Recovery

SSA Blog: Heading in the right direction

SSA Blog: Heading in the right direction

Concussion and brain trauma are emotive subjects in sport. As research continues to uncover the impact of traumatic head injuries, discussions about safety and the long-term health of players will continue to grow. In the USA, as early as 1906 doctors were publishing papers highlighting the dangers of concussion linked to playing American Football. In the UK, the FIELD study and other research have begun to uncover a pattern between increased incidence of dementia in ex-footballers and heading the ball.

SSA Blog: Recovery position...

SSA Blog: Recovery position...

Earlier this month we took a look at the Premier League’s Project Restart as growing evidence suggested players could face increased injury risk upon their return. The risk of injury has been associated with deconditioning during the lockdown period and the relatively short reconditioning time before competitive games restart. Initial data from the Bundesliga, plus, now famous, research from the NFL during its lockout season of 2011 suggest injuries will be a greater risk for Premier League players upon return to play.

SSA Blog: Project Restart

SSA Blog: Project Restart

The Premier League is set to resume on the 17th June, subject to continued government approval. It marks the latest step in the much publicised Project Restart. If all goes to plan the season commences with midweek games between Aston Villa and Sheffield United and Manchester City vs Arsenal before a full round of weekend fixtures between 19th - 21st. The last Premier League action took place on 9th March. For the players, this will mean a gap of over 3 months since they were last involved in competitive action.

SSA Blog: Warm Weather Training

SSA Blog: Warm Weather Training

This weekend sees the Premier League make way for the 5th round of the Emirates FA Cup. Only 7 Premier League teams have reached this stage leaving a number of clubs with the opportunity for a winter training camp.

SSA Blog: Federer's dark secret

SSA Blog: Federer's dark secret

Even the most disciplined athlete might be forgiven for reaching for a chocolate egg or two at this time of year. Whatever your preference, it is hard to avoid the plethora of treats available over Easter. But is this such a bad thing? Could athletes actually see some benefit from indulging in a little chocolate over the Easter holiday?

SSA Blog: The performance benefits of beer

SSA Blog: The performance benefits of beer

Beer companies have a long history of sports sponsorship. Beer remains a fixture within the top ten spending categories across the sponsorship industry. Major deals exist across high profile sporting properties such as the Football, Basketball and Rugby World Cups, which are synonymous with hospitality and fan engagement programmes.

SSA Blog: How does he still do it?

SSA Blog: How does he still do it?

The ageing process begins to induce a decline in male physical ability around the early 30’s. Borgest and a team of researchers in Australia highlighted the naturally occurring declines in metabolic, cardiovascular and hormonal systems as the precursors for performance decrements in their review study of 2015. These genetic factors cannot be escaped. And while, in well-trained populations, the performance effects often do not become significant until their early 40’s, In the tiny margins of elite sport any decline can become evident very quickly.

SSA Blog: No sex and no booze – The modern footballer

It has been an interesting week in the world of high performance sport. At the Association of National Olympic Committees awards in Doha, Team GB’s Hockey success was again recognised via winning the best female team of Rio 2016. The shortlist for the IAAF athlete of the year was cut to three with Britain’s Mo Farah still in the running. Not to be outshone, football weighed in with its own take on how to recover/prepare for the stresses of professional sport by putting sex and booze under the microscope.