Tag: injury prevention
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Recovery Series: Are Massage Guns Worth It?
Massage guns have become increasingly popular, but they come at a cost. What’s the hype about? Are they overrated? Let’s see what the research has to say. What Do Massage Guns Do? Massage guns (like Theragun and Hypervolt) are percussive instruments that allow you to self-massage. In scientific terms, this type of massage is called…
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Recovery Series: When to Use a Foam Roller (& When It’s Useless)
Welcome to Integrative Soccer’s recovery series, where we give you the most updated evidence for (and against) the most common recovery tools on the market. What’s good? What’s overrated? We’re here to tell you. Let’s check out foam rolling and bridge the gap between what we think it benefits and what it actually benefits… …and…
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Strength Training vs Injury Prevention: What’s the Priority (and When)?
With so many terms and programs in the sport world, how do you know what’s best for you or your player? Many players opt to train outside of their current club with the goal of enhancing performance. This includes individual sessions, group sessions, strength & conditioning, speed & agility, etc. Aside from sport-specific training, strength…
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Athlete Health: About Relative Energy Deficiency
Soccer is one of the most demanding sports in athletics. It’s a rewarding sport, but it takes a lot of physical and mental fortitude. Sports that require heavy physical demands also require adequate fuel and rest. There’s only so much the body can take before warning signs appear. The minor consequences of inadequate fuel and…
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Athlete Health, Wellness, and Performance: A Complete Resource List
It’s hard to know what to trust on the internet these days. Health and wellness trends flood our newsfeed. Conflicting advice clouds our judgement. How do we know what’s legit? The best way to stay informed is by listening to the professionals who are up-to-date with the latest research and/or perform their own. Some of…
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How Many Hours Should Soccer Players Train Per Week?
This is not an easy question to answer, especially in youth athletics. The answer is very athlete-dependent and has so many factors to think about: Take on too few hours, and you miss out on developing to your full potential. Take on too many hours, and you risk overtraining. You’ll only know if you’ve over-trained…
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Should Youth Soccer Players Lift Weights?
We’ve all seen it on Instagram: young kids lifting well over their weight in a cross-fit gym. Should we cringe or applaud? History says to cringe, but science says to give a standing ovation. We agree with science. Here’s why. Way Back When Science Disagreed Over 30 years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)…
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A Growing Worry: Heading and Concussions
Concussions are a growing concern in soccer, particularly those that occur from headers. Why now? What does this mean for the future of soccer? More Studies Means More Data, Not More Injury Over the past 10 years, concussion diagnosis and treatment has evolved significantly. Because there’s more research, there’s more data available to see more…
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Prevent Ankle Sprains in Soccer Players
Ankle sprains are extremely common in soccer players across all participation levels, even professional soccer. They’re usually mild sprains, which can have you limping off the field and sitting on the sidelines for a few days. However, the more mild sprains you endure, the more likely a moderate-severe sprain could happen. If you or someone…
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Three of the Best Exercises to Prevent Hamstring Strains
Hamstring strains are extremely common in athletes. It accounts for over a third of muscular injuries in professional athletes, and can have almost a 60% recurrence rate. (3) Those stats are gross. There’s so much information on hamstring injuries, yet they keep happening. Why?! It may be that players aren’t using certain preventative strategies frequently…