest and accurate performances. The ‘Play the Game Conference’ held on 10 November 2005 issued a declaration that best sums up that reasons for fairness, honest, integrity, morals and ethics in sport (Pro Cycling News, 2005). It calls for the organizing bodies within sports to:

Ensure that corruption, is eliminated from sports,
And that the integrity of sports management is upheld by maintaining ethical behaviour,
Through a demonstration of commitments to counter corruption.

Corruption in sport represents any activity that changes the outcome from what it would have been if everyone adhered to the rules. It thus then provides the public with a true recording of performances in an arena they can trust and believe in. The pressures to perform mean little if such is aided by unfair advantages that skew results, thus it is the duty of the monitoring organization to enforce the rules as strictly as possible to minimize cheating, as well as to administer strong drug testing. The community of cycling is larger than the athletes and members of the International Cycling Union. It includes every spectator that has and will ever watch the sport. In light of the recent and numerous scandals, much needs to be done to re-establish a platform of trust that the public can look ate and believe that the ills of the past, are in fact in the past. Such will restore cycling to its former prominence, and help to further bound the community of athletes and fans to fair play, ethics and morality.

Bibliography

Abt, S. (2006) Cycling: Shunned by sponsors, Landis’ team dies. 15 August 2006. Retrieved on 17 April 2007 from http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/15/sports/bike.php

Allwords.com (2007) sport. Retrieved on 18 April 2007 from http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=3&Keyword=sport&goquery=Find+it!&Language=ENG

Appleyard, B. (2006) Drugs and Debauchery. 3 July 2006. Vol. 135. New Statesman

Bagratuni, J. (2006) Tour winner Floyd Landis tests positive in latest cycling shock. 27 July 2006. Retrieved on 17 April 2006 from

An antioxidant has been defined as a substance that reduces oxidative damage such as that caused by free radicals (Halliwell 1984). Oxygen-centred free radicals known as Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) may contribute to exercise induced muscle damage (Mc Ginley 2009). Due to this, it has been widely accepted over the past 20 years that increasing antioxidants in the body will provide greater protection against ROS (Sastre 1992; Hathcock 2005). However, the significance of exercise-induced oxidative stress is open for discussion (Cabrera 2008) with unclear conclusions in literature. This has led to the recent investigation on the possibility of increased production of free radicals during exercise and the effects of antioxidant supplementation in athletes (Finaud 2006; Gomez-Cabrera 2008;Ristow 2009). Free radical proliferation is a widely suggested mechanism in the damage response to exercise by process of phacocytosis and activation of the respiratory burst by neutrophils during the inflammatory response (Pyne 1994). The most commonly used antioxidants in the sporting world are vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin E (tocopherol) with an astonishing 84% of athletes using antioxidants during the 2008 Beijing Olympics (International Olympic Committee 2008).

It has been well documented that high intensity exercise results in damage to active muscle fibres resulting in soreness, stiffness and a reduction in the muscles force producing capabilities (Allen 2001; Armstrong 1990; Clarkson 2002). Peroxidation of muscle fibre lipids causes disturbance in cellular homeostasis which may result in muscle fatigue or injury, possibly implicating free radical formation as a major cause of delayed-onset muscle soreness (Byrd 1992). Preventing muscle tissue damage during exercise training may help optimize the training effect and eventual competitive sports performance (Sen 2001). In order to minimise tissue & cell damage, there must be an equilibrium maintained between oxidants (ROS) and antioxidants (reductants). ROS increases with intense physical exercise (Fig 1) which can exceed the capacity of the body’s natural antioxidant defence (Reid 2001). This was illustrated by Davis (1982) and Ebbeling (1990), whereby strenuous activity led to increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), a 3-carbon-chain aldehyde. Measurement of MDA has become the most commonly used indicator of lipid peroxidation (Mc Bride 1999).Thus, the ingestion of exogenous antioxidants has been proposed to attenuate this increase in ROS. Evans (1990) noted that several antioxidants, including vitamin C and especially vitamin E, have been shown to decrease the exercise-induced increase in the rate of lipid peroxidation, which could help prevent muscle tissue damage.

The effects of Vitamin E have been more extensively researched than Vitamin C due to some promising results in the literature. Vitamin E is the main lipidsoluble, chain-breaking antioxidant (Ji 1996) which accumulates in the phospholipid bilayer of cell membranes and helps attenuate lipid peroxidation (Sjodin 1990) within the cell membrane acting as an important scavenger of superoxide and lipid radicals (Powers 2000). Vitamin E supplementation has been shown to significantly decrease the amount of lipid peroxidation (Kanter 1993) and membrane damage associated with single bouts of low and high intensity submaximal exercise aswell as resistance exercise (Mc Bride 1998; Ashton 1999). Sumida (1989) stated that 300 mg of vitamin E given for 4 weeks reduced exercise-induced lipid peroxidation . Mc Bride (1998) reported the effectiveness of vitamin E supplementation in reducing MDA and creatine kinase (CK) levels. Cannon (1990) reported a decrease in CK and a faster recovery after supplementation of vitamin E. Furthermore, Kanter (1997) recently reported a 35 % increase in T-lag time (indicative of a diminished LDL oxidation rate) in subjects who consumed 1000 mg d-a-tocopherol acetate daily for 1 week before exercise.

Various studies have also demonstrated beneficial physiological effects of vitamin C supplementation in physically-active people. Jakeman and Maxwell (1993) found that supplementing vitamin C showed less strength loss (Fig 2) in the triceps surae post-exercise, and a faster recovery (Fig 3) compared to placebo. The force response to tetanic stimulation was less in the vitamin C group also, indicating a reduction in contractile function. Kaminski and Boal (1992) pre-supplemented subjects for 3 days with 1 g of vitamin C 3 times a day and then induced damage in the posterior calf muscles. Supplementation continued for 7 days post-exercise with vitamin C group reporting reduced soreness ratings ranging from 25-44% less than the control group. Peters (1993) noted fewer cases of upper respiratory tract infection in runners who consumed 600 mg vitamin C/d for 3 weeks before a 42 km road race. Bryer (2006) reported lower DOMS in a high-dose Vitamin C supplementation group 2 weeks prior and 4 days post eccentric exercise Studies which have used combinations of antioxidants (consumed 300-800 mg d-cr-tocopherol plus 200 mg vitamin C/d for 4-8 weeks) reported post-exercise declines in serum enzymes indicative of muscle tissue damage in subjects (Sumida 1989; Rokitzi 1994). Kanter (1993) reported that a mixture of vitamin E (592 mg), vitamin C (1,000 mg), and 30 mg of beta carotene resulted in a decreased level of a lipid peroxidation marker after exercise. All the previously mentioned studies suggest tangible benefits of antioxidant supplementation in combating detrimental physiological processes that may be initiated by physical activity thus appearing beneficial to sports and exercise participants.

Exercise exhibits numerous positive effects on general health (Wartburton 2006), most notably improving glucose metabolism. It is well documented that exercise increases ROS production (Powers 2008), however it is unknown whether this may influence the health promoting effects of exercise. The effects of antioxidant supplementation on the health-promoting effects of exercise have recently been investigated (Gomez-Cabrera 2008; Ristow 2009). Exercise helps initiate mitochondrial metabolism, with a reduction of this metabolism linked with type 2 diabetes (Simoneau 1997). Since mitochondria are the main source of ROS, it’s been proclaimed that ROS may be a factor in some health promoting effects (Schulz 2007; Birringer 2007). Ristow (2009) investigated this theory and hypothesized that antioxidant supplementation may repeal certain health promoting benefits of exercise and oxidative stress. Thus, if increases in oxidative stress exhibit a counteracting effect on insulin-resistance, then the prevention of ROS activation by antioxidants may increase the risk of disease such as type 2 diabetes.

Ristow (2009) proposed an essential role for ROS formation in increasing insulin sensitivity in exercising humans. The study found that vitamin C and vitamin E blocked many of the beneficial effects of exercise such as insulin sensitivity (glucose infusion rates-GIR) and the promotion of muscle antioxidant defence post-exercise. James (1984) found non-supplemented subjects showed significant increase in GIR after 4 weeks training whereas antioxidant group found no significant change (Fig 4). In addition, the non supplemented group also increased adiponectin levels compared to the supplemented group (Fig 5). Adiponectin (secretory protein) has been shown to have a positive correlation with insulin sensitivity and is inversely correlated with risk of type 2 diabetes (Spranger 2003). A recent meta-analysis of 232,550 participants suggests use of antioxidants may increase all-cause mortality (Bjelakovic 2007). Of the 136,023 receiving antioxidants, 13.1% died (17,880) whereas of the 96,527 controls, 10.5% died (10,136).

Studies in healthy subjects show that low aerobic capacity is a strong predictor of mortality (Myers 2002; Yusuf 2004). Impaired regulation of mitochondrial function is an important mechanism for low aerobic capacity (Wisloff 2005). Gomez-Cabrera (2008) found that mitochondrial content is a key determinant of endurance capacity and that vitamin C decreases exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in muscle. Free radicals serve as signals to adapt muscle cells to exercise through gene expression (Khassaf 2003). Vitamin C was found to prevent beneficial training effects to occur due to their prevention of activation of two major antioxidants (Mn-SOD and GPx) (Gomez-Cabrera 2008). The aforementioned study also concluded that endurance capacity is directly related to mitochondrial content, which is negatively affected by antioxidants.

Antioxidant supplementation is extremely popular among athletes, but data indicating beneficial effects on functional capacity of muscle are elusive. There is no strong evidence from literature for the use of antioxidant supplementation in athletic populations as there are many poor controlled studies involving unusually high doses, involving low muscle damaging activity and more recent research has alleviated to minimal if any benefits. Antioxidants do not seem beneficial in preventing DOMS, increasing recovery time or protect against muscle damage but in fact long term supplementation (with vitamin E in particular) may increase mortality (Bjelakovic 2007). Most notably for athletes, not only does supplementation appear ineffective in preventing against exercise induced muscle damage, but interferes with the ROS signalling which are needed for adaptation to occur (Gomez-Cabrera 2008).

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Austina Burton
Abstract

For this single-system research design, the main goal was to analyze the effect a 35 day intervention of doing yoga had on weight loss in a college student. A young, single Caucasian female student participated in yoga every day, for 35 days, for 60 minutes each time. A baseline was documented over 15 days, and the intervention was documented over 35 days. Her weight was recorded every five days between seven o’clock and nine o’clock in the morning. At the end of the 35^th day, the participant showed an increased weight loss of 7 pounds. The results suggest that doing yoga can have positive effects on weight loss. These results are consistent with prior studies; however those studies included other factors that could influence weight change into their research, whereas this study focused solely on yoga as the main intervention.

Effects of Yoga on Weight Loss

Research suggests that obesity rates in the United States have more than doubled in the past fifty years, with 32.2% of adults considered obese in 2004 (Ogden et al., 2006; Flegal et al., 2002). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or most commonly referred to as the CDC, has found that obesity is becoming more common, serious, and costly. Currently, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese (Adult, 2014). That is 34.9% or 78.6 million people. Rates of overweight and obesity appear to be increasing most dramatically among young adults, the 18-to-29-year-old age group. To be more detailed, the rates went from 7.1% in 1991, to 12.1% in 1998. With those having some college education, they demonstrated even greater increases in overweight and obesity (Mokdad et al., 1999).

A young Caucasian woman, currently in her sophomore year of college, would like to lose weight by doing yoga; however, she has had trouble losing weight in the past. Studies show that college students are affected greatly by obesity. This critical period, involving the young adult, contains the term “Freshman 15”, which refers to the notion that the first year of college is associated with a fifteen pound weight gain. Yoga has been positively correlated with helping people “shed pounds, or at least keep them from gaining weight” (Fred, 2005). In addition, Bruckheim (1990) found that reducing fat intake can increase weight loss; however, the participant would not like to change her eating habits at this time.

Statement of the Problem

In this study, the case that will be presented is a 19 year old woman, who is going to do yoga; and not change what she eats. She is 5’7” tall and weighed 150 pounds at the beginning of the study. In an interview during the baseline period of the study, the participant stated she was unhappy with her weight, which causes her to feel bad about the way she looks. The participant talked about prior attempts at losing weight, which included dieting and exercising. She also stated that, with being a full time college student, she is unable to stick to a regular schedule of exercising, and has been unable to stay on a diet. Her weight has been over 150 pounds since her 9^th grade year of high school, and she has had trouble losing weight ever since. The goal of this study is to increase the participant’s weight loss by doing yoga for 60 minutes per day, for 35 days. The participant’s reason for wanting to lose weight is because she wants to look thinner, and fit better in her clothes.

Literature Review

There have been numerous research studies conducted to find out more about obesity rates in America, as well as how general exercise and dieting can affect weight loss; however, there are few studies addressing the effects yoga can have on weight loss among Caucasian women who are full time students. One study completed by Wharton, Adama and Hampl (2008) found that university students are prone to using inappropriate weight loss practices , and Lloyd-Richardson et al. (2009), found that both males and females gain weight, with similar patterns observed over the freshman year and the greatest weight changes for both sexes occurred during the first semester.

When it comes to physical activity and exercise, Rocette et al. (2005) found that exercise participation was approximately 50% at the beginning and end of freshman year. Although they observed no changes in aerobic or strengthening exercises, more students reported engaging in stretching exercises at the end of freshman year; however, more than half of the students in Rocette’s (2005) sample reported eating high-fat fried or fast foods at least 3 times during the week.

It’s widely known that regular yoga can help reduce stress, which in turn slows the production of cortisol, the hormone responsible for belly fat. A study done by Caffrey (2013) found that yoga practitioners lost fat over an initial 6 month study period, and “kept losing it during a maintenance period with less direct supervision.” Another study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, “involved 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women who were asked to complete a written survey recalling their physical activity, and weight history between the ages 45 and 55” (Fred, 2005). The study measured the impact of yoga with weight change, independent of other factors such as diet or other types of physical activity. The result was that those practicing yoga, who were overweight to start with, “lost about 5 pounds during the same time period those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds” (Fred, 2005).

Methodology

A single system, research design was conducted over 50 days to assess the effectiveness of yoga on weight loss for an overweight 19 year old Caucasian woman. The weight loss intervention was introduced after a 15 day baseline period. The primary objective was to determine whether yoga could decrease weight, while keeping the same eating habits over a 35 day intervention period.

During the 15 day baseline period (February 1^st-15^th), the participant was asked to document her weight in pounds every five days by nine o’clock in the morning, using a standard weight scale. The baseline period was reported to the researcher through text messages. Following the 15 day time period, an interview was conducted over the phone, where the participant established her goal to participate in yoga for 60 minutes each day for 35 days. After the baseline period and interview were over, the researcher made phone contacts with the participant every five days to monitor the progress (February 16^th-March 22^nd). The researcher recorded the participant’s weight in pounds on a graph over a 50 day time period (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The intervention was implemented following the 15 day baseline period, which is marked by the dotted line.

Results

The goal of this research study was to analyze the effect of a 35 day weight loss intervention based on yoga. A young female college student participated in yoga seven days per week for 60 minutes each day. A baseline was documented over a 15 day time period and the intervention was documented over 35 days. The participant’s weight was recorded every five days. At the end of the 50^th day, the participant showed a weight loss of seven pounds. As shown in Figure 1, the goal of decreasing the participant’s weight was met. The participant showed decreased body weight, from 150 pounds to 143 pounds. Those findings are consistent with previous studies.

Discussion

Single-system research designs are a research methodology that lets a practitioner track their progress with a client (Bloom, 1993). Yoga has been positively associated with weight loss in experimental and quasi-experimental designs, “which look at the effect of an intervention within, or between, groups of people” (Fred, 2005). The use of yoga as an intervention in a single system design worked due to being able to establish a realistic goal and an intervention plan.

Limitations occur within most research studies. In this single system research design, there were such limitations. Weight loss is affected by numerous things, such as your environment, genetics, metabolic rate, activity level, and what you eat. This study focused solely on activity levels and did not take into account the environment, genetics, metabolic rate or what the participant was eating. An uncontrolled diet was the main limitation to this study. The participant stated that she ate out at least once a week, and mostly ate at the dining hall on her college campus, where the food did not usually meet nutritious guide lines. The effect of this can be seen in Figure 1, when a pound or less was lost between day 25 and 35. The participant’s influx of weight during the baseline period was due to her ending menstrual cycle. The participant stated it was normal for her to gain weight towards the end of it. Before this study, the participant was not getting any exercise on a regular basis, so when she started doing yoga 60 minutes per day, it had a profound effect on her weight. Although a form of exercise alone helped this participant lose weight, research has found that, when coupled with high activity levels, eating healthy can have an even more profound effect on weight loss (Sareen et al, 2012). For that reason, when research is done further on the effects of yoga on weight loss, I recommend having a diet plan incorporated into the design if weight loss is the main goal of the study.

References

Adult Obesity Facts. (2014, September 9). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

Bloom, M. (1993). Single-system designs in the social services: Issues and options for the 1990s. New York: Haworth Press.

Bruckheim, A. (June 26, 1990). Reduce fat intake to reduce weight. Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext), 2.

Caffrey, M. (2013). Restorative Yoga Better Than Stretching for Trimming Subcutaneous Fat in Overweight Women. American Journal of Managed Care. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://www.ajmc.com/publications/evidence-based-diabetes-management/2013/2013-1-Vol19-sp7/Restorative-Yoga-Better-Than-Stretching-for-Trimming-Subcutaneous-Fat-in-Overweight-Women

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. (2005, July 21). Regular Yoga Practice May Help Prevent Middle-age Spread. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 22, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050720064358.htm

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Executive Summary

Consumption of supplements and energy drinks has become a norm among athletes now. However, there are different studies in support as well as against the energy drink consumption for athletes, on whether it has a positive effect on the performance or not.

The aim of this research was to investigate the acute effects of an energy drink (Red Bull) on the performance difference levels in male athletes. Thirty male athletes were selected from different backgrounds to participate in this study.. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups; Group A (experimental) & Group B (non-experimental). Measurements of their running times were taken and the average was calculated. In the second session, group A was given an intake of 250 ml of Red Bull energy drink, while all the members of group B were not given any energy drink. The experiment was carried out again. The differences between the teams as well as between the two sessions were taken into account.

Introduction

Although in recent years, athletes have improved their performance levels, they share the same quest with their historical counterparts: success and victory at the Olympic Games. So every time, very different methods were tried by athletes to achieve this aim.

In this way, consumption of energy drinks by athletes has become increasingly popular.

Athletes believe that energy drinks can be used to enhance their performance during training and competition due to their potentially ergogenic ingredients such as carbohydrates, caffeine, sodium and taurine, among others.

Background

Energy drinks have become more and more popular since the late nineties. The manufactures claim that these drinks improve physical endurance, reaction speed and concentration. The main ingredients of energy drinks are caffeine, sugar, taurine and glucuronolactone. According to the manufacturers, the stimulating effects of these drinks are due to interaction between the various ingredients.

Sport drink consumption is recommended for most sports and not all of the sport

beverages are the same. They differ in type and concentration of carbohydrates, electrolytes, flavors and other constituents. Some simply replace carbohydrates and electrolytes; others provide added protein, specific amino acids, and even fat, while still others provide herbs, vitamins, and caffeine.

Literature Review

Energy or ‘power’ drinks (e.g., Battery, B52, Dark Dog, Jess, Red Bat, Red Bull, Rhino’s) are beverages designed and consumed for purposes other than for improving athletic performance: for instance, to reduce the depressant effects of alcohol on the central nervous system. On the other hand, sports and fluid-electrolyte replacement beverages (e.g., Gatorade, Powerade) are designed and consumed to enhance athletic performance or to reduce the deleterious effects of dehydration during athletic competitions (Carvajal- Sancho, Moncada- Jimenez, 2005).

It should be noted that, although energy drinks have been sold worldwide for more than a decade, unfortunately only a few studies have apparently been published to test the effectiveness of these beverages on the physical or cognitive performance in athletes (Alford, Cox, & Wescott, 2001; Baum & Weib, 2001; Carvajal- Sancho & Moncada-Jimenez, 2005). So far, no data is available in regard to the effectiveness these beverages on anaerobic power and the delay of blood lactate accumulation.

Some scientific studies with similar topics will cited later on. Nevertheless, in most cases, their topics were not directly related to anaerobic power or delaying blood lactate accumulation.

Alford et al. (2001) investigating the effects of an energy drink (Red Bull) on psychomotor, anaerobic and aerobic performance (anaerobic performance was measured by a 20s cycle ergometer test), reported that the Red Bull group improved aerobic and anaerobic performance by 9% and 24%, respectively. Similarly, Carvajal- Sancho & Moncada- Jimenez (2005) studied the acute effect of an energy drink on physical performance (100 m sprint, hand dynamometer and standing long jump) and indicated no significant changes in physical and cognitive variables. In another research, the influence of a multivitamin/mineral supplement on anaerobic exercise performance (a 30-second cycle sprint test and one set of squat exercise) was studied by Fry et al. (2006) and a decreased rate of fatigue was noted for both exercise tests.

In addition, Olson and Seifert (2004) carried out a study to determine if consumption of a carbohydrate-protein drink could improve skating performance. The results showed that, in the experimental group, speed performance improved by 8% and reaction time improved by 12%. Kipp et al.(2003) also investigated the influence of a carbohydrate/protein sports drink on soccer sprint performance (four speed trials with 5 min of rest in between). In the carb-protein group, speed was improved between the first and last sprints by 1.1 seconds, while the other group slowed down by 2.2 seconds.

There are many types of energy drinks which can be purchased over the counter by everyone and their producers have claimed a variety of benefits in their advertisements.

In the case of an intensively working skeletal muscle, this means a delay in the fall in intramuscular pH to the critical level at which glycolysis is inhibited (OoA?pik et al., 2003;

MacDougall et al., 1991). On the other hand, with regard to controversial reports about the effects of alkalinizing agents in the case of acute administration (Stout & Antonio, 2002; Aschenbach et al., 2000; Bishop et al., 2004; Marx et al., 2002; McNaughton et al., 1999; Ball and Maughan, 1997; Wilkes et al., 1983), it is unclear whether the consumption of energy drinks can have such effects.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Does the intake of Red Bull (energy drink) effect athletic performance of male athletes or not?

Energy drinks are believed and marketed in a way to show that they enhance mental and athletic performance. Therefore, the concern of our research has been to find out whether the ingredients of one of the most used energy drink (Red Bull) effect the metabolism of human body in such a way that there in an increase in the physical athletic performance or not.

Theoretical Frame Work
Dependant Variable:

Athletic Performance

Independent Variable

Red Bull

Intervening Variable

Uneven tracks, diseases to the athletes.

Uneven tracks can be a big factor which can be controlled by carefully selecting an even and smooth running track. While the intervening variable of diseases to the athletes can be taken care of in the athlete selection process. In the initial questionnaire results, the athletes with some serious health disorders can be filtered out.

Hypothesis

The researcher intends to test the following hypothesis using their research:

Alternative Hypothesis (HA)

There is a relation between the intake of Red Bull with the athletic performance of male athletes.

Null Hypothesis (Ho)

There is no relation between the intake of Red Bull with the athletic performance of male athletes.

The Theoretical Framework

Performance of Athletes/Players

Intake of Red Bull

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Uneven track

Diseases

Intervening Variables
Methodology

The name of the research methodology is non-manipulative as in our research we have control on our independent variables and it is a field experiment.

Participants: In order to be eligible to participate in the study, subjects had to

meet the following inclusion criteria which were obtained by means of a questionnaire:

a) to train/play for at least four days per week (approximately 30 min in each session);

b) not to be on medication or nutritional supplementation; and

c) not to consume energy drinks regularly.

Potential participants were excluded from the study if they:

a) presented psychiatric or neurological diseases;

b) were sensitive to any ingredient contained in the energy drink;

c) were under any nutritional supplementation regimen that included either caffeine, sugar, taurine and glucuronolactone;

e) had evident cardiac problems.

Thirty regular male football players (age: 24.34A±1.74years, height: 183.26A±7.66 cm, weight: 81.37A±6.85 kg) volunteered to participate in this study. The volunteers read and signed an informed consent form with a medical history questionnaire before beginning the study.

Then, the nature of the study was explained to the subjects, and they were given an opportunity to ask questions about anything that was unclear.

APPARATUS

We used questionnaire as our research tool for the initial screening of athletes. While stethoscope and blood pressure sphingo-meter apparatus were used to measure the heartbeat and blood pressure respectively. A stop watch was used to note down the sprint timings.

PROCEDURE

Procedure: The aim of this research was to investigate the acute effects of an energy drink (Red Bull) on the performance difference levels in male athletes. Thirty regular male athletes (soccer players) (age: 25.34A±1.74years, height: 182.26A±7.66 cm, weight: 78.37A±6.85 kg and BF%: 13.2A±2.7%) were selected from different backgrounds to participate in this study. This research was conducted on two separate sessions with four days of rest in between.

Two experimental conditions were tested: a) control (no drink); b) energy drink. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups; Group A (experimental) & Group B (non-experimental). In the first session, both the groups were assigned to run on a 100m track without any liquid intake. Measurements of their running times were taken and the average was calculated. In the second session, group A was given an intake of 250 ml of Red Bull energy drink, while all the members of group B were not given any energy drink. The experiment was carried out again. The differences between the teams as well as between the two sessions were taken into account.

One week before the data collection took place. The participants were instructed on how to perform the whole experiment and underwent a familiarization session. The subjects were instructed to avoid alcohol, nicotine and other stimulants and also avoid strenuous activities and sudden changes in food consumption (including any nutritional supplementation products) the day before the experiment. In addition, they were asked to maintain regular physical activities during the days prior to the experiment, as recommended by Carvajal-Sancho and Moncada-Jimenez (2005). Moreover, they were asked to wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing and get an adequate amount of sleep (6 to 8 hours) the night before the test (Byars et al., 2006). The clothing, shoes, as well as all equipment used, were consistent for each subject and were recorded to establish controlled experimental conditions.

APPARATUS VALIDITY

Apparatuses used in our study were stethoscope, blood pressure apparatus (sphino-meter), stop-watch, pen and paper. The heartbeat rate (bpm) was measured with the help of stethoscope, blood pressure with the help of blood pressure apparatus and the running time were measured by the stop watch.

The apparatus was duly checked by the hospital authorities and confirmed to be in valid functional conditions.

RESULTS

The results show that the group A, after the intake of Red Bull energy drink did show an almost negligible good performance, thus not supporting the hypothesis.

The experiments, apart from giving out the main results also gave some very interesting facts. For example; Group A (experimental) showed increase in the time to exhaustion, which is ultimately related to the ingredients of Red Bull.

Hence, we will select,

HA(alternative): There is a relation between the intake of Red Bull with the athletic performance of male athletes.

As it is clear to see the difference through the results. This proves that after the intake of Red Bull, the athletic performance increases.

Discussion

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Red Bull energy drink on the performance of male athletes. Results of this study indicated that ingestion of Red Bull prior to exercise testing is effective on the athletes’ performance.

In the present study it was observed that Red Bull energy drink caused an 11.78% decrease in the blood pressure and a 15.86% increase in the heartbeat rate (bpm).

The 100m sprint performance time in the group A(experimental group) showed improvement, even after repetitive attempts.

Potentially, caffeine could have a number of actions that affect skeletal and heart

muscle. It can increase sympathetic activity, and has direct intracellular action. The increase in heartbeat rate (bpm) may be attributed to ingredients such as caffeine,taurine, glucuronolacton. Caffeine has been shown to have desirable effects for performing

athletes fighting fatigue and increasing energy. The stimulant effect of caffeine could make it effective for increasing alertness while performing in a fatigued state. Taurine is also famous to aid in the contractile function of skeletal muscle and for providing increased ability of the muscle to contract, amplifying muscle force generation. In this study it was found that Red Bull energy drink caused up to 10.5% increase in time to exhaustion. However the previous researches and the current results, both support the fact that the ingestion of Red Bull energy drink does not have a significant enough impact on the performance of athletes, that it be strongly recommended to athletes for increased and better performance. No reports were identified of negative effects associated with the amount of taurine found in most energy drinks. Commonly reported adverse effects seen with caffeine in the quantities present in most energy drinks are insomnia, nervousness, headache, and tachycardia. Four documented case reports of caffeine-associated deaths were found, as well as four separate cases of seizures associated with the consumption of energy drinks.

Acknowledgements

First of all thanks to Allah Almighty who blessed me the strength and devotion to complete this research. I would thank my college fellow Adil Khan, who has helped me in the selection of the male athlete subjects. I would also like to thank Haider Behzad who helped me immensely with the research work. Moreover, I am also very thankful to all the people, who were part of the research and gave me their precious time. Without their help, it wouldn’t have been possible to complete this research project.

AND LAST BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I would like to thank my instructor, my mentor for the course, Mr. Humair Hashmi for pushing me forward, motivating me with his masterly tactics and enabling me to carry out the research in a professional manner.

Appendix
The sample of the questionnaire is below;

INSTRUCTIONS

KINDLY ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

MARK ONLY ONE OPTION IN THE SEGMENT OF ANSWERS

NAME:______________ AGE:_____________

Q1> How many days do you exercise in a week?

4days

5days

6days

Q2> Do you use any kind of drugs?

Yes

No

Q3> Your preference towards exercise/workout?

Gym

Swimming

Soccer

Running

Q4> Do you carry any breathing disease or any major disease?

Yes

No

Q5> Do you use any kind of supplements?

Yes

No

Sports Coaching

CONTENTS (JUMP TO)

Principles and best practice in coaching

The effectiveness of different styles of coaching in different contexts

How models of coaching can help practitioners

References

Principles and best practice in coaching

The ideal of sport has changed markedly in the past fifteen to twenty years (Polley, 1998)^[1]. What was once seen as leisure and/or a recreational activity is now viewed primarily as a vehicle through which one can instigate deep-seated cultural and societal change. This is especially true in the UK which has a particularly insipid connection to sport with a variety of games considered endemic in British society; indeed, many of the most popular sports in the world were played first in Britain and their governing bodies still reside within British state borders. As a result, as Dawn Penney (2000:59) declares, sport, society and equity are interlinked to a degree that has only very recently been acknowledged by academic, specifically sociological, study.

“Physical education and sport are part of our social and cultural worlds. The relationship is dynamic, with the policies and practices of physical education reflecting, but also clearly shaping (reproducing and/or challenging), the values and interests of broader society.”^[2]

It is for this reason that the concept of ‘best practice’ has attained a new level of significance in recent years relating specifically to the adoption of the finest possible academic, psychological and ethical procedures especially with regards to children and young people so as to prepare them mentally and physically for the multiple demands of adult life whether this be in a sporting or non?sporting context. ‘Best practice’ utilises research conducted primarily between the years 1950 to 1980 with the implementation of these strategies taking place over the past thirty years. It is a wholly recent phenomenon and, as such, is lacking in some areas of research compared to other fields of sociological study. However, in the twenty first century the amount of attention devoted to the subject is likely to increase with the dual spectre of globalisation and commercialisation making sports a highly lucrative hub of activity.

The principles governing the concept of ‘best practice’ are centred upon the twin aims of forging a common sense of unity and teamwork within a group of players and at the same time to nurture individual skill and flair on a one-to-one basis so that the more gifted players’ skills are honed without neglecting the primacy of the team as the over-riding ethos of ‘best practice’. This essential dualism which resides at the epicentre of ‘best practice’ coaching concepts is inherently affected by the evolution of sports players as they grow up. For instance, young players (aged six to ten years old) are much more inclined to gravitate towards the individual element of sports and competition with the group dynamic coming at a later age (developing primarily between the ages of twelve and sixteen). For this reason, there is no ‘best way’ to ‘best practice’; no right or wrong. Rather, there is a great exchange of fluidity between concepts, principles and practices that should be implemented on an individual basis. This is as true of coaching adults (clients) as it is of coaching youngsters where Jennifer Rogers (2007:7-10)^[3] has outlined six core principles that ‘define’ the role of the coach in the modern era. These are:

The client is resourceful (the coach’s sole aim is to work with the client to achieve all of their potential – as defined by the client).
The coach’s role is to spring loose the client’s resourcefulness.
Coaching addressing the whole person: past, present and future.
The client sets the agenda.
The coach and the client are equals.
Coaching is about change and action.

The common denominator outlined by Rogers is that coaching is always triggered by change – be it a change in age, in circumstance, in style or technique. Furthermore, because change is the currency in which the coach does business, there is bound to be wildly fluctuating styles of coaching that fit wildly different social and cultural contexts and it is towards these different styles and contexts that attention must now be turned.

The effectiveness of different styles of coaching in different contexts

It has been shown that the evolution of young people greatly affects the implementation of coaching methods pertaining to the precarious balance between coaching the individual and the group dynamic. This is necessarily dependent on the kind of sport being coached: team sports such as football require a dedication to the team ethic while sports such as tennis and golf stress the individual element of competition. Sports such as cricket combine the team ethic with a heavy emphasis upon individual ability, certainly with regards to batting, which is a very solitary skill that requires intensive levels of concentration and individualism (Palmer, 1999)^[4]. Thus, in the first instance, effective coaching requires the practitioner to tailor his or her coaching style to the sport in question and then to further tailor these coaching techniques to the age group of the team or individual being coached.

This inherent diversity in coaching styles is also true of the economic context of coaching adults. Certain sports require greater levels of economic participation than others. Golf, for example, is an expensive sport that demands that the participant is well funded so as to purchase the necessary equipment such as clubs, bags, clothing and, most importantly, membership to a golf club. The same can be said of tennis and cricket where the equipment is a vital part of the ultimate success or failure of the technique of the client in question. Economic context is also important with regards to the psychological element of coaching with the social, cultural and political problems of urban poverty playing an important part in the types of coaching techniques which are likely to yield the best results from any given demographic. There can be no doubt that a coaching style employed for a group of middle class practitioners with free access to capital, time and resources is going to be markedly different from the kind of coaching style deployed for children and adults who do not have access to the same luxuries and who therefore are going to respond to different coaching techniques.

Economic context, demographic context and age context are further compounded by the increasingly common problem of multiculturalism and, specifically, globalisation, which has obvious consequences for teachers, mentors and coaches operating at all levels of society throughout the UK. When one thinks, for instance, of the impact of language upon coaching (relaying tactics, pointing out areas of strength and weakness, and, most significantly, attempting to instil a team ethic) one can see the extent to which the role of the coach is inexorably intertwined with the fate of mass movement of peoples across the planet in the twenty first century. As Jones (1997:27) declares, “there is no more important task within the wider coaching process than that of communication.”^[5] Bains and Patel (1994) have long pointed out the blatant under?representation of Asians playing professional football in England despite some areas in the Midlands and the North-West of England having urban areas with a higher than 50% ratio of ethnic communities.

“Recent Sport England national statistics confirmed that people of South Asian origin have markedly lower participation rates than other minorities or the indigenous population.” (Collins, 2003:75)^[6]

This anomaly with regards to the high numbers of Asians living in modern Britain and the disproportionately small number of Asians playing football, it has been argued, is due to coaches indulging in outmoded stereotyping when it comes to coaching players from the Asian community. Asians are still seen as primarily academic achievers over sports players and where they are perceived as sports players they are still pigeon?holed in typical Asian images of cricket players; rarely are they ever seen as potential professional footballers. Likewise black players are still seen as primarily quick, powerful players; rarely, the tactical brains or the spiritual heartbeat of the side.

This cultural element to sports coaching is exacerbated by the historical gender divide between males and females in a sporting context. Here, just as with ethnic people, stereotypes remain the dominant coaching paradigm. Girls and women are expected to play traditionally female sports such as netball, hockey, lacrosse, swimming and tennis. This, however, is in direct opposition to the growing numbers of women playing traditionally male?dominated sports such as rugby, cricket and football with the latter in particular experiencing a veritable boom in female interest since the beginning of the 1990s.

“A generation ago, sport was a core, patriarchal institution in a larger, contested gender order. Now, with the dramatic growth of girls’ and women’s athletics participation, sport no longer simply or unambiguously plays this reactionary role in gender relations. Sport is now more internally contested.” (2002 introduction xxii)^[7]

It is, in the final analysis, up to the sports coach to take each of these mitigating factors and contexts into account so that the practitioner is able to coach skills and techniques that are relevant to the contemporary era as opposed to perpetuating anachronistic stereotypes that do little to advance civilised society in both a sporting and non?sporting context.

How models of coaching can help practitioners

Studying different models of coaching represents the scientific element of sports mentoring whereby the student and practitioner can attempt to explain the essence and purpose of coaching via the development of models (Fairs, 1987:17-19)^[8]. It can be separated into two distinct camps: the ‘of’ coaching camp and the ‘for’ coaching camp. Models ‘of’ coaching are based upon empirical research investigating best practice while the ‘for’ coaching models are idealistic representations that arise from attempts to identify a concrete set of assumptions about the coaching process. The majority of practitioners tend to employ a symbiosis of the two models incorporating an ‘of’ and ‘for’ model of best practice. In this way, empirical data can be used in a realistic setting that takes into account the age, skills and other contexts that affect the coaching process. However, these two models of coaching underline the extent to which academia and intellectual analysis has come to dominate the empirical study of sports performance when in fact the first hand experience of established practitioners ought to form the basis of all models of coaching sports. The difference, essentially, comes down to one of theory and practice with the concept of ‘expertise’ necessarily clouded by the arguments of the academics and the professionals respectively. Once again, though, the individual element of the coaching process must be highlighted so as to reflect the inherent complexity that takes place within the field of sports with vastly differing levels of skill and ability being matched by the vastly different psychological reactions to slumps in form and technique.

It is, ultimately, up to the national governing sports bodies to ensure that the primacy of holistic coaching practice does not become relegated at the expense of literature, theory and academia (Lyle, 1999:1-24).^[9] For this reason, organisations such as Sport England have been established by the central government in a bid to impose a centralise model for sports development on regionalised sports bodies so as to directly influence and aid practitioners. The primary model deployed by Sport England is the “traditional sports development continuum” – a pyramid which locates foundation as the core, base value followed in hierarchical terms by participation, performance and, finally, excellence (Bramhan et al, 1999:3).

This generic model is dovetailed by more advanced models for practitioners to use with athletes at a professional or elite stage in their sports. As is so often the case it is the Australians who represent the pinnacle of academic research into the coaching process with the revolutionary ‘Old Way, New Way’ technique correction model offering an intensive ‘one session’ approach to the problem of proven performers suffering seemingly inexplicable dips in form and technique with the case of Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie standing tall as the most prominent example of therapeutic success achieved via sports practitioners embracing new means of solving old problems. ‘Old Way, New Way’ is consequently a manifestation of the much sought after collaboration between academic researchers and sports practitioners which works on a psychological as well as a physical level in a bid to continue the sportsperson’s quest for skill development and continuous technical improvement.

References

Bramhan, P., Hylton, K., Jackson, D. and Nesti, M. (1999) Introduction, in, Bramhan, P., Hylton, K., Jackson, D. and Nesti, M (Eds.) Sport Development: Policy, Process and Practice London and New York: Routledge

Collins, M.F. (2003), Social Exclusion from Sport and Leisure, quoted in, Houlihan, B. (Ed.) Sport and Society: a Student Introduction London: SAGE

Fairs, J. (1987) The Coaching Process: The Essence of Coaching, in, Sports Coach Journal, Volume 11, Number 1

Jones, R.L. (1997) Effective Instructional Coaching Behaviour: A Review of Literature, in, International Journal of Physical Education, Volume, 24, Number 1

Lyle, J.W.B. (1999) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice, in, Cross, N. and Lyle, J.W.B. (Eds.) The Coaching Process: Principles and Practice for Sport Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann

Messner, M.A. (2002), Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports Minneapolis and

London: University of Minnesota Press

Palmer, G.V. (1999) Cricket Coachmaster: Batting Mechanics London: Gary Palmer

Penney, D. (2000) Physical Education: In what and who’s Interests? , in, Jones, R.L. and Armour, K.M. (Eds.) Sociology of Sport: Theory and Practice London and New York: Longman

Polley, M. (1998) Moving the Goalposts: A History of Sport and Society since 1945 London and New York: Routledge

Rogers, J. (2007) Coaching Skills Buckingham: Open University Press

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