| Injuries in Football 17:34 - May 15 with 567 views | baz_qpr |
NEW with @simonkuper.bsky.social:
The prevailing narrative around increased injuries and player workload in elite football is wrong.
Players don’t play any more football than in the past. What has changed is a sharp rise in intensity of play.
Not more minutes, but each minute exerts more load. — John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch.ft.com) 2025-05-15T12:26:15.399Z
Thought this was a really interesting piece of data
Paywalled article unfortunately https://www.ft.com/content/36ebc96e-18d7-4601-9826-d799d73f38b8
Rise of injuries in the game correlates not with minutes played or distances covered but the number of sprints and passes as the game has evolved in the last few years with the high press, possession game. |  | | |  |
| Injuries in Football on 17:46 - May 15 with 521 views | CateLeBonR |
Madsen deserves more credit than he's getting then ;) |  | | |
| Injuries in Football on 18:04 - May 15 with 464 views | stevec |
As brilliant as they were, I do wonder how the likes of Marsh and Bowles would have coped with the modern game.
Hard as it is to imagine but Madsen may have been a Masson 50 years ago. |  | | |
| Injuries in Football on 18:16 - May 15 with 430 views | KensalT |
Really interesting post. Thanks for that.
Don't want to nit pick (especially since I haven't read the article!) but he doesn't really establish a correlation between increased intensity and increased muscle injury. He just shows that players aren't playing more minutes, but they are running a lot more.
The two studies he refers to (beneath the graph) look at player performance but not at injuries:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369754196_Running_more_than_before_The_
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262372881_The_Evolution_of_Physical_and
Both studies look at the Premier League. So not really relevant to us in the EFL.
And I don't think the studies take account of all the extra tournaments that have come along in recent years with more European club competitions and expanded finals tournaments for the World Cup and Euros, etc.
There were some interesting replies to the Bluesky post, and this one caught me eye:
"May need to start using sweat trackers for lactate, ketones, calprotectin, myoglobin to detect (1) going anaerobic, (2) calorie bonking, (3) inflammation, (4) muscle breakdown/injury"
May need to start using sweat trackers for lactate, ketones, calprotectin, myoglobin to detect (1) going anaerobic, (2) calorie bonking, (3) inflammation, (4) muscle breakdown/injury — IBD Doctor (@ibddoctor.bsky.social) 2025-05-15T14:14:27.243Z
Apparently it is possible to gauge muscle fatigue using sweat analysis:
"For athletes and sports, sweat analysis provides real-time data on hydration, electrolyte balance, and nutrient levels, helping athletes optimize their performance and prevent dehydration. It can track exertion levels and muscle fatigue, enabling personalized training plans and recovery strategies. "
https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/sweat-analysis-wearables-health-informa
But whether this can be done in match conditions is unclear and it seems there are technical challenges to this type of analysis. |  | | |
| Injuries in Football on 18:19 - May 15 with 420 views | lightwaterhoop |
| Injuries in Football on 18:04 - May 15 by stevec |
As brilliant as they were, I do wonder how the likes of Marsh and Bowles would have coped with the modern game.
Hard as it is to imagine but Madsen may have been a Masson 50 years ago. |
As long as they worked hard on their fitness they would be fine.Maybe not at a top side though. | | | |
| Injuries in Football on 18:31 - May 15 with 400 views | KensalT |
| Injuries in Football on 18:16 - May 15 by KensalT |
Really interesting post. Thanks for that.
Don't want to nit pick (especially since I haven't read the article!) but he doesn't really establish a correlation between increased intensity and increased muscle injury. He just shows that players aren't playing more minutes, but they are running a lot more.
The two studies he refers to (beneath the graph) look at player performance but not at injuries:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369754196_Running_more_than_before_The_
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262372881_The_Evolution_of_Physical_and
Both studies look at the Premier League. So not really relevant to us in the EFL.
And I don't think the studies take account of all the extra tournaments that have come along in recent years with more European club competitions and expanded finals tournaments for the World Cup and Euros, etc.
There were some interesting replies to the Bluesky post, and this one caught me eye:
"May need to start using sweat trackers for lactate, ketones, calprotectin, myoglobin to detect (1) going anaerobic, (2) calorie bonking, (3) inflammation, (4) muscle breakdown/injury"
May need to start using sweat trackers for lactate, ketones, calprotectin, myoglobin to detect (1) going anaerobic, (2) calorie bonking, (3) inflammation, (4) muscle breakdown/injury — IBD Doctor (@ibddoctor.bsky.social) 2025-05-15T14:14:27.243Z
Apparently it is possible to gauge muscle fatigue using sweat analysis:
"For athletes and sports, sweat analysis provides real-time data on hydration, electrolyte balance, and nutrient levels, helping athletes optimize their performance and prevent dehydration. It can track exertion levels and muscle fatigue, enabling personalized training plans and recovery strategies. "
https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/sweat-analysis-wearables-health-informa
But whether this can be done in match conditions is unclear and it seems there are technical challenges to this type of analysis. |
PS - I hadn't heard of "calorie bonking" before but it isn't as much fun as it sounds:
https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/bonking?srsltid=AfmBOoptlutoxg-082SfPveCpI25076Hg
"Bonking is a state in which your body runs out of its glycogen stores during intense exercise. High-intensity athletes may be at a greater risk of bonking, or hitting a wall, if they don’t properly fuel, rest, and recover."
"The immune system helps the body to adapt during training, and physical exercise can help strengthen it. However, bonking and overtraining can actually have negative effects on your immune system. Research suggests that prolonged, intense exercise can suppress your body’s natural anti-inflammatory response. Your immune system fights off pathogens to keep you free of infection. So if the immune system is suppressed by overtraining, your risk of sickness or infection becomes higher." | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
