Physio John Green says that the addition of sports scientist John
McCarthy to the backroom staff has made a huge difference.
Under Harry Redknapp, masseurs were added to the 'team' at West Ham who travel to games and now, with John on board, the expansion of specialist help has continued.
"John McCarthy is superb; the difference it has made to the club is unbelievable and will continue to improve through him being involved," says John.
"Players in the past would have been weighed in order to be fined if they were overweight, and in some situations like Neil Ruddock that would have been appropriate.
"Generally speaking we don't have weight problems with any of our players at all.
"The problem is they lose weight by losing fluid in training.
"What John McCarthy does is weigh the players before and after training and any weight lost must be replaced with fluid.
"If you lose half a kilo you have to replace it with half a litre of fluid before you leave the training ground.
"We know that one of the biggest factors in fatigue for athletes is dehydration.
"If our players are half a litre down three days a week then by the end of the week that is one and a half litres of fluid that they are down.
"That would make a massive impact on their rate of recovery after games and the amount of effort they are able to put into the game."
Money is continually being invested in staff and equipment at Chadwell Heath and John is happy the board have been supportive.
"I think what you have got to say is that all these attempts - things I've tried to advocate for years - have been aimed at trying to minimise risk and maximise the potential we've got.
"We have a smaller squad than other sides, and therefore what I have always said, and the
chairman and Paul Aldridge agree, is that we have to maximise the potential we have got.
"We know who the good players are and that we can't adopt a rotation system with our squad.
"Our best players need to be playing nearly all the time and if that is the case we need them to be in a fit state to play on more occasions than other clubs use their players.
"That's what all the people that work towards preparing the players for every game are trying to do: maximise the potential of our players and get them out in as good a state as possible."
Players are now required to work on Sundays as well, and John adds:
"Coming in on a Sunday for a warm down will not be done any more as a punishment.
"It won't be done only when we've lost or had a bad performance, but because it is the right thing to do."
Explaining how the whole business of preparing players is becoming high-tech, he adds:
"They will either be in on Sundays or told to do some work at home, and the work that is done at home will be downloaded onto the heart monitor.
"If they haven't done it all they will be fined; that is the way this thing has to progress now.
"With the technology available you can give the players their own heart monitors and say on a Sunday go for a run or do your stretching, press this button when you start and press this button when you finish.
"On a Monday morning we can plug it into a machine, it downloads the information, and we can say 'you did too much' or 'next time you need to work a little bit longer'.
"It takes out all the subjectivity and makes what we are doing more objective and more professional."
Under Harry Redknapp, masseurs were added to the 'team' at West Ham who travel to games and now, with John on board, the expansion of specialist help has continued.
"John McCarthy is superb; the difference it has made to the club is unbelievable and will continue to improve through him being involved," says John.
"Players in the past would have been weighed in order to be fined if they were overweight, and in some situations like Neil Ruddock that would have been appropriate.
"Generally speaking we don't have weight problems with any of our players at all.
"The problem is they lose weight by losing fluid in training.
"What John McCarthy does is weigh the players before and after training and any weight lost must be replaced with fluid.
"If you lose half a kilo you have to replace it with half a litre of fluid before you leave the training ground.
"We know that one of the biggest factors in fatigue for athletes is dehydration.
"If our players are half a litre down three days a week then by the end of the week that is one and a half litres of fluid that they are down.
"That would make a massive impact on their rate of recovery after games and the amount of effort they are able to put into the game."
Money is continually being invested in staff and equipment at Chadwell Heath and John is happy the board have been supportive.
"I think what you have got to say is that all these attempts - things I've tried to advocate for years - have been aimed at trying to minimise risk and maximise the potential we've got.
"We have a smaller squad than other sides, and therefore what I have always said, and the
chairman and Paul Aldridge agree, is that we have to maximise the potential we have got.
"We know who the good players are and that we can't adopt a rotation system with our squad.
"Our best players need to be playing nearly all the time and if that is the case we need them to be in a fit state to play on more occasions than other clubs use their players.
"That's what all the people that work towards preparing the players for every game are trying to do: maximise the potential of our players and get them out in as good a state as possible."
Players are now required to work on Sundays as well, and John adds:
"Coming in on a Sunday for a warm down will not be done any more as a punishment.
"It won't be done only when we've lost or had a bad performance, but because it is the right thing to do."
Explaining how the whole business of preparing players is becoming high-tech, he adds:
"They will either be in on Sundays or told to do some work at home, and the work that is done at home will be downloaded onto the heart monitor.
"If they haven't done it all they will be fined; that is the way this thing has to progress now.
"With the technology available you can give the players their own heart monitors and say on a Sunday go for a run or do your stretching, press this button when you start and press this button when you finish.
"On a Monday morning we can plug it into a machine, it downloads the information, and we can say 'you did too much' or 'next time you need to work a little bit longer'.
"It takes out all the subjectivity and makes what we are doing more objective and more professional."