1. Issues in exercise and sport. Tom & Sam.

2. Burnout and withdrawal??? Today’s modern athletes are subjected to an ever increasing demand on them to perform beyond their abilities. Athletes may believe they have to train harder, to possible dangerous levels, to achieve success. It is assumed that more training will result in better sports performance. This may not be the case; hence, Burnout and Withdrawal. Morgan et al (1987) discovered a mood disturbance in training regimes of swimmers.

3. Key Study – Costill et al (1991) “ Adaptations to training volume in swimming.”

4. Methodology… Aim: To investigate if different amounts of training in swimmers will produce a measurable difference in performance. Participants:  24 male college swimmers.  Divided into two groups, ‘long’ and ‘short’.  Match pairs design was used; Costill matched pp’s in stroke, prior experience and skill.

5. Procedure: First 4 weeks: Both, daily sessions of 1.5 hours. Next 6 weeks: Short, 1.5 hours per day. Long, 3 hours per day. Final 14 weeks: Both, daily sessions of 1.5 hours. Measurements: Swimming power. (CYBEX machine) Heart-rate. Muscle biopsies. Blood samples. Swimming technique.

6. Results & Conclusions: Short Group Long Group Swimming power increased by 18.4%. Sprint velocity increased by 3.9%. Stable Cortisol levels. Swimming power increased by 11.6%. Sprint velocity increased by 3.7% Increased Cortisol levels. Costill concluded that lower levels of training do not disadvantage an athlete; in fact, you can suggest that athletes may benefit from a lower level of training. There was also some signs of fatigue in the Long group; evidence for such is the increased cortisol levels and reduced testosterone. ‘The Profile of Mood states’ (POMs) questionnaire assessed the mental- health of participants and found no significant differences between the groups.

7. Applications Sport Coaching: Use Variety. Be a role model. Emphasise the process rather than the outcome. Encourage time off. Quality is better than quantity.

8. Evaluation: Internal Validity:  Face validity.  Objective and Scientific Measures. (Heart rate, blood samples, cortisol levels, CYBEX etc)  Matched Pairs, reduces effect of individual differences.  Hawthorne Effect. External Validity:  Population Validity. (Small Sample)  Mundane Realism. (College Swimmers/Sports setting)  Androcentric.  Fairly modern study(1991).  Concurrent (POMs) Activity!! Reductionist or holistic? Situational or dispositional? You Decide!