David Johnson (West Ham United Academy): Can we reduce the affect of Growth Related injuries?

The Athletic Evolution Podcast

David Johnson is an Academy Sports Scientist at West Ham United and previously Academy S&C coach at AFC Bournemouth. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Bath investigating Training Load in Academy Footballers. He holds an MRes in Health and Wellbeing at The University of Bath and a BSc Exercise and Sports Science graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University. In this episode David discusses: How his MRes research investigated the time lost to injuries during the period of 88-95% Predicted Adult Height. How this set the stage for a PhD investigating this issue in greater detail. Identifying the issue of increased injury rates in periods of growth and presenting back to the multi-disciplinary team. Why the overall training load including activities outside of the primary sporting context are important to understand the variety in training load. His intervention seeking to reduce the impact of Growth Related Injuries and the massive 76% reduction they achieved. Why a greater strength training stimulus may be necessary during periods before Growth Related Injuries present. The concept of the "Activity Ladder" and some of the training modification made for players with Growth Related Injuries. You can keep up to date with David's work via his Research Gate profile, as well as his Twitter account: @david_johnson11 . To learn more about the LTAD Network check out www.ltadnetwork.com or follow on Instagram: @ltadnetwork or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ltadnetwork . You can keep up to date with Athletic Evolution via our www.athleticevolution.co.uk , Instagram: @athleticevouk and Twitter: @athleticevouk .