Technogym supports professionals against football injuries

Since 1992 Isokinetic Medical Group has organized an annual international conference on sport, rehabilitation and traumatology, an event that over the years has become a landmark in sports medicine and orthopedic rehabilitation. The conference is the largest scientific medicine convention dedicated to professional football in the world, and brings together a selection of the best experts from around the world, to share their knowledge and experience in a worldwide network of the best experts in the industry.

The question Are We Winning?, which is also the title of the 2018 edition, best answers the general research question of the conference. The overall objective of the event is to give all participants a broader view of the topic, as well as being an opportunity for discussion and exchange of ideas and experiences.

Already, the world's professionals in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of post-accident injuries seem to be asking themselves: are we overcoming the challenge of putting injured players back on the pitch and restoring the degree of competitive efficiency they had before the trauma? This is no small matter if we consider that a UEFA study presented to the Congress shows that from 2001 until today, with appreciable progress in the field of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, the total risk of injury to football players, monitored by 50 teams from 18 European countries, has remained substantially unchanged.

Number and types of accidents: a study

A study by UEFA presented at the congress has monitored 14,000 injuries to footballers from elite European football clubs since 2001 and has taken a fairly clear picture of the phenomenon, leading to some conclusions:

the total risk of accidents has not changed over the past sixteen years (the latest figures are for 2017);
the number of muscle injuries that each team can expect is fifteen per year;
injury to the ankle ligaments is reduced by thirty percent;
injuries to the flexor muscles of the knee have increased by four percent and are expected to double in the future.

Technogym has always worked in close contact with the world of athletic football preparation: in the legendary Milan of Arrigo Sacchi, in addition to perfectly synchronized tactical mechanisms, rhythm and intensity are required, qualities that are trained at their best in the gym.

Just in those years, began a partnership between the Rossoneri and Technogym: if today it may seem normal that a Serie A club has a full gym available to their athletes, for those times was - indeed - a revolution.

Technogym at the side of the main elite football teams

Daniele Tognaccini, Milan's athletic trainer of those years, talks about the evolution of the culture of indoor training and how it is fundamental today. "Milan's athletes spend about 50% of their training time in the gym," he explains. "That's why it's essential to have a high level technical partner, and Technogym is recognized in the world of football".

The Russian National Team and the Brazilian Seleçao have chosen their own Technogym to support the athletic preparation of their champions. Technogym has made available its many years of experience in top-level international sport, becoming the Official Supplier of the two national football teams.

This year the event was held at Camp Nou in Barcelona, a temple of world football and an ideal setting to get passionate about the theme. At the Isokinetic Medical Group, the FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence and the Barça Innovation Hub, the most influential members of the fitness and football world met to discuss the results of their research and technological advances in the implementation of pioneering techniques for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of football injuries.

The conference, featuring round tables, presentations, workshops and competitions, was attended by 3000 participants from professionals, students and doctors who contributed to discussions with more than 200 world-renowned experts in the field of football medicine.

For this reason Technogym, today Official Supplier of national football teams and some of the most famous football clubs in the world, including Inter FC, Chelsea FC and Barcelona FC, was present at the ISOKINETICS 2018 conference with three excellences from the SKILL line: SKILLMILL, SKILLRUN and SKILLROW.