Scientists from South Ural State University have developed a system for controlling the functional status of athletes, what dramatically changes the approach to training. This method allows to look “inside” an athlete in order to accurately measure out the loads, prevent overtraining and improve the performance. This technology has been tested as part of the system of Traktor Ice Hockey Club, and a patent had been obtained for it.
“Our method takes into account the inherent properties of the nervous system of an athlete, his/her physical parameters and the current functional status,” explains Director of the SUSU Sport Science Research Centre Olga Makunina. “Athletes undergo a diagnostic examination with the use of a hardware-and-software complex and complete a number of tests. After we do the data interpretation, we become capable of saying (to almost a 100 percent accuracy) what kind of loads their body is ready for. In essence, we learn how to adequately manage the natural human potential. Modern technologies allow to achieve the same results, which used to be achieved only through pharmacology before.”
This system developed by the SUSU scientists includes several stages of diagnostics and monitoring. The key indicators are: sensomotor reaction, its rate, inference immunity and ability to concentrate. A special, developed-in-Russia Neurosoft hardware-and-software complex is used for measurements. The process itself resembles a computer game: a standardized test is offered: you need to quickly press the console when a certain signal sounds.
“This is a complex sensomotor reaction: an athlete needs to press read button for red signal, and green button for the green one,” shares the scientist. “It is a task that the central nervous system can cope with. Thus, we obtain objective markers of the current state of the central nervous system, and that means the readiness of an athlete for the offered loads.”
This system works not only with the nervous system. The complex diagnostics includes bioimpedansometry – a modern total body composition analysis. Specialists measure not only the height and the weight, but also the fat-and-muscle mass ratio, and water content, and perform a segmental analysis to reveal asymmetry. This data is compared to “model characteristics”, reference parameters for a certain sport or athlete’s role specialization in this sport.
“We examine how well an athlete complies with the model parameters, and reveal the strong and weak points,” says Olga Makunina. “Based on that, we can predict whether this athlete would be successful in this or that role: whether s/he would better be a defenceman or a forward.”
For all athletes it is obligatory to assess the heart performance and the heart rate variability: it is needed to accurately adjust the mode of training and recovery. Such indicators as stability and coordination, crucial for ice hockey players, are tested by scientists on a special platform that registers the oscillations of the centre of gravity. This test is irreplaceable to prevent falling and reveal weak points in the vestibular system.
The whole process of examining a team of 22 hockey players takes just a day or two. The coach receives not just charts with figures, but an easy-to-understand standardized protocol using a “traffic light” system. Scientists indicate the points that require special attention in red colour. For instance, low level of psychomotor reactivity. If it is consistently low, this is a warning that you need to spot a reason for it: exhaustion of the resources, problems with sleeping, nutrition, or high level of anxiety.
Based on the data, not only the training plan is built, but the individual recovery program as well.
For several years SUSU scientists were conducting their studies at the Traktor regional sports school. As a result of work, a patent has been obtained for the method of complex assessment of the functional status and the level of functional vigour of ice hockey players (authors: E.F. Surina-Marysheva, V.V. Erlikh, Yu.B. Korableva). This method is successfully used both in the main Traktor team and in the Club’s youth teams.
Now the SUSU Sport Science Research Centre is looking for new partners among other professional teams ready to train using a “do no harm” principle. This is the project’s key philosophy. The scientists note that the world sport is moving in the same direction:
“We rejoiced when in 2019, the documents of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) began featuring a phrase that the main priority is to preserve the health of athletes.” The unique system may be used not only in ice hockey, but in other sports, too. The developers successfully tested it for boxing athletes.
The SUSU scientists proved that the health of athletes is not a random thing, but a result of precise work. It can be and must be preserved, even at the limit of loads. And this is the future of professional sports, which is already here, in Chelyabinsk.