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A two-day International Scientific Symposium presented by the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) was successfully completed yesterday with eight renowned professionals sharing their valuable experiences with the sports community.

Titled "Strength Training Science for Power, Endurance, and Stability Development" this cutting edge international symposium has attracted more than 170 coaches, athletes, trainers, national sports association officials, local sports enthusiasts as well as experts in related fields.

Dr Chung Pak-kwong, Chief Executive at the HKSI, was delighted to see the overwhelming response from the sports community.

"Strength training science plays a pivotal role in developing athletes from basic levels of training all the way to the highest levels of power and speed development for both individuals and team sports alike. Another element of the symposium, core stability training, also assists the body in effectively transferring forces in order to produce high-level efficient and effective movements. Not much has been done in bringing these important topics together and the HKSI is proud for having had the opportunity of hosting such a symposium," said Dr Chung.

"All keynote speakers come here with vast expertise in their areas of studies or research and their presentations have definitely helped us, as Hong Kong is preparing for a series of major games in the forthcoming years."

"With the approaching of the Asian Games in Doha later this year, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2009 Hong Kong East Asian Games, as well as the next Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010, I strongly believe that we should host more scientific symposiums of this kind in order to benefit our athletes in their quest for sporting excellence in these games," added Dr Chung.

Professionals from Australia, Canada, England, Japan, the United States and Hong Kong addressed a number of key topics in strength training science at the symposium, an event which also provided local and overseas experts with the opportunity to share and exchange their views and experiences in related fields. Participants were also given the chance to interact with the speakers during the practical and demonstration sessions.

Keynote speaker George Gandy, a UK Hall of Fame Coach and the coach/adviser to former world leading middle distance runner Sebastian Coe, gave a presentation on the topic "Strength, Speed, and Endurance: the preparation of a Commonwealth Games 1500 metre gold medalist". Currently the Director of Athletics & Endurance Coaching Consultant to UK Athletics from the High Performance Athletics Centre of the Loughborough University, Gandy also conducted a valuable practical session with the theme "Foundational leg conditioning for endurance runners".

Another presenter John Gray, from the University of Waterloo in Canada and doctoral student of world-renowned spine biomechanics researcher Dr Stuart McGill, spoke on "Beyond core stability: improving injury prevention and athletic performance in elite athletes" and conducted a practical session with the theme "Quantifying core stability: tools and techniques for assessing low back injury risk in athletes".

Hiroshi Hasegawa from the Laboratory for Exercise Science in the Sports Science Department of Ryukoku University, Japan, and consultant to J-League soccer team, presented his topic "Explosive speed, agility and interval training for high performance athletes".

Randy Huntington, a USATF Master Coach of Horizontal Jumps and coach to many Olympic champions, including Mike Powell, conducted a practical session with theme "The utilization of technology in power sports to enhance performance".

Dr Robert Newton, foundation professor in exercise and sports science at Edith Cowan University, Australia, is a world-renowned researcher and expert in biomechanics and addressed a topic "Assessment and monitoring of athlete's strength and power". He also held a practical/demonstration session on "Developing and assessing power with Ballistic Measurement System".

Another Australian sports scientist and lecturer in exercise physiology from Edith Cowan University, Dr Mike McGuigan presented on the topic of "Strength training for endurance athletes: research and practical application" and also worked with Dr Newton in conducting the practical/demonstration session on the theme "Developing and assessing power with Ballistic Measurement System".

Local Pilates expert Annemarie Munk, a former Hong Kong swimmer who represented Hong Kong at the 1988 Olympic Games, presented on the topic "Pilates for the enhancement of athletic performance", while Anthony Peterson, of the USA, addressed the important topic of "Power: the key to human performance".

This is the second time the HKSI has hosted this International Scientific Symposium to facilitate international exchange in sports science at the elite level. The theme of the previous symposium held in February 2006 was "The Emerging Science and Practice of Recovery".