Mauro Testa Biomechanic at Bologna F.C. 1909 S.p.A.
It is possible to describe our athlete as a chair. We have four legs, each one of them represent the main features that determine the talent.
The four legs are: Mechanical or Biomechanical aspects (external load), physiological items (internal load), psychological aspects and technique and tactics items.
In this article I would like to show how we record, with an innovative tool, two of these fundamental aspect of our player: biomechanical aspects related to injuries prevention and physiological states related to internal load or muscle load. But reading this article you can discover that,with this new approach, it is possible to record data releted to the others two legs of the simbolic chair .
There are many debates about training load and how to monitor it using GPS or similar instruments. In this article I don’t wish to express my opinion related it or suggest an alternative (even because it’s not an alternative but a complementary tool) but simply to present an alternative and innovative way to analize training load by reading muscle load or activities.
Mbody by Myontec is an innovative short, wearable technology, able to be used during training without player’ disconfort and able to catch data related muscle activity. Let’s see how it work.
Tool description and use
It’s possible to monitor muscle load, balance and other variables in real time using our mobile phone. Myontec Mbody translates our players’ bio-signals into simple user interface and analyses. Recording exercise is made easy without any mobile device also. Just push the button in MCell and it records athlete every move. Download test or exercise afterwards into cloud service, we can analyze and compare any progress.
Combine Muscle Load with heart rate, cadence, speed, distance & other conventional performance data, taking data also from conventional GPS
New MCell Smart measuring device
Bluetooth® Smart connectivity
enhanced memory & batter capacity
AllSport shorts – for every athlete, for any sport
High-tech 3D elastic compression textile by Carvico Revolutional®
Top-class UV-resistance
Flatlock seams and ergonomic cut, it’s possible to use as underware.
What we can read and collect with Mbody ‘s use?
Objective muscle training monitoring, thus training load
Screening
Kinesiologic analysis of movement disorders
Gait and posture disturbances evaluating
Muscle imbalance detection
Technique analysis and more
Properly used, Myontec data may help to assess, evaluate and spot a risk of injury. Variations in Myontec data may help ourself to determine not to train as hard as planned.
The big advantage of this technology is that is wearable. Thanks to this aspect any analysis is possible even in a contact sport as soccer.
Use of Mbody in collecting and analyzing data in an actual training environment opens up a new dimension in objective muscular performance monitoring. Feedback from Mbody answers the questions of what is happening with muscles during the game or training, how muscles are behaving under different conditions and where majority of observed injuries occur.
Speaking more in deep about the importance to have one tool able to record internal load and in the same way able to give data in order to prevent injuries , Mbody is able to do:
Mbody data
Muscle overload analysis; in other words thanks the special software it is possible record many training session during season and having player trend. Thus is possible to prevent or read this important problem
An other positive aspect of this tool it’s the possibility to add laps. In this way we can divide the work done in gym respect what is done on the field or warm up respect the planned training activities.
Do this it’s easy, simply push the button for a second
Training readiness based on warm-up monitoring
Fatigue detection from EMG
Recovery and relaxation monitoring, even psycological aspect could be detected
Technique feedback for efficiency and balance
Analyses for imbalance and injury prevention
Sleep quality and sleep recovery; this is possible to do wearing the short during sleeping.
Any muscle movement is detected and it’s possible to compare this night activity with others night or adding others information about physical and mental aspect.
To do this I’m using an Omegawave tool before and after sleep reading heart variability and other parameters from the instrument.
Customized comparisons
Real-time muscle activity measurement, Muscle load, Muscle load distribution, Muscle imbalances, Muscle condition, Muscle Metabolic Power, Cadence (number of muscle activation and deactivation for minute for leg), Heart rate, GPS data ( in order to have these two last data is necessary link to Myontec software our tools normally used).
Exercises example
In our planned activity using Mbody we can sometimes include repeatable exercises (even the perfect repeatability is impossible) in order have the more reliable comparison. We do this, for instance, not only to analyze players’ muscle activities and load but also how different pitchies influences training with different weather condition.
We create a protocol of exercises included constant speed as warm up, shuttle test, an intensive exercises with ball and three matches of 5 minute (short field) the first with 3 ball touches, after brief recovery the second with 2 and the last with free touches.
This training is planned for an hour and it’s not neccessary to do it every week and these exercises are workout.
Are easily visible laps and different exercises.
We can analyze any moment of the training for instance up are visible the 3 matches with intensity of work (215 microvolts) and the muscle load payed by the player (289 millivolts).
Here intensive work done with the ball.
Some video as example
The work recorded during shuttle test.
Analyze run with constant speed it’s important to know more about muscle controll and muscolar imbalance.
Intensive exercise training load.
20 meter run and stop, deceleration it’s one of the higher work from the biomechanical point of view.
Motor controll test.
Conclusion
Thanks tothe help of new technologies we can see our training in different way, The new understanding open our mind to the new solutions, new solutions create new methods, new methods create an high number of solutions to the different problems occured during training session.
Published on January 27, 2017 by Mauro Testa Biomechanic at Bologna F.C. 1909 S.p.A.