Running

Paving the Way for Heat Safety in Athletes, Warfighters, and Laborers

Yuri Hosokawa, PhD, ATC

Vice President of Communication and Vice President of Education

 

Every October, members of KSI travel to Washington D.C. to volunteer at the Marine Corps Marathon medical tent. This year’s trip was also a special one because we were able to continue our efforts from last year in building relationships and exchange ideas with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

 

On Thursday, October 19th, KSI had the honor of gathering representatives from federal sectors that regulate heat activity modification guidelines or study implications of heat in the welfare of warfighters and laborers. The meeting was sponsored by the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS: https://toolkit.climate.gov/nihhis/), whose mission is to understand global health threat from extreme heat, develop a robust and science-informed response, and build capacity and communication networks to improve resilience. Participating agencies of NIHHIS include: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), NIOSH, NOAA, OSHA, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

 

KSI has a good history in working collaboratively with the occupational and military sectors, however, it was not until last year that we were able to gather representatives from all three sectors– athletic, occupational, and military­– to convene at single location and exchange ideas for future collaborations. Integration of climate and weather data from NOAA is also critical in making data driven decision to enhance the policies and guidelines for the people in these settings who are often exposed to extreme heat. Participants of this year’s meeting are currently working on a manuscript that gathers current consensus regarding heat activity modification guidelines for the physically active population (athletes, warfighters, and laborers), which we hope to release next year.

 

 

On the following day, we attended the IIRM Sports Medicine Conference hosted by the International Institute for Race Medicine, MedStar Sports Medicine, and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network. The meeting was attended by many medical providers and students who were also volunteering at the Marine Corps Marathon. At the meeting, Dr. Douglas Casa gave a presentation regarding wearable technologies in sport. Despite the recent advancement in wearable technology, his presentation warned that there is yet to be reliable, real-time, noninvasive hydration and internal body temperature assessment devices on the market. As the field of wearable technology continues to grow, researchers and clinicians must stay up-to-date with the technology advancement while also acknowledging the technological limitations to make the best-informed decisions about using data from these devices.

 

 

Later in the afternoon of the conference, we also participated in a workshop that was designed to review various treatment algorithms for medical conditions commonly seen at race medical tents in the form of problem-based-learning scenarios.  Exercise-associated collapse, cardiovascular arrest, exertional heat stroke, exertional hyponatremia, exercise associated muscle cramping and bleeding-control were covered in the workshop, all lead by the content experts. The hands-on workshop provided opportunities for young professionals to practice the skills for the first time and stimulated the exchange of various experiences from the veteran providers.

 

 

KSI was stationed at the Aid Station 9 on the day of the race, which was located between mile-21 and 22. The wet bulb globe temperature reading one-hour past the start of the race was in the mid-60’s, but quickly reached the high 70’s by noon, placing this year’s race as one of the warmer race in the history of the Marine Corps Marathon. The coordination of work among the corpsmen, athletic trainers, nurses, physical therapists, and physicians at the aid station was great. We also treated several exertional heat stroke patients on-site, where we made sure to cool the patients below 39°C before transport.

 

Our trip to Washington D.C. is a true demonstration of our mission statement– to provide research, education, advocacy and consultation to maximize performance, optimize safety and prevent sudden death for the athlete, warfighter and laborer. Whether we are treating marathon runners from exertional heat stroke or optimizing the regulations for worker safety in the heat, the physiological premise and impact of exertional heat stress is the “same” across athletes, warfighters, and laborers. Integration of minds across disciplines, such as the NIHHIS meeting, and continued advocacy to provide evidence based exertional heat stroke care are some of the core missions we will continue to carry forward from KSI.  #Strive2Protect

CamelBak Elite Athlete Testing

Gabe Giersch, MS

Associate Director of Education and Assistant Director of Athlete Performance and Safety

KSI had the awesome, unique opportunity to test two CamelBak sponsored pro-athletes over

the course of two days! The athletes were Lea Davison, a two-time Olympian Mountain Biker (2012 & 2016), and Gediminas Grinius a decorated Lithuanian trail runner. Some very fit, athletically decorated media personnel underwent testing as well. The athletes were able to undergo heat and sweat testing, where they exercised for 60-minutes total. Because it was a hot environment, the athletes were asked to collect their sweat in a specially prepared towel,and atthe end of their hour, we didwhole-body wash downs to collect samples to assess their sweat electrolyte concentrations. Whole-body wash downs are the gold standard for assessing whole-body sweat electrolyte concentration and very few labs across the country still use this technique. Many have moved over to local collection in sweat pouches, which is a great method of assessing local sweat, but not necessarily valid for whole-body calculations.

The athletes were also able to complete an anaerobic threshold test or a VO2max test where we tested their ability to ward-off an accumulation of lactate (a by-product of anaerobic metabolism) where we could extrapolate their anaerobic threshold based on continual readings, or their maximal oxygen uptake by exercising until volitional fatigue, respectively. This was a great opportunity for KSI and allowed us to use our expertise to interact with some incredible athletes.

NSCA 40th Annual National Conference

Courteney Benjamin MS, CSCS

Associate Director of Communication and Assistant Director of Athlete Performance and Safety

Members of KSI had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 40th annual National Strength and Conditioning Conference
where strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, sport scientists, sport nutritionists, and health enthusiasts gathered to present, network, and honor certain outstanding members.

 

We were fortunate to attend a lecture given by this year’s Sport Scientists of the Year, Shawn M, Arent, and Dave DiFabio from Polar, whom we had the opportunity to work with in the past. They discussed the use of wearable technology and how coaches and sport scientists should start thinking about applying the knowledge we gather from this data to practice.

Ryan Curtis, Yasuki Sekiguchi, and I presented some of the recent research findings from the KSI. I presented a poster titled, “Analysis of Women’s Cross Country Lab Tests Results and Training Over the Course of a Competitive Fall Season” on Thursday (7/13/17). I examined the change in lactate testing, VO2 max and training of the UCONN Women’s Cross Country team during their fall season. The major finding of this study was the vOBLA (velocity at onset of blood lactate) was significantly higher during the middle of the season while VO2 max did not change throughout the season. During my presentation, I was very excited to reconnect with two of my former colleagues from Florida State University. Daniel Shaefer was the former director of strength and conditioning at FSU and is now working on is PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jon Jost was the former FSU director of strength and conditioning and recently accepted a position with Gatorade. I am hopeful that we will get an opportunity to collaborate on future research. I also had the fortune to meet Kristen Holmes-Winn, from WHOOP, who funded the research Ryan and I presented at this conference.

 

Yasuki Sekiguchi presented a poster titled “Heartrate Variability between Starters and Nonstarters throughout a Collegiate Soccer Season.” During this study, HRV and training load metrics were monitored over the course of D1
college soccer season. The relationship between these variables were examined for all players, starters, and nonstarters. The major finding of this research was that acute:chronic training load ratio might be used to explain the changes in HRV over the course of a Division 1 male soccer team

Ryan Curtis did an oral presentation on Saturday (7/15/17) titled “Relationship between Sleep, Training Load and Fitness in Collegiate Soccer.” Overall this study illustrated that sleep quality may be more sensitive to increased training load than sleep quantity. Collegiate athletes with increased training loads have increased light sleep but not REM sleep or overall sleep duration.

Outside of the conference, we had a fantastic time exploring the Las Vegas strip and the beautiful hotel hosting us and the conference, Paris Las Vegas. I am extremely thankful to the NSCA and KSI for the opportunity to collaborate and learn from others in the field while making memories that will last a lifetime. I look forward to attending this event next year and present the results from our upcoming projects.

 

Korey Stringer Institute Participates in Ragnar Relay New England

By Rebecca Stearns, PhD, ATC, Chief Operating Officer, KSI

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The weekend of August 26th found eight close members of the KSI family at Northfield Mountain, MA, ready to take on a grueling 121.6 mile trail relay.  The Ragnar Relay consists of a team of 8 people, who all run three distinct loops of varying distances to complete this race (the three loops amount to 15.2 miles total per person).  The team members take turns, running one at a time and through the night to complete each round of loops and reach the finish line. The most elite teams have finished this course in about 15 hours, but the KSI team only had 24 hours to complete the course to officially complete the race. Lucky members are able to even catch a few hours of sleep between their running loops.

 

As it would only be appropriate for a team of heat experts, the weekend proved to not only provide a logistical challenge (through a winding and hilly 2,700 feet of total elevation gain), but also proved to challenge the teams heat preparedness, with the starting heat index of 89°F.  The team’s running order and members consisted of the following individuals:

 

  1. Yasuki Sekiguchi, KSI Intern
  2. Rob Huggins, VP of Research, VP of Athlete Health and Safety, KSI
  3. Tutita Casa, Assistant Professor at Uconn’s Neag School of Education
  4. Yuri Hosokawa, Director of Communication, Director of Education, KSI
  5. Doug Casa, CEO, KSI
  6. Will Adams, Vice President of Sport Safety, KSI
  7. Megan McCollum, Research Assistant, KSI
  8. Jake Earp, Assistant Professor, University of Rhode Island’s Kinesiology Department

 

The KSI team finished in 22 hours and 44 minutes, which clinched the Corporate Team category by over 1 hour.  The team also placed 3rd overall for the mixed team division and 11th out of the 150 teams participating. The winning time this year, given the new course route, was 19:33.05.

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In true team fashion, the rugged finish medals all create a Ragnar puzzle with fitted together.  A big congratulation to all the team members that participated!

 

 

Back in Falmouth

By Yuri Hosokawa, MAT, ATC, Director of Communication and Education

IMG_8657Twenty-seven research and medical volunteers from the Korey Stringer Institute, EC Lee Lab and University of Connecticut joined the 44th New Balance Falmouth Road Race in Falmouth, MA on August 21st. This was the fourth consecutive year in which KSI conducted a field research study at the race in conjunction with working in the medical tent treating exertional heat stroke patients. In this year’s study, we aimed to (1) investigate runner’s knowledge on heat and hydration and behaviors on race day and (2) investigate the use of real time gastrointestinal temperature feedback in altering runner’s behavior during the race. We also assessed participants’ readiness to exercise in the heat by measuring their cardiovascular fitness and their response to heat stress in our environmental chamber.

 

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KSI’s Rebecca Stearns, PhD, ATC and Luke Belval, MS, ATC also spoke at the Medical Symposium hosted by the Falmouth Hospital, which was attended by many medical volunteers and local healthcare professionals. Dr. Stearns’ presentation, The Tale of Two Heat Strokes, introduced case studies of two runners who suffered from exertional heat stroke at the same race with distinctly different prognosis due to the different treatment they received. Belval’s presentation, The Fluid Needs for Today’s Athletes, provided evidence-based suggestions on hydration. At the Health & Fitness Expo, William Adams, PhD, ATC spoke on Optimizing Safety and Maximizing Performance During Running the Heat, which was attended by many runners who were going to be racing the following day.

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We would like to thank the Falmouth Road Race Board of Directors for their continued support and partnership with the Korey Stringer Institute in supporting our mission to educate runners and continue our research in ways to optimize their performance and safety during warm weather road races such as Falmouth Road Race.