HA HA not my BJ

[MI Official]

7 some odd miles??? my BJ would never go that far :-)

http://www.referee.com/more/Samples/...e_nflrefs.html


[Edited by MI Official on Oct 15th, 2004 at 11:01 AM]

[BoBo]

NFL Refs Go the Distance

All officials understand, or at least should understand, the importance of being in good physical condition. But few studies have been done to measure the physical demands placed on officials in competition.

Last year, the NFL decided to conduct just such a study, with the help of Dr. Kathleen Poole and Dr. Jim Poole, professors at Radford University in Virginia. The Pooles have worked closely with the NFL for nine years and help supervise the officials’ preseason physical testing program.

"We’d been talking through the years about the physical demands of officiating," Kathleen Poole said. "In talking with Larry Upson (director of officiating operations) and Mike Pereira (director of officiating) and some of the officials we found they were interested in finding out, ‘What is the distance they cover?’ ‘What is their heart rate?’ ‘What is their exercise intensity?’ and ‘How many calories burned?’"

With the support of the NFL, which funded the project, the Pooles monitored four officiating crews during the 2003 preseason. The 28 officials, all volunteers, each wore two monitors that measured their heart rate and calories expended. The data was augmented by onsite observations.

"We watched each game from the pressbox," Kathleen Poole said, "and charted what the officials were doing during the game. One of the referees had a 92-yard run, so we went back and looked at his heart rate, and whoo, it was up there!"

The tests showed that on average, each member of the seven-man crew covered an average of 5.9 miles a game (including pregame duties) and burned an average of 711 calories.

Perhaps most illuminating was the effort expended at moderate intensity (roughly defined as running, but at less than a sprint). On average, each official spent 37 percent of each game on the run.

And which position expended the most energy? The back judge, who on average, covered 7.3 miles per game, spending 50 percent of his onfield time working at moderate intensity.

Pereira envisions expanding the program and said that last summer’s testing was a good first step. "We wanted to find some concrete data," he said. "None of us had any idea of the physical demands placed on officials. If anybody had asked me in the past, ‘How much ground do officials cover in a game?’ I wouldn’t have been able to give a definitive answer."

While lower level officials don’t deal with the speed and intensity of an NFL game, the data is still useful. If members of a seven-official crew are covering nearly six miles a game, smaller crews are covering a lot as well.

Kathleen Poole is talking about developing monitoring programs for other sports. After all, fitness is crucial to all officials. "To perform at a high level as an official you have to be in peak condition," Pereira said. "You can’t officiate to the best of your ability if you’re not in condition."

Written by Rick Woelfel, an associate editor of Philadelphia Golf Magazine and New Jersey State Golf. He works various levels of amateur baseball and has also worked basketball, football and softball.



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[SouthGARef]

Our BJ will tell you he spends more than 90% of his time in moderate intensity.

[GarthB]

Originally posted by SouthGARef
Our BJ will tell you he spends more than 90% of his time in moderate intensity.

From my experience a good "BJ" is intense 100% of the time.

[Edited by GarthB on Oct 16th, 2004 at 02:54 AM]

[SouthGARef]

Oh, indeed. We just joke around with our BJ alot, and he's good at taking a little good natured ribbing--trust me, he runs just as hard as the rest of us.

[play, coach or ref]

Hello, just registered, been lurking for a year.

During a pre-season freshman/junior varsity double header this August, I wore a Polar heart rate monitor. Over a three hour period, I averaged 140 beats per minute. I worked as a linesman one game; as umpire the other. Both were high-scoring games. There were many long passes, many long runs, and my referee is one to keep a fast pace in regards to game management.

Normally my resting pulse rate is in the high 50's, so this was a very good aeorbic session for me. My age is 46, for those that really want to know, and my theoretical max heart rate is 175 or so (which I've hit on more than a few occasions when running very hard).

I would be very interested in a follow-up study for officials at all levels, all positions.

[GarthB]

Originally posted by SouthGARef
Oh, indeed. We just joke around with our BJ alot, and he's good at taking a little good natured ribbing--trust me, he runs just as hard as the rest of us.

Zoommmmmmmmmmm.

[CBrockett]

I wonder what kind of calorie burn is associated with 5 games of pop warner ball on saturday.

I would work from 11 in the morning till 9 at night in the state of florida, during the months of august and september.

I would drink like 15 bottles of water throughout the day and not use the rest room until noon time the next day.....

Cbrockett

[Rich]

Originally posted by GarthB

Zoommmmmmmmmmm.

Yup. Zoom is right.

[Mike Simonds]

Here is how to calculate your training levels:

Take 220 (226 if you are a woman).

Subtract your age.

Multiply the result by 65%, 75%, 85% and 92%.

For example, I'm a 44 year-old man:

220 - 44 = 176.

176 x 65% = 114 which is the warm-up range.

176 x 75% = 132 which is the best aerobic fat-burning range.

176 x 85% = 150 which is the start of the strength building range.

176 x 92% = 162 which is the recommended maximum heart rate you should not exceed during a work-out.

Theory is that if you train at a sustained rate of greater than 85% you risk muscle injury and heart failure.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally posted by CBrockett
I wonder what kind of calorie burn is associated with 5 games of pop warner ball on saturday.

I would work from 11 in the morning till 9 at night in the state of florida, during the months of august and september.

I would drink like 15 bottles of water throughout the day and not use the rest room until noon time the next day.....

Cbrockett

And what do you think about that?

[jumpmaster]

Originally posted by CBrockett
I wonder what kind of calorie burn is associated with 5 games of pop warner ball on saturday.

I would work from 11 in the morning till 9 at night in the state of florida, during the months of august and september.

I would drink like 15 bottles of water throughout the day and not use the rest room until noon time the next day.....

Cbrockett

Don't want to sound like a nag - but you should be drinking more. I would also throw in a couple of gatorade or energy drinks. Drinking straight water is good, but it doesn't replace the electrolites (sp?) you are losing through sweating.

I've seen many a man go down because of not drinking enough fluids. Don't let that be you...