Discussing The Implementation Of The Mountain Bike Into Professional Football
Thursday, April 21st, 2011Professional footballers are worth a lot of money to their clubs and paid very high wages; which is why they are not allowed to take part in extreme sports. Clubs are unable to insure their players for such activities due to the fact that the risk of injury is so high. However, we have seen in recent years the introduction of the mountain bike into the world of professional football. Read on to discover why this is the case.
Aiding recovery
The mountain bike was first introduced into professional football as a way of aiding injured players in their rehabilitation process. Although the players were not permitted by their clubs to take riding to the limits and put themselves in danger; clubs did recognise that moderate cycling did offer benefits in the process of recovery. The thinking behind this move was that cycling provides the opportunity to build muscle tissue and thus strength in the legs without having to subject the body to impact that jogging involves. Previously swimming had been the preferred exercise for the early stages of rehabilitation, but clubs started using both activities together to increase joint movement as well as build muscle.
A preventative measure
The next step of the role of the mountain bike in football was to help prevent players from sustaining injuries in the first place. During the days building up to an important match clubs always fear that their key players will pick up an injury. By getting their players to carry out fitness conditioning on bikes rather than through running and jogging clubs remove the risk of impact injuries and twisted joints.
Targeted performance
Fitness coaches then realise that by utilising the mountain bike they had a risk free way of recreating sprint exercise, which is required for footballers to reach peak physical fitness. Intensive bursts on the mountain bike became more common as shuttle runs and sprints were to some extent phased out. This enabled players to build all levels of required fitness, without risking their body.