Sport science and stuff!

Since last posts have predominantly been in Finnish, I think it's time to offer something that our goalie Michael does not HAVE to Google Translate. I actually tried that, and I have to say that no wonder he thinks I'm a bit retarded. So just a word of warning for everyone: do not try Google Translating this piece of amazing literary wizardry with a hint of humor. Not from English to Finnish, or vice versa.

A lot of stuff has happened since the last post, because once again a quite a bit of time has passed. We shall begin with our little trip to our sole rivals home turf, as Oxford Dark Blues invited me, Sara and few Dragons representatives to attend the world famous Oxford - Cambridge varsity. This was of course the not so well known event of the series, ice hockey. We actually had Cambridge visiting us the Wednesday before the game, as they wanted some extra ice and we decided to share our session with the Light Blues. This was mostly because if they would win, that would help us massively in the standings. On top of just watching the game and enjoying few cups of beer, one of the reasons for making the journey down to Oxford was to have a little talk with the Oxford secretary Rod and Cambridge manager/captain Carl about the future of the league, and if there is something we can do anything about it. To be honest, this season has been absolutely horrid game-wise, and the league table is filled with forfeits. This is because BUIHA is extremely strict about rescheduling games, and the circumstances under which this can be done. It has been a constant headache for several teams through the season, not only because EIHA is apparently completely incapable of organizing referees with less than a three-month notice. The game itself was one way traffic in the favor of the Darker shade of Blue, as they completely smashed the Lighter side of Blue by scoring 17 goals against their one.

All the pictures and videos in this post have been captured with my Samsung Galaxy S, hence the quality.

Cambridge fans.

For the videos, you might want to turn down the volume a bit. It was quite loud out there, mostly because the Oxford fans were quite delighted about the score.

As mentioned in the last post, which none of you non-Finnish speakers for the obvious reasons had a chance to read, the first deadline has already been met and the second of the term is actually tomorrow. The pace of studying has really been turned up a notch, and the amount of reading and searching for relevant studies is getting out of control. I guess the shit just got real at London Met and it is time to put the working gloves on. But we have also had something actually interesting to do, as the researchers at the university constantly need participants in all kinds of studies that take place in the university. Some might remember (if I ever even mentioned it here) that last year I took part in a study that examined anaerobic power production, repeated sprints and whatnot, this time the study was along the same lines. The usual test is probably common to many athletes who play sports that involve anaerobic work, power and speed: the Wingate test. The participant warms up and after slapping a heart rate meter and the gas analyzer mask on, they perform an all-out-balls-to-the-walls 30 second sprint against a resistance equivalent to 7,5% of the body weight. The peak power, power drop, average power, heart rate, blood lactate and oxygen uptake among several other things are being measured.

In this study, the idea was to test if this could be replaced by a specialized cross-trainer ergometer, as using whole body instead of just legs SHOULD be more exhausting and anaerobic. The machine itself looks kinda funny, and quite different from a standard machine you'll see in any old gym. The test itself was the same, apart from the fact that in the cross-trainer the resistance would not be 7,5%, it would be 13,5% of ones body weight. The test included also measuring recovery over a one hour period post-exercise, with blood lactate being taken several times. Basically it meant being poked in to the fingers with a needle repeatedly.

This right here is a little glimpse of what sport scientists actually do for the people who do not have a clue what sport science means. Does not matter if it's research or working with a team, the tests and the data remains the same. What is done with the data afterwards is what makes the difference between these two.

Some of the pictures are me taking the test on the cycle and my results after the cross-trainer, and the person on the cross-trainer is the most over-performing German I have ever met: Felix "Mc Skinnybitch" Falkenberg.

My oxygen consumption and CO2 exertion during the cross-trainer and the post-exercise period.

If you want to get an idea of the proportion of these figures, you can go to your local gym and see what kind of power figures the cross-trainers out there give out. Or just take part in the study yourself. ;)

On the cycle.

Cycloergometer heart rate on the upper graph, and the gas analysis on the lower one.

Handsome-Ollie came over to see me suffer, and he wasn't disappointed! 

The difference in power between an ice hockey player and a footballer.  Ice hockey 1, football 0.

Felix recording the resting values.

Engineering and a lot of welding. 

This is what the gas analyzer pumps out every few seconds.Have fun analyzing the data.

I also have a video of Felix doing the actual test on cross trainer, and the first blood lactate measurement. Once again, turn the volume down a bit.

Right now it is time to focus heavily on studying, without forgetting the fun side of things. We have a Dragons social coming up, as well as hopefully a large sport science student get-together! Weather is also looking quite nice, and the whole weekend will be sunny weather, and the thermometer wont stop it's raise until it reaches the +18 mark every day this weekend. May have to crack a brewski or five to celebrate the real arrival of the spring with Sara!


Have fun you all, no matter where you are! And remember to eat healthy, drink a lot of fluids, snack fruits in stead of crisps and exercise like you mean it!