The current season’s edition enters a critical period this week, regarding physical preparation. The introduction of the play-in will see two teams play one or two more games before the quarterfinal playoffs, and the match load must be taken into account by the Performance Teams of each participant. Virtus and Efes have reached 64 official games; Baskonia at 63. Maccabi is only at 57, but against them is the fact that they have traveled by plane for every Regular League game.
“We define pre-recovery as all those strategies introduced to facilitate recovery in the days leading up to matches, ensuring arriving with neuromuscular freshness,” explains Professor Dr. Julio Calleja-González, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Sport at the University of the Basque Country and professor at the Spanish Olympic Committee. “Personalized training in basketball will be the future of this sport.” Almost reaching the seventh month of the Euroleague, loads are reduced to the minimum. One fact: teams that have to play the last repechage match on Friday will have played 9 weeks of double matches only in the Euroleague.
“Personalization improves adherence and results of interventions,” explains Calleja-González. Its application will be discussed in the III edition of EPIC (ELPA Performance International Congress) in a presentation titled ‘Recovery in basketball. Tools and protocols for rapid and better recovery.’ Calleja-González’s will be one of the 14 planned presentations to be held at the Tecnocampus in Mataró on May 10. His areas of work and research revolve around training and applied physiology to elite sports, with a special interest in fatigue recovery in team sports. In addition to his academic activity, Calleja-González has been a physical trainer for the Spanish Basketball Team and for Serge Ibaka in the NBA.
The Congress is open to all working in sports health in general and basketball in particular, whether professionally or not. Other speakers at the May 10 event include the Head of Medical Services of the Euroleague, Dr. Ignacio Muro; the former physical trainer of the Gasol brothers, the Spanish national team, and FC Barcelona, Toni Caparrós; or the head of medical services of Efes Istanbul, Ugur Dilicikik; along with other nutritionists, physiotherapists, psychologists, and prestigious recovery specialists. EPIC has the support and collaboration of the Catalan Basketball Federation, FC Barcelona, the Spanish Association of Basketball Physicians, or the Catalan Coaches Association, among others. Registrations are already open.
