In the latest instalment of Backroom Boys, Head of the Medical Department Steve Kemp looks at how the players' recovery spells have been managed between a busy period of fixtures.
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We are at the stage of the season now where we've come through the busy Christmas programme and can get FA Cup replays as we had against Birmingham, that it can become more challenging to ensure the players turn around their fitness levels quickly enough to reach the standards required in the Barclays Premier League.
As a medical department, we take a pro-active approach and try and ensure that all the players make an optimum recovery in between fixtures.
We've mentioned before about the GPS analysis, Heart Rate monitors and wellness programmes, assessing how far the players have run, how hard they worked, how they feel in themselves and how sore they may be.
With a computer monitoring system we can assess all this data and pass it to the manager so he can see how well the players are recovering.
We can also monitor the loads the players are taking and how hard they are working via the systems we have in place, as seen in the picture here of the lads on the bikes where they can see all the relevant data on screen in front of them.
On top of that we also aim for optimum nutrition with the players in a programme organised by Tony Daley and Dan Kings, as well as other processes in place in the medical department such as electrotherapy and hot and cold contrast bathing.
The masseurs are also kept extremely busy at this time of the year with their therapies another big boost to aid players' recovery.
And we've also been using a system recently called the Bodyflow system which has come across from Australia.
It is similar to a muscle stimulation but works slightly differently in that it contracts the veins within the body, as seen by the photograph here of Dave Edwards.
So after a particularly hard game it helps in getting rid of all the lactic acids and the poisons which have built up in the body.
We do a cool-down and have tried to top it up with some scientific research and Bodyflow have been kind enough to support us and provide us with some of the equipment.
The lads can be attached to the equipment while they are on the bikes which stimulates the veins and hopefully increases the venus returns of blood flow back to the heart.
There is some good scientific research to back it up as a recovery aid to help the lads be better prepared to get back into training and ready for the next game.
Of course it is always the manager's decision as to what happens with the players in training or who he selects for matches, but this information gleaned from all the recovery strategies can sometimes help give him an idea of fitness levels and hopefully make his job a little bit easier.
