The foundation of a footballer’s success throughout a season is largely reliant on their pre-season, which determines their functional limitations, strength and power, cardio-respiratory fitness, and risk of injury or re-injury.
All footballers and coaching staff need to be aware of the physiological conditioning that is required to minimise risk-factors that may hinder performance, and improve overall functional capacity to perform more efficiently at a physiological level.
This article is designed to educate footballers and coaches about the importance of pre-season conditioning and the importance of an exercise physiologist in developing individualized programs.
These are tailored to an individual player, their anatomy, injury history, strengths\weaknesses, fitness levels and player position, which are some areas that are overlooked during a general pre-season program.
As pre-season is well underway, the body is re-introduced to extreme stressors that place high demands on the muscles, joints and ligaments, and it is very common that players are thrown into intense pre-season sessions without any pre-screening or risk stratification.
This leads to an increase in soft tissue tears and other injuries within the first few weeks, which interrupts their season by missing large blocks of training.
Research into elite European footballers indicates that players who suffer common soft tissue injuries such as hamstring tears, groin strains or ankle sprains, are 2-3 times more likely to re-injure themselves the following season.
Below are the average recovery times associated with 2 common football related injuries:
- The average Grade 1 tear of the hamstring requires 1-3 weeks of recovery,
- Grade 2 tears require 4-8 weeks, and
- Grade 3 tears require 3-6 months.
- The average Grade 1 lateral sprain of the ankle (inversion) requires 1-3 weeks of rehabilitation,
- Grade 2 requires 4-8 weeks, and
- Grade 3 requires 6-12 weeks.
Tailored exercise programs to prevent injuries from occurring or manage post-injury rehabilitation seem to be somewhat neglected throughout most clubs in Victoria.
Players do not have access to an allied health professional, who uses exercise as a form of medication to treat\resolve injuries and is able to provide an emphasis on educating the individual about self- management.
We aim to help individual players undertake a four-stage rehabilitation process, depending on the extent and nature of the injury:
- Acute to Subacute – (Facilitate healing, neuromuscular control, proprioception, and passive ROM)
- Early Rehabilitation – (Passive to Active ROM, proprioception throughout ranges, increasing resistance and flexibility).
- Late Rehabilitation – (Normal Functioning, Strength, Endurance, Power)
- Function and Skill – (Higher level functioning, Football related drills)
Programs will be tailored to the individual’s specific goals, and designed in collaboration with their coaching staff if required, to be completed before/during/after training, aligned with their training requirements, at the gym, or within their home environment.
The benefits of implementing individualized programs will be felt by all tiers throughout a club, as a cost effective injury minimization program reduces expensive medical procedures.
Coaches will have access to a bigger squad of players who are available for the duration of the season, while individual players will have greater continuity throughout the season by missing fewer games due to improving areas of weakness through a tailored exercise program.
I believe all players should have the knowledge to self-manage their body’s mechanics and systems, and become aware of risk-factors that may lead to injury, enabling them to increase their performance and durability for their club all season.
For further information, find ‘Walking Tall Exercise Physiology’ on Facebook, email at walkingtall.ep@gmail.com, or book an appointment at 170 Bell St Coburg by calling on 93549271 or 0423923585.