Incrediwear in Professional Soccer: How We Helped Keep Players On the Field
Every season professional soccer players are injured, resulting in time-loss. This can be expensive for clubs and demotivating for athletes, who want to get back into competition. Rather than waiting on the sidelines, most players are eager to recover as quickly as possible. Enter Incrediwear. Using our patented technology, Incrediwear sleeves release negative ions from body heat, causing molecular vibrations and increase blood flow, leading to quicker recovery. The studies described below verify with statistically-significant results just how effective Incrediwear can be for recovery.
In the last five years, two studies have been conducted on the speed of recovery from wearing Incrediwear sleeves. The first study was conducted by USC Division of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy in 2016 on the Real Salt Lake soccer club. The second was conducted in 2019 on the FC Cologne soccer club. Both studies focused on the effectiveness of wearing Incrediwear sleeves to reduce time-loss for professional athletes.
About the Study – Real Salt Lake
Over half of the injuries of professional athletes in the study included strains and sprains, with over 90% of muscle injuries in Major League Soccer (MLS) players occurring in the lower extremities. To enhance recovery, the athletes were instructed to wear Incrediwear recovery sleeves. The protocol consisted of wearing the sleeves at least one hour before and one hour after both practices and games. It also required wearing the sleeve during travel days and one hour after training sessions that were particularly strenuous.
In the 2015 season, Incrediwear was not used for the athletes. In 2016, the athletes followed the Incrediwear protocol. The missed games and events between both seasons were compared, resulting in significantly more games and events attended by the athletes who wore Incrediwear in 2016.
Incrediwear recovery leg sleeves help reduce time-loss in professional soccer players after lower extremity injuries and lower extremity soft tissue injuries. The reduction in time-loss could be due to increased blood flow, which helps accelerate recovery.
Results
- 46% faster recovery
- Decreased number of injuries
- Decreased number of games missed
- Zero re-injury rate
About the Study – FC Cologne
Located in Germany, the Bundesliga soccer league has to contend with downtime of injured players. Similar to the MLS study, the physical regeneration of players to resume competition was the subject of this study.
The number of lower extremity injuries seems to be growing steadily as numbers of players forced to take more time off from competition due to injury totaled 1,500 for the league in the 2017/2018 season. The time off was mostly due to injuries to the thighs/calves (36.3%), knees (15.1%), and ankles (13.8%).
The 25 team players were instructed to wear Incrediwear braces and sleeves through the duration of the season. With injury, players would wear a sleeve on the affected area. Sleeves were also used during sleep, travel days, and before, during and after training sessions. In comparing the 2018 and 2019 seasons, FC Cologne found that the sleeves contributed to faster absorption of swelling and pain improvement in acute injuries. Players noted the high quality of comfort benefits of the sleeves and braces, with little to no restriction in their training performance.
Results
- 57% decrease in injuries
- 100% decrease in muscle bundle tears
- 50% decrease in muscle fiber tears
- 50% decrease in muscle strains
Conclusion
Incrediwear sleeves were demonstrated in both studies to reduce injuries and provide quicker recovery to acute and chronic injuries for professional soccer players. The athletes were better physically prepared to perform and function at peak levels. Whether injury prevention or injury recovery, Incrediwear has you covered!
Products Used
Active recovery and preventative care:
Acute injuries, chronic pain, rehabilitation, pre-post operative:
References
- Hawkins RD, Hulse MA, Wilkinson C, Hodson A, Gibson M. The association football medical research programme: an audit of injuries in professional football. Br J Sports Med. 2001;35(1):43-47
- Ekstrand J, Hägglund M, Waldén M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(6):1226-1232