What’s Up, Albert & The 300yd Shuttle?

By James Walker, CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

In this day and age of technology (cell phones, ipods, laptops, aps, internet, google, etc) that makes gathering information very accessible it’s amazing that so much incorrect and ignorant information permeates the airwaves, internet, and newsprint spheres. And this comes from journalist or in this case sports journalists who we used to rely on for accurate information! Especially since correct and reliable information is only a phone call or keystroke away.

There are countless university exercise science professors and sports-performance-strength coaches, all eagerly ready to be interviewed by some famous sports journalist concerning Albert Haynesworth’s struggle in the 300-yard shuttle. Why can’t he pass it or how should he have prepared in order to pass the easy or hard, depending on the commentator, 300 yd-shuttle test. “He needs more cardio”, “why didn’t his trainer prepare him”, “why didn’t he lose weight”, oh yeah he did lose weight, about 35 lb, “so why didn’t he pass”, or “just because he lost weight doesn’t mean he’s in football shape”, right?

I know all of my former professors, strength coaches, and exercise specialist who have mentored me the past 30 years cringe every time they hear, read, or see the responses from all of the media experts.

The 300-yard shuttle run consists of sprinting 25-yards down and back six times touching the line with the foot in order to complete 300 yards total distance. The times may range from 56 seconds for football receivers and defensive backs to 73 seconds for offensive and defensive linemen. After completion the participant rests 3-5 minutes (3 & ½ for the NFL Washington Redskins) then repeats the test a second time. The times can then be averaged or compared to determine the athlete’s fitness level.

The purpose of the 300-yard shuttle run is to test maximal anaerobic-sprint endurance and/or conditioning. In order to attain a reliable score the participant must sprint at maximum effort and not pace themselves. The general testing populations are sports that involve anaerobic-sprint endurance like-.basketball, hockey, rugby, and soccer.

Now I must confess that when I had to take Testing and Measurement and Statistics decades ago I thought I’d never use any of it but I’ve consistently relied on and utilized the information over and over, especially administering performance assessments and analyzing training data.

All test must be valid, reliable, and objective, all interrelated values and that the measurement must measure the component that it supposed to measure; measure the component consistently; and result in similar scores regardless of the administer.

Let’s look at a quick review of those terms valid, reliable, and objective.

Test validity refers to the degree to which the test measures a specific component that it is intended to measure. The test should contain tasks that reflect those specific components to be measured or it’s content validity.

Test reliability refers to the degree to which the test yields consistent and stable scores over repeated trials and time. Reliability depends upon how strict the test is conducted and how motivated the participant is to perform the test.

Test objectivity refers to the degree to which the test can be measured repeatedly and reliably by various testers with minimum subjectivity.

So in spite of how you may feel about Albert and his conditioning it’s amazing that this test is used to test football players, yet alone a 300 lb lineman. Considering that the average play last between 4-5 seconds, why would you test something that last 50-70 seconds? Does this sound valid, reliable, or objective?

First of all, 4-5 seconds of maximal effort utilize absolute strength, power, and speed, all anaerobic bio-components that involve IIB fast-twitch muscle fibers and alactic-glycolytic energy systems.

Secondly, 56-73 seconds of maximal effort (actually slightly sub-maximal) utilize strength and speed endurance that involves IIA fast-twitch muscle fibers and lactic-glycolytic energy systems. The two are very different in their respective functions and actions.

Thirdly, there is another sub-maximal speed endurance IIA fiber that utilizes a glycolytic-oxidative energy system.

Fourthly, none of these are aerobic which starts to kick in after several minutes of continuous sub-maximal effort that involve slow–twitch IA muscle fibers and primarily an oxidative energy system.

In the exercise science community it really doesn’t make since. So when these experts see test such as the 300-yard shuttle or parts of the NFL combine test they cringe, shake their heads, and wonder if any of them ever picks up an exercise science journal or text.

In summary the test is not a very good indicator of anaerobic alactic power required for football. It does not make sense to any knowledgeable exercise scientist. A better test for football conditioning would involve maximal efforts of 4-5 second that are repeated numerous times with 15-30 seconds of recovery to simulate the huddle. Watch the game, doesn’t that make more since?           

‘Train Safe, Smart, & Results Driven’

NBC Sports Bolt vs. Johnson?

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

A Rebuttal by Mike Florio

In response to Thursday’s comments from Titans running back Chris Johnson regarding an ongoing desire to race record-setting sprinter Usain Bolt, a source with knowledge of the situation tells us that Bolt’s representatives actively have been pushing the event.

Word of the race first emerged in early January, when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Bolt’s people and Johnson’s people were working toward setting up a race for charity.  (We suggest calling it the “Usain Bolt Chris Johnson Dunder Mifflin Sabre Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For the Cure.”)  Within hours, however, Bolt’s agent said “[t]here is no truth to the story,” and that Bolt “doesn’t follow the NFL too closely.”

So it was odd that Johnson said Thursday that he plans to race Bolt next year.  But, apparently, talks indeed have occurred and continue to occur, notwithstanding the denials of Bolt’s agent, whose word on the matter was accepted as Gospel truth, possibly because agents have an impeccable reputation for honesty.

Per our source, the two sides have not been able to agree on a distance.  Johnson presumably wants a shorter race, and Bolt wants a longer distance.  The folks at NBC Olympics previously have determined that Bolt’s 40-yard split from his world-record time in the 100-meter dash during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing was “a hair slower” than Johnson’s 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. (end of article).

Bolt vs. Johnson- Absurd! By James Walker

Okay, Wlit Chamberlain (basketball great) vs. Muhammad Ali (boxing great) in boxing or  Larry Allen (NFL lineman great) vs. Hossein Rezazadeh (olympic weightlifting great)  in the clean and jerk or Javier Gomez (triathlon great) vs Lance Armstrong (cycling great) in the Tour De France, come on! And I do do not mean any disrespect to any of these great athletes but each talent is specific, especially on a world class level. By the way neither would I reverse the likelihood of the underdog beating the favorite in their respective sports. It’s absurd!

Back in the 1971 there was talk and negotiations for Chamberlain to box Ali. Many athletes considered Chamberlain to be one of the strongest most versatile athletes in the world at that time (basketball, arm wrestling, volleyball, track, weightlifting, et) but getting in the ring with Ali would have been a foolish thing for Chamberlain, and he was fortunate to have someone like his dad and Jim Brown (NFL legend and great all around athlete) to talk him out of it, preventing him from going down in athletic history as the man who got beat up, knocked out, or made a fool of in the ring instead of being a basketball legend. Jim Brown knew since he dad challenged Ali himself. One morning Ali met Brown during his morning roadwork and Brown attempted to hit Ali with a flurry of punches and couldn’t , while Ali hit him at will, which convinced Brown how absurd it was!

I think Larry Allen is a great and future Hall of Fame football player and exceptional power lifter but I don’t think that he could come close beating Hossein Rezazadeh in the clean and jerk at 263.5 kg. Like wise, Javier Gomez is a great world class triathlete but I am willing to bet that he wouldn’t beat Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France!  It’s fascinating to read and hear about sports writers and enthusiast who embellish such non-sense.

According to The IFFA’s biomechanical analysis of Bolt’s world record 100m sprint, the split times (st) are as follows: reaction time (rt)=.146, 20m st=2.89, 40m st=4.64, 60m st =6.31, 80m st=7.92, 100m=9.58 seconds. If Chris Johnson said he could beat Bolt then he needs to start running to beat these times. I think that Johnson’s best High school 100m time is 10.38s. I thnk that he’s faster now so he needs to enter a race to get accustomed to the blocks, spikes, track, pre race pressure, reaction time (rt), start phase, drive phase, maximal acceleration phase, etc. Chris needs to race against other top sprinters from that race such as, Tyson Gay (rt=.144, 20m st=2.92, 40m st=4.70, 60m st=6.39, 80m st=8.02, 100m=9.71s, now his best is 9.69s) or Asafa Powell (rt=.134, 20m st=2.91, 40m st=4.71, 60m st=6.42, 80m st=8.10 , 100m=9.84s ) and Richard  Thompson who had the best reaction time in that race at .119 and ended up with a  100m=9.93s. Chris could start with the USA Indoor Track and Field Championship series with the 60m, since that would give him a credible time.

Consider this, only 40 or so various sprinters have run sub 10 second 100m at meets  in recorded history, with some of them running sub 10’s several times during their careers, Chris Johnson has not yet broken the sub 10’s barrier, until then it’s an absurd discussion. It’s like Bolt saying that he could break Johnson’s NFL records, without putting in the time to have football skills…it’s absurd!

Marvin Lewis vs. AE-Combine Preparation!

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Theredzone.org, Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports when it comes to evaluating talent in the draft, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is always quick to point out “the film doesn’t lie”.

On Friday on Dan Dakich’s show in Indianapolis, Lewis did chide those who go through unusual steps of preparing for the combine, saying that the way most go about it is “asinine”.
 The Bengals did show last year, with the selection of Andre Smith, that a disastrous combine won’t wreck their chances of being selected. And for that case, neither does the pro day.
 Among other things from the interview, courtesy of our friends at Sports Radio Interviews:

On players who leave school to workout and prepare for the Combine: “The other one that just kills me is that they spend three or four years with a strength coach on a college campus and as soon as the season’s over they go somewhere else to some guy who doesn’t know them from a hole in the wall and pay this guy a bunch of money. It doesn’t make any sense at all. It used to be that they had to pay for it and now it’s part of the agent deal. They’ve cultivated a whole industry out of it. It doesn’t make sense. It’s actually asinine that if I go to school in Florida, now I have to go to Arizona to train. If I go to school in Arizona, I have to go to Georgia to train. These guys have the best facilities and the best people working with them year round and now all the sudden they got to go somewhere else. You don’t need to go away. A football player is a football player.”

On how much stock he puts in workouts at the Combine: “The workout becomes a confirmation for a lot of players. It’s got to be judged individually with the player. The number one thing is what that guy has done on his college campus. So as these college players who are going to be underclassmen who may be listening to your show should know to take stock in what they do on the football field their – junior and senior – their last two seasons and not get all caught up in what this is.”

On what the NFL Scouting Combine is: “This is just a confirmation; that I can run. I weigh this much. I’m smart enough. I can carry on a conversation. I can learn. I can understand. And I’m a good person.”

AE Response By James Walker

I respect Marvin Lewis and agree with his opinion about the best current evaluation of a prospective football payer is their game film. Although you can always find exceptions to this with those players with little or no game film such as Willy Parker, Mike Lewis, and Ray Crittenden to name a few.

I also agree that many college strength programs are top notch and do a wonderful job at preparing athletes. Though I disagree with Marvin’s premise that athletes shouldn’t seek out additional help to increase their stock especially since with the current system there is so much money and opportunity involved.

First, most college football programs involve over a 100 athletes it’s difficult to address the specific needs of individual players or a select group each week while neglecting everyone else.

Second, those athletes may have specific needs involving strength, speed, power, mobility, flexibility, agility, nutrition, technique, structural integrity, soft tissue health, etc. From a logistical perspective most of these issues cannot get addressed per individual. Therefore a critical evaluation or assessment is vital.

Third, If any of these specific needs is not addressed the athlete will be at a disadvantage and unable to display their best performance on possibly their biggest stage. Unfortunately some of them go into the combine, pro-day, or camp ill prepared by innocently overlooking their specific needs and is released. Many do not receive a second chance.

Again most college strength coaches or programs by themselves do not have the resources or time to address this individually. So under the current system the athlete needs to do whatever is legally or ethically necessary to increase their opportunity.