RECOVERY & REGENERATION TOOLS

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1️⃣ Recovery & Regeneration Points System (Kentta & Hassmen, 1999) used at the Saudi Arabia Futsal National Team 🇸🇦

2️⃣ Post Match Recovery Menu (slightly modified) (Aceña, 2022)

3️⃣ Arsenal FC 150 Point Recovery (Power, 2022)

INJURY PREVENTION IN THE WORLD'S BEST SPORT: FUTSAL

Tremendous honour to collaborate with Global Sport Care YouTube Channel hosted by Dr Markus Laupheimer from Swiss Sport Care covering futsal, injuries, & prevention. Interview brought up great memories!

Below you can see some slides from the interview.

Full PDF from the presentation can be downloaded completely free from HERE!

Also, to watch the interview simply click here or watch below.

FITNESS & INJURY PREVENTION RESOURCES

Note: most of the resources below are published on the book: Coaching children in & though futsal: a parents/coach guide (Bryant & Berdejo-del-Fresno, 2018) that you can download for free following the next link: HERE!

STRETCHING EXERCISES

CORE STABILITY EXERCISES

FOAM ROLLER PROTOCOL

  

ASKLING L-PROTOCOL

PROPRIOCEPTION PROTOCOL

INTERVAL TRAINING & HIIT SESSIONS

STRENGTH ROUTINE

Note: most of the resources above are published on the book: Coaching children in & though futsal: a parents/coach guide (Bryant & Berdejo-del-Fresno, 2018) that you can download for free following the next link: HERE!

SUMMER FUTSAL CAMPS & COACHING CLINIC (ITALY & SPAIN)

Again another summer travelling around the world for futsal representing Bay Area Futsal Club. The first stop will be Italy, Lentate sul Seveso will be the city specifically. On Thursday, 20th June, I will deliver a futsal coaching seminar for the local coaches. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (21st, 22nd and 23rd) will be when we will deliver a futsal camp for the local kids.

Everything has been possible to Luca Innocenti (ex professional Italy U21 futsal player) and Gianluca Ripamonti (President of ASD OSA Lentate). I will be accompany by my futsal brother Guillermo Wallace, England Futsal International player and owner of the Wallace Futsal Academy. The event is also in collaboration of Polisportiva San Giulio Barlassina. Please see the flyer below or click HERE for more info.

After Italy, Wallace and I will travel to Spain to El Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz) to deliver the I Campus de Futbol Sala Eloy Rojas & Guille Wallace that will take place between Monday 24th and Saturday 29th and organised by the Wallace Futsal Academy.

Guillermo Wallace is a professional futsal player. He plays for the England Futsal National Team and last season he played in France.

Eloy Rojas is a professional futsal player too that plays for Palma Futsal in the Liga Nacional de Futbol Sala.

We will have so many visitors, from professional futsal players, to first division referees, football players, international futsal players... but highlights Rob Morini. Rob will travel with me from the USA, where he lives and plays for Bay Area Futsal in California. Rob and myself will be representing our American club and will help to deliver the camp in English language.

Hope to see you there!!

BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION DURING FUTSAL TRAINING INCREASES MUSCLE ACTIVATION & STRENGTH

Very glad to announce the publication of a new scientific paper. This time, it is about futsal and strength training. Please see below the its abstract:

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of leg blood flow restriction (BFR) applied during a 3-a-side futsal game on strength-related parameters. Twelve male futsal players were randomly assigned into two groups (n = 6 for each group) during 10 training sessions either with or without leg BFR. Prior to and post-training sessions, participants completed a series of tests to assess anabolic hormones and leg strength. Pneumatic cuffs were initially inflated to 110% of leg systolic blood pressure and further increased by 10% after every two completed sessions. In comparison with baseline, the resting post-training levels of myostatin (p = 0.002) and IGF-1/MSTN ratio (p = 0.006) in the BFR group changed, whereas no change in the acute level of IGF-1 and myostatin after exercise was observed. Peak torque of knee extension and flexion increased in both groups (p < 0.05). A trend of increased neural activation of all heads of the quadriceps was observed in both groups, however, it was statistically significant only for rectus femoris in BFR (p = 0.02). These findings indicated that the addition of BFR to normal futsal training might induce greater neuromuscular benefits by increasing muscle activation and augmenting the hormonal response.

TITLE: Blood Flow Restriction During Futsal Training Increases Muscle Activation and Strength

AUTHORS: Amani-Shalamzari Sadegh, Farhani Farid, Rajabi Hamid, Abbasi Ali, Sarikhani Ali, Paton Carl, Bayati Mahdi, Berdejo-del-Fresno Daniel, Rosemann Thomas, Nikolaidis Pantelis Theodoros, Knechtle Beat
 
JOURNAL: Frontiers in Physiology    

VOLUME: 10     

YEAR: 2019

PAGES: 614  
   
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00614   

ISSN: 1664-042X

Click HERE for full paper download.

BENCHMARK54 - AN AMAZING TOOL TO MONITOR INJURIES & PERFORMANCE

Few weeks after I took charge of the International Futsal Academy (IFA) as new Head of Coaching & Sports Science I had a fantastic meeting in Loughborough University with Dr Laurence Heslop, co-founder of Benchmark54. In that meeting we agreed the use of the Benchmark54 platform within the IFA teams for the season 2014-2015 at free cost (thank you very much Dr. Heslop, I still appreciate it).

Now, almost 5 years after, working for Bay Area Futsal Club in California (USA), I have decided to review this fantastic platform that has grown amazingly. 

Benchmark54 system is multi-sport and multi user. It has four main attributes which allow you to manage your team across all disciplines and improve the integration between departments. Benchmark54 provides a fully comprehensive electronic medical record system with all the tools you would expect. Also, Benchmark54 helps you with the player load management as it tracks all activities and intensity in training and matches and your own specific GPS parameters in one place. Thirdly, the system helps sports science data record and analysis. Finally, Benchmark54 has a research driven data dashboard that brings all the data together, with inbuilt calculations and powerful ways to visualise data (data visualisation and analysis).

Benchmark54 allow you to:

• Add training data, attendance, duration and intensity. Upload GPS files and automatically match data.
• Record physiological, wellbeing, fitness and screening data.
• Add all injuries and illness and indicate effect on availability.
• Link injuries & illness with other data (load and other physiological measure for example).
• Track performance, injury incidence, team and individual player stats through their automated injury analytics dashboard.
• Review the year-on-year performance against historical data & league wide comparative data.
• Be part of their growing research community. Raining the standards in team sports medicine.

In the video above for example you can observe the training load, the monotony and the strain on one specific day. Also, you can observe the acute: chronic ratio and where the players are placed (high risk zone for soft tissue injury, moderate risk zone for soft tissue injury or sweet spot).

Finally, in the picture below you can see a whole month players availability, all the training sessions and their duration, games and minutes played, if players were missing and their reason...

This is only a briefly and small example of what Benchmark54 can provide to your organisation to know more about injury analytics and the power of data to support more effective athlete monitoring and injury prevention and management. 

RESVERATROL: A REVIEW OF BASIC SCIENCE

The Journal of Sport and Health Research has just published another scientific paper. This time the paper is a basic review about resveratrol.

• Laupheimer, M. W.; Perry, M.; Malliaris, P.; Berdejo-del-Fresno, D.; Maffulli, N.; Hemmings, S. (2013). Resveratrol: A review of basic science and potencial indications in sports and exercise medicine. Journal of Sport and Health Research. 5(3):237-250.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To systematically review the literature to identify possible indications for Resveratrol in sports and exercise medicine and suggest future avenues of research.

Methods: Literature was identified, selected and appraised with the methods of a systemic review. Potentially relevant publications to answer the research question were identified by searching the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Ovid.

Results: Originally 962 articles were identified, of which five were found to be appropriate for inclusion in the review. 4 of them were experimental animal studies with in-vivo and ex-vivo analysis and one was a double-blind, placebo controlled cross-over study with human subjects. 3of the four animal studies showed an endurance enhancement of the mice treated with Resveratrol. All of the animal studies showed basic changes to support the hypothesis of a possible performance enhancement due to cellular changes and possible additional improvement of effects of exercise combined with Resveratrol treatment.

Conclusion: Resveratrol as a food supplement in sports and exercise medicine has not received much attention, despite strong basic scientific evidence that this substance could have multiple indications related to high performance sports as well as enhancement of the health benefits of exercise for the general population.

Keywords: Performance, health benefits, humans, fat burning.

THE BENEFITS OF MASSAGE FOR SPORTS INJURIES

Today we have a guest post by Virginia Cunningham. She is a freelance writer in Southern California who specializes in health topics. She enjoys getting a massage after an injury, and finds the results to be very effective.

Playing a sport on a regular basis is an incredibly effective way to get your exercise. In fact, many people find it much more beneficial than doing exercises like jogging or going to the gym – especially individuals that can’t seem to find the motivation for pure exercise.

While sports are great for staying in shape, they can unfortunately result in injuries. Most sports-related injuries are relatively minor, but they are be painful and sometimes result in missing regular, day-to-day activities.

To counteract some of the pain from sports injuries and help you get up and moving around again, massage is a particularly beneficial treatment, especially when combined with conventional medicinal techniques and other therapies and pain management techniques.

Massage Improves Flexibility

Muscles that get used frequently via sports often become less able to relax, even as they are growing stronger and more effective. Unfortunately, this is problematic for some people when injuries occur, as decreased flexibility can make muscle soreness worse.

Massage therapy – even basic types of massage like Swedish massage – can help to improve your flexibility. In the short term, improved flexibility can result in less pain and a reduced chance that you’ll injure yourself further while performing simple daily tasks, still with an injury.

Improving your muscles’ flexibility also decreases the likelihood that you’ll get injured once you return to the sport of your choice after your injury heals.

Massage Reduces Scar Tissue

When it comes to sports injuries, deep tissue massage is often the most beneficial type of treatment for muscle-related injuries. While some people may find deep tissue massage uncomfortable, particularly when they have an injury, deep tissue massage loosens muscles and actually breaks down the formation of scar tissue that tends to make getting injured again much easier.

The discomfort that many people feel after getting a deep tissue massage will also subside in about 24 hours or so as well. After that, most report that their muscle injuries feel much better during the healing process.

Massage Increases Circulation

Injured muscles commonly feel tight, which alters the way people move when they’re injured. Unfortunately, that can actually result in further pain and injuries – even when you’re already injured.

However, massage can improve oxygen circulation and blood flow in the body, making the muscles feel less tight and constricted after exercise or when injured. Improved circulation also helps your body wash away waste products that can cause muscle pain and make healing even more difficult for your body. 

In many cases, getting a massage when you have an injury actually feels good. In fact, some people even enjoy deep tissue massage.

If actually feeling better isn’t enough reason to seek out a massage when you’re injured, the fact that you’re less likely to reinjure yourself, or make your injury worse, should be.

Talk to your doctor and massage practitioner about what type of massage could be most beneficial for you. Most of the time there is a particular massage which targets your injury and is most effective for healing and recovery.

SPORT RECOVERY METHODS

Dr Makus W Laupheimer from mskclinic.co.uk has just published one of my little pieces about recovery in sport. If you would like to read it just go to his website or click here. Also, you can read the article below:

It does not matter, if you are an elite athlete or if you just practice sport for fan or to keep fit and healthy yourself, recovery is a key factor. In fact, recovery is as important as training. To be able to perform, avoid injuries and do not burn out, everyone who practices sport has to be able to regenerate and recover. Some of the methods or ways that we use with our players and athletes will be shown in this post:

1) Sleep: Sleep is one of the most important aspects to recover. The science has shown that with a proper sleep tennis players get a 42% boost in hitting acuracy during depth drills, sleep extension provides swimmers a 17% improvement in reaction time off the starting block, sleep improves split-second decision making ability by 4.3%, american football players drop 0.1 seconds off their 40-yard dash times by sleeping more, and a 20-30 minutes power nap improves alertness by 100%.

On the contrary, the scientific studies has also shown that a chronic sleep loss can lead to a 30-40% reduction in glucose metabolism and an 11% reduction in time to exhaustion, 2 days of sleep restriction can lead to a 3x increase in lapses of attention and reactivity, the maximum bench press drops 20 lbs after 4 days of restricted sleep and perceived exertion increases 17-19% after 30 hours without sleep.

Therefore, with all the scientific evidence athletes should schedule proper recovery time and sleep to ensure optimum performance. Athletes will recover better from injuries if they sleep well and the choice of mattress is paramount for comfort and support. Not all mattresses will meet up to the demands as an aid to recovery. But a Falcon Sport Mattress has been designed with those needs and requirements in mind to help you get a deep sleep providing recovery and regeneration necessary to perform consistently at a high level.

2) Nutrition: Refuelling within an hour after training should be the priority for any athlete. You should try to take carbohydrate together with proteins. Your aim should be to a take a shake before even going into the shower. Vitamins and proteins are very important as well. Therefore, the sooner these are replaced the better.

3) Stretching: A stretching protocol as a part of your cool-down routine should be essential. The science has shown the stretching reduces muscle soreness and thightness. A stretching protocol as a part of a daily routine has been shown to also have performance improvements.

4) Foam rolling: A foam roller should never miss in your training venue or home. A foam rolling protocol after the stretching protocol should be performed in all your cool-downs. Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release tecnique that is used to inhibit overactive muscles. This form of stretching utilises the concept of autogenic inhibition to improve soft tissue extensibility, thus relaxing the muscle and allowing the activation of the antagonist muscle. You should roll the foam roller under each muscle group until an tender area is found, and maintaining pressure on the tender areas (known as trigger points) for 30 to 60 seconds.

5) Contrast water therapy or contrast baths: They are a form of treatment where a limb is immersed in cold/ice water followed by the immediate immersion in warm water. The protocol is repetead several times, always alternating cold and hot. The theory behind this method is that cold water causes vasoconstriction while the warm water causes vasodilation. Alternating, hot and cold, lymph vessels dilate and contract to essentially “pump” and move stagnant fluid and waste out of the area. This positively effetcs the inflamation process, which is the body’s primary mechanism for healing damaged tissue. Professional athletes are using the state-of-the-art technology to improve their recovery. CryoSpas CET is a device used in professional sport enviroment based in the contrast water therapy. They recommend to set a temperature of 8-9º and perform the following protocol: 4 minutes in cold water, then 2 minutes hot water shower, and finally 4 minutes cold.

6) Compression clothing: Compression garments are pieces of clothing such as socks, pantyhose, sleeves, etc., that provide support that is especially useful for people who have to stand for long periods, or people with poor circulation. Compression garments worn on the legs can help prevent deep vein thrombosis and reduce swelling, especially while traveling. Compression sportswear are also worn by some athletes during exercise and post-exercise to ease muscle stiffness and quicken recovery time. Duffield & Portus (2007) found lower 24 hours post-exercise CK values and lower 24 hours post-exercise ratings of muscle soreness when wearing compression garments in cricket players. Based in the same principle, a device originally designed for people with deep vein thrombosis has been shown as an effective method to recover quicker and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) within 24 hours. The device (FireFly Recovery) uses electrical impulses to improve blood circulation. An increase in blood flow and velocity in the muscles of the lower legs allows oxygen to reach the muscle to remove the waste products more efficiently.

7) Massage: What to say about massage! Everyone knows that a good massage will improve our muscles recovery, aid in the healing process, decrease muscle reflex activity, inhibit motor-neuron excitability, and promote relaxation and well-being. If you are an amateur sportman training every day, I would recommend you to receive a massage every 6 weeks. If you are struggling financially, although it is not the same, a good session of foam rolling can be an acceptable substitute.

8) NormaTec Recovery: This device is a new tool to improve recovery used (due to its price) in high performance athletes and teams. Basically, the device uses the concept of applying external compression to aid the body with its normal circulatory processes. NormaTec Recovery features Sequential Pulse Technology. This technology is divided into 6 phases starting the pulsing in zone one (foot) and finishing in zone 5 (thigh). When one zone is under the pressure the other zone releases. This dynamic compression strategy mimics normal physiology.

AUSSIE INDOOR SPORTS

About 2 weeks ago I received an email for Australia asking me to write a post. The email was from “Aussie Indoor Sport”, and they wanted me to write a piece about futsal. They gave me several topics and ideas: working out a manageable exercise routine on a full time work schedule, killing the procrastination of exercise, fitness through indoor soccer, great way to socialise and stay fit, keeping fit and healthy this winter with indoor sports... or I could pick my own topic. At the end, I decided to mix several topics and this is the results:

Five brief tips to play futsal:

1) First touch and control – Try to recognise where the space is before you receive the ball and control the ball in that direction. Sometimes you might need close control in tight situations when you are marked, other times this can help start an attack by controlling into vacant areas of the pitch.
 

2) Positioning and movement – In a smaller game, finding space is vital. This might need you to do a dummy run before you get the ball by faking to go one way for one or two steps and then travelling back quickly. Gaining that extra yard can be vital!
 

3) Passing – Try to be clever with your passing in small-sided games by adding disguise and deception. Changing the angle of your foot at the last second or not looking directly at your team mate can create vital goal scoring opportunities that the defence do not predict!
 

 4) Shooting – Chances might be hard to come by so make the most of these by either aiming across the goal into the far corners or taking the easy pass to a team mate to score if your angle is tight. Use your laces for power, inside of the foot for accuracy.
 

 5) Communication – Making the game easy for your team mates can be done by simply telling them what is going on and providing information about the game. Have they got space to turn? Have they got a man-on? Helping to make their decision-making easier and quicker helps the team!

Five brief aspects to play futsal:

Studies have shown that playing small-sided games of football are just as good for your fitness as interval training. Therefore you will have the same high intensity interval training’s benefits:

1) Healthier heart – It is very difficult to push yourself into the anaerobic zone in a gym session. However, playing futsal you will do it without realising! So you will work on both the aerobic zone and the anaerobic zone, improving your recovery capacity.

2) Efficient – You do not need to perform a long gym session. Just playing one half (20 minutes) three times a week shows the same benefits as jog in the treadmill for one hour. Whit just 2 weeks you can improve your aerobic capacity as much as 6 to 8 weeks of endurance training.

3) Burn more fat – You burn more fat during and after the workout since that intense exertion kicks your body’s repair cycle into hyperdrive.

4) Agility – Playing futsal requires a lot of change of directions and speed. You will need to do a lot of fakes and faints to take the free space, so your agility, speeed and quickness will improve.

5) Social Aspect – It is funny to play a game. Since you can talk and compete with other people. Competition is always nice. But as I said before your communication in futsal is essential.

Finally, if you want to know more about “Aussie Indoor Sports” just see below:

Mission

Aussie Indoor Sports Futsal Leagues’ corporate motto is ‘where fitness meets fun’. This reflects the company’s commitment to offering the proven product of an indoor soccer competition in a friendly environment. Our aim is to provide teams with an opportunity to test themselves against other teams, thus improving their fitness and skills in a friendly and relaxed environment.

Company Overview

Aussie Indoor Sports Futsal Leagues is an established commercial provider of 5-a-side amateur indoor soccer (futsal) competitions, operating eight leagues in inner Melbourne; Prahran, Footscray, Elwood, Mount Waverley, Avondale Heights, Ivanhoe, Vermont, Clayton and Reservoir.
The company was established in 2006, as Australian soccer rode a wave of popularity linked to the national team’s good performance at the 2006 World Cup. The company has quickly established a strong presence in the Melbourne soccer community, as evidenced by the popularity of its eight venues.

FALCON SPORT MATTRESS

I am glad to announce that the Falcon Sport Mattress has been released. I have been sleeping in one of the mattresses during the last 6 months and I can corfirm that my sleep is deeper and my regeneration much better. Here you can read the complete endorsement of the Falcon Sport Mattress. Also, in the following link you can have access to the other endorsements published in the website.

I hold a Degree in Physical Education Teaching and a Degree in Exercise & Sport Science. I have also completed an MPhil in Sport Performance. In addition, I enjoyed a five-month research period thanks to a Research Scholarship at Manchester Metropolitan University, as part of my PhD programme, which I finished in January 2013 with the Thesis: “Body composition, fitness level and trainingload controlled through the BATLOC tool in female British basketball”.

Nevertheless, if academic education is essential, practical aspects are not less important. In relation to this, I already have some professional experience in High Level Performance athletics, cycling, tennis, basketball, football and futsal. My experience of athletics comes from the fact that I have been a runner since I was ten years old; I run for a Spanish and an English athletics club and very often participate in national races both in Spain and the UK. Regarding tennis, in Spain I worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Aragonese Tennis Federation Sports Centre. As for basketball, I have also worked as a Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for several Spanish teams, emphasising Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada S.A.D. – an ACB League Basketball Team (higher basketball division).

Here in England, for two years I was the S&C Coach of the Manchester Mystics Women’s Basketball Club, Leeds Carnegie Women’s Basketball, and the North West Under 17 Women’s Basketball (Regional Squad Performance).  In addition I have planned, designed and carried out several personal training sessions for some England Under 18 Team, Great Britain Under 20 Team and Great Britain Senior Team female basketball players. Two years ago I also worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Great Britain Under 20 Women’s Basketball Team at the European Championship 2009. Since this autumn I am again working for England Basketball and Great Britian Basketball as a S&C for England U15 Girls Development Squad and the U13 Girls North West Regional Performance Centre.

Wishing to explore new fields, in 2010 I started to work as the S&C Coach for Manchester Futsal Club, and the next season I became the Goalkeeper Coach and Assistant Coach as well as the S&C Coach. Finally, since May 2011 I work as the S&C Coach for the England Futsal National Teams (both Senior and Development Squads). In addition, last spring I was appointed S&C for the England National Beach Soccer Team. For the season 2012-2013, I have been appointed Head Coach for Sheffield FC Futsal Club.

Finally, last summer I was also the S&C Coach Consultant for Gillingham Football Club (npower Football League 2) and Workington Association Football Club (Blue Square Bet North).

With all this background in high performance I know that elite athletes must train very hard to achieve their goals, but training hard is as important as to have a proper recovery; and sleep is an essential factor in the athletes’ recovery. The science has shown that with a proper sleep tennis players get a 42% boost in hitting acuracy during depth drills, sleep extension provides swimmers a 17% improvement in reaction time off the starting block, sleep improves split-second decision making ability by 4.3%, american football players drop 0.1 seconds off their 40-yard dash times by sleeping more, and a 20-30 minutes power nap improves alertness by 100%.

On the contrary, the scientific studies has also shown that a chronic sleep loss can lead to a 30-40% reduction in glucose metabolism and an 11% reduction in time to exhaustion, 2 days of sleep restriction can lead to a 3x increase in lapses of attention and reactivity, the maximum bench press drops 20 lbs after 4 days of restricted sleep and perceived exertion increases 17-19% after 30 hours without sleep.

 

The Falcon Sport Mattress has been clinically proven to provide unbeatable pressure relief for its user.

Therefore, with all the scientific evidence athletes should schedule proper recovery time and sleep to ensure optimum performance.

Athletes will recover better from injuries if they sleep well and the choice of mattress is paramount for comfort and support. Not all mattresses will meet up to the demands as an aid to recovery.

But a Falcon Sport Mattress has been designed with those needs and requirements in mind to help you get a deep sleep providing recovery and regeneration necessary to perform consistently at a high level.

So I conclude that my endorsement of the Falcon Sport Mattress is based on my knowledge of the Sports World and the ability of an expertly designed mattress to achieve a truly restful and restorative night's sleep.

More info: http://www.falcon-sport.co.uk/

Endorsements: http://www.falcon-sport.co.uk/endorsements/

Contact: http://www.falcon-sport.co.uk/falcon-contact-us/