QR Reds aid sports science research
QR Reds players pushing their bodies to the limit in off-season training will be doing more than laying the foundation for a fitter, faster and stronger rugby team in 2009, they'll also be doing their bit to push the boundaries of sports science.
The Reds Athletic Performance Co-ordinator Dirk Spits has enlisted the players in two separate University studies, with two others waiting in the wings.
One of the studies could help athletes in all sports combat lactic acid build-up and neuromuscular fatigue, while another looks at jumping ability and its correlation with speed.
"The Reds have been developing closer relationships with university researchers and sports scientists in Queensland and involving our professional athletes in studies like this is an important part of that as well as gaining that extra edge in performance," said Spits.
"Hopefully it will eventually lead to advances in sports medicine that we can share."
The lactic acid study will look at the effects of a Body Science Supplement on player performance with the potential to decrease lactic acid build up and the onset of neuromuscular fatigue.
As part of the study, headed by sports dietitian Dr Liz Broad and involving co-Researchers Dr Jeff Coombes of the University of Queensland, Gary Cowin (Wesley Hospital) and the Reds' Dirk Spits and Damien Austin, players using the supplementation will be given a range of tests over a period of four weeks.
In the second study, led by Stuart Mitchell, Master of Philosophy Research Student at UQ's School of Human Movement Studies they are attempting to establish a relationship between jump variables and sprinting performance. Players are currently training once per week at the Queensland Academy of Sport complex at Nathan where the testing is conducted.
Two other proposed off-season studies are still to be finalised.
