One of the best to ever play the game of baseball, Babe Ruth dominated Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th Century. He was part of a natural breed of player—one that excessively drank, ate and indulged in nightlife without many repercussions.
But today’s athletes are being monitored as closely as possible, with the help of science, in order to be built into elite performers.
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Just last week, University Hospitals sports medicine physicians in Cleveland published one of the first scientific studies of wearables in football, in conjunction with Cleveland Browns Head Athletic Trainer Joe Sheehan. The research was pointed towards analyzing the different types of wearables and how they are able to maximize a professional football player’s workout and prevent injury.
While wearable technology is quite well known to sports medicine staffs, and most NFL teams use some variety of wearable, this was a big step to enter wearables into the scientific realm with genuine research data.
Additionally, another paper was just published that appears to be one of the most important yet with regards to sports nutrition. Travis Thomas, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences, headed the research project, which included more than eight years worth of data collection.
It turned out to be an incredibly comprehensive paper, with topics varying from performance enhancing drugs to the optimal time and amount of food and fluid for individual athletes to have. In general, Thomas’ team found that sports nutritionists are essential to a sports team, and the right choices can significantly improve an athlete’s safety and performance.
These two papers work in tandem with each other to show just how important science and technology are becoming to the landscape of sports. No longer do staffs merely treat players at the spot of injury, but they are tasked with scientifically forming them into the best possible athlete.