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The International Break: Why Wattbike Matters for the Players Still at Home
This year, the first International break of the season is a particularly long one. Whilst some fans are missing the Premier League, injured players, or those yet to build up to full fitness, will be making use of these 3 weeks to ramp up to match fitness.
Used well, this first international break is one of the best opportunities in the season to build fitness and overcome any lingering injuries.
Wattbike is used by all 20 Premier League clubs for this very reason.
Injured and missed the call-up? Keep the engine running.
In the early stages of an injury, running is off the table, but the aerobic system can still be improved.
Wattbike provides "off-feet conditioning"- allowing players to maintain and build aerobic fitness without placing load through a lower body injury.
"If a player is load compromised and they can't run, the Wattbike is the perfect way to perform a session that challenges them aerobically," explains Tom Robinson, Head of Sports Science at Leeds United.
At Leeds United, that might look like 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off for a 4-minute block, with active recovery in between. Repeat four, five or six times. This is a classic aerobic capacity building session used by cyclists, rugby players and elite footballers alike.
Using Wattbike's power data paired with a heart rate monitor, coaching staff can see players are replicating the intensity of a running session.
The Pedalling Effectiveness Score adds another layer of data, showing left and right leg pedalling balance. "If someone's coming back from an injury and you want to see that they're putting the right amount of force through one side or the other... you can highlight that straight away," Robinson continues.
We've seen this outside of football too. The British Army have seen excellent results using Wattbike - 45 out of 56 injured Army recruits ran a faster 2kmafter rehabilitating on Wattbike without running a single step.
Short on minutes? Build fitness, manage the load.
Not every player left behind is injured, but those who missed the international call up can still use this time to build their fitness.
Match fitness is hard to build without matches. But piling on extra running brings its own risk, particularly for players with load-related issues such as tendinopathy.
Leeds United's answer? Split the session - half running, half on the Wattbike.
Where the squad might complete 8 x 1km runs, a player managing their load alternates- a 1km run, then a block on the Wattbike, then a 1km run, and so on.
"They're still getting the same duration of work, but only half of it is running based," Robinson explains. "From the live data... you can see that the cardiorespiratory response is the same as the other lads who did the 8ks."
Same duration. Same cardiovascular response. Half the running.
Ready when the squad returns
When the internationals come back, places in the starting 11 are up for grabs. The players who stayed behind, could very well have the edge in fitness!
Watch the full interview with Tom Robinson (Leeds United) here.
Want to learn more about how Wattbike can support your team or training facility?
