Hector Bellerin has revealed how he’s benefitted from sports science at Arsenal.
Bellerin believes the leaps and bounds constantly being made in sports science are crucial to modern football. The 22-year-old reckons that, since the sport is now so demanding at the top level, these advances have helped him, as well as others at Arsenal, massively.
“It’s proven that all the stuff in your recovery and working on your power helps when you’re on the pitch,” the Spaniard told Arsenal Player. “Obviously you need to have the right mentality, you need to be good technically, but football is getting so advanced and the level is so high that every little margin is something that is very important nowadays.
“All those little margins that you can get by jumping higher, being quicker, recovering better in between games is something that is key these days. At this club especially, it’s something that has been very important over the past two years.
“We have a cryo-chamber here now, which you stay in for three minutes at -130 degrees. I’m sure that if they told the players to do that 25 years ago, they wouldn’t be on it! Stuff like that helps you recover your body, recover your muscles. Having something like that when you’ve got two or three games in a week is something that can give you that advantage in a game.”
The right-back specifically mentioned the new cryo-chamber, which we’ve seen players posting about on social media before.
Cryotherapy can stimulate blood flow, which can help muscles to heal and relive soreness. As Bellerin mentions, this is why this method can be particularly useful when Arsenal are playing two or three matches a week since muscles need to recover. And goodness knows the Gunners need all the help they can get in that department.
Arsenal were previously accused by ex-England goalkeeper, David James, of relying on sports science too heavily, as practically every decision is allegedly based on data and statistics. And he’s got a point.
While sports science can be useful when it comes to preventing injury and treating sidelined players, an over-reliance on the statistical side of the game can make it seem a little too clinical and, if Arsene Wenger really does use data to make every decision, it’s proven it’s far from perfect.