Oxford United

Continuing our series reviewing the season behind the scenes we caught up with Head of Sport Science Alasdair Lane to get his thoughts on the progress made this year in his department.

"Let’s start by explaining what Sports Science is:

Sports Science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance.  In addition it helps to underpin the medical philosophy of the club to help prevent injuries and improve/maintain health & well-being. 

The study of sports science traditionally incorporates areas of physiology, psychology, and biomechanics but also includes other topics such as nutrition, Video Analysis and Strength & Conditioning.

Here at Oxford United we have adopted the use of Sports Science support to maximise the playing-budget by focusing on improving as many areas related to sports science as possible.  The objective has been to improve the physical attributes of the players and to help keep the squad as fit and as healthy as possible.  Over the past two seasons we have seen an improvement in both the numbers of players available for each game and in the team’s physical performance.

Some stats to back this up include:

• This year has seen the number of players available for each game rise from 75% last season to 86% this season

• Last season saw 12 hamstring injuries, these have reduced to 7 this season

• Body fat percentage has dropped from 11% last season to 7.5% this season

• VO2 max has seen a 10% improvement and also an 18% improvement on time to fatigue

• The average back squat has risen from 145kg to 165kg with one boasting a 210kg max

This shows just some of the ways that sports science is helping to improve the team performance and we will look to continue this into next season

United We Stand