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Learning to Think for Themselves High-altitude Training in Tokyo Softer Face for Greater Distance Special Column |
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High-altitude Training in Tokyo |
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It’s not just women’s judo. Scientific methodology and knowledge is being applied in all kinds of sports to enhance the competitiveness of the world’s top athletes. In Japan, the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS), a sub-organization of the National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health (NAASH), has taken the initiative in this area. JISS is a focal point for sports medicine and sports science research in Japan. Not only does it function as a mini-training center—primarily for competitive indoor sports—with a number of training facilities including a gym, pool, and a target practice range, but it also has a full range of sports research and medical facilities, including physiology and biomechanics labs, a medical clinic, and a rehabilitation room. The facilities are truly wonderful. For example, in the normobaric hypoxia training labo, oxygen concentrations can be adjusted to between 17.4% and 13.6%, which are equivalent to 1,500 to 3,500m altitudes. There are also 72 low-oxygen rooms that simulate boarding facilities at high altitudes. This enables athletes to live and train in Tokyo under high-altitude conditions. |
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Looking Inside Muscles | |||
| “I believe we have the best sports medicine, science, and information research facilities in the world,” says JISS Director-General Toshio Asami with pride. “We have a CT scanner and two MRI units as well. As far as I know, no sports facility in the world like ours has MRI capability. When our clinic finds that an athlete has a problem, we can do an MRI right away. “Muscle Cross Sectional Area can be measured with MRI, and degrees of muscle fatigue and metabolism can be read by looking at the changes in muscle tissue that take place over time. This kind of data is useful for athletic training. All Japanese Olympic athletes underwent physical and psychological examinations here before departing for Athens. IOC President Jacques Rogge was so impressed when he visited our facilities that he commented that he was certain Japan would win more medals than ever at this year’s Games.” |
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| Science contributes to sports in many ways. JISS Director-General Asami gives the high jump as an example: “When Dick Fosbury first demonstrated his radial backward flop in the high jump at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the whole world was taken aback. But scientific analysis has shown that, among other advantages, the backward, heads-first style of high-jumping allows for a take off with better form and more power in a way that is rationally conducive to clearing the bar. When you know this, it becomes easier to know how to train. Today, no high-jumper would think of attempting to jump any other way.” In other words, whenever a new technique makes an appearance, science can explain why it works, something that in turn helps to disseminate the new technique. “Previously, people just started using new techniques, and science scrambled to catch up and explain why they worked. But with recent advances in computer simulation technology, science may soon be taking the lead in discovering new ways to move the human body more efficiently.” Another area where science is having a profound effect in is the design and manufacture of sports equipment. Pole-vaulting records soared when glass fiber poles replaced metal poles. Swimsuit materials and designs are constantly evolving to cut down friction with water to a minimum in competitive swimming. Technological innovations in sports equipment can be found closer to home as well—in golf clubs and tennis rackets, for example. |
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