Training Day Two at the AIS

Today was another day fully dedicated to the AIS. Luckily we got a late start this morning because our first lecture of the morning was cancelled. The speaker was stuck in NW Australia due to bad weather. We started our morning with our first speaker, Adam, who works in the Skill Acquisition department at the AIS. This lecture was very interesting because he spoke a lot about the coach and athlete relationship as well as the importance of variability and adaptability in training sessions. This talk gave me very good ideas on various ways to improve the training of athletes at an amateur and professional level. After our first lecture session we had our lunch break. After lunch we had an afternoon full of lectures. Our first lecture after lunch was given by Nathan who works in the Recovery department at the AIS. This lecture was very important to my research topic on injury prevention, so I found this lecture very interesting. Nathan focused on how important recovery is for injury prevention in the future as well as the importance of restoring the athlete to their full potential. There are many various aspects of recovery that all play a major role in restoring the athlete. Nutrition, stretching, sleep, hydrotherapy, massage, and hydration all play an equally significant role, and no one aspect is more important than the other. I was able to ask Nathan many questions that were beneficial to my final project for my study abroad program, and I even got his email to ask further questions if any come up. After Nathan we had a lecture on Strength and Conditioning given by Kym. Kym was very knowledgable about his area of study and also very talkative, so we were able to learn a lot from him. At the AIS they focus on the various areas of the body used for a particular sport, but they also realize that each athlete is different than another. Therefore, for a volleyball team of twelve players there could be 8 or 9 different work out routines. In this field of work they have to be very attentive to how the athlete feels, and know when to not push them too hard because that very often leads to injury. Our next stop on the tour of the AIS was the Biomechanics office which was very intriguing. They had hundreds of cool gadgets and gizmo's to use to measure the various aspects of athletes across all sports. For example, an athlete with an ankle or foot injury will place different points of pressure on their foot than if they are healthy. By utilizing pressure sensitive equipment the biomechanists are able to tell when an athlete is back to full recovery. They also have 3D machine capabilities to monitor running styles and cycling styles. This line of work would be ideal for engineers who are interested in sport. Next on the list was dinner, and then it was back to the rooms to relax and pack for our journey to Cairns (pronounced "cans") tomorrow. We fly from Canberra to Sydney and then Sydney to Cairns and don't get in until about 11 at night. However, our hotel is on the beach and it will be in the high 70's low 80's all week. I absolutely cannot wait!!! 

See you in Cairns.