Bristol, CT – July 29, 2015 – Studio X: Mike MacIntyre coach of the University of Colorado Buffaloes and Cary Chow on the set of SportsCenter
(Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images)
‘Tis the season for college football bowls.
Colorado made its first bowl appearance in nine years in the Alamo Bowl and lost to Oklahoma State 38-8 on Thursday.
But how did the Buffs get there after so many years of frustration?
Well, it is impossible to sum it up to one single thing, but player health has played a large role. One thing that has helped the team is a breakthrough piece of technology that was created by CU professors Inigo San Millan, director of the sports performance program at the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center, and John Hill, who is in the Department of Family Medicine.
The technology they created, named MuscleSound, is a high-frequency ultrasound that measures glycogen levels in an athlete’s muscles.
The ultrasound gives trainers a quick and non-invasive way to measure an athlete’s glycogen level in real-time by simply scanning the body with an ultrasound, analyzing the images on a monitor and receiving the results on any device.
So why are glycogen levels important?
Glycogen is the body’s way of storing carbohydrates for energy and is the primary source of fuel during athletic activity. When the body runs out of glycogen, the body will begin to eat muscle, something that is very hard to gain back and can result in permanent health problems.
“It’s a good way to personalize nutrition at a level that hasn’t been done before,” San Millan told the Daily Camera.
“As we have done with the football players, maybe the legs are fine but the arms are shattered — there’s no glycogen there. We can recommend a personalized workout in the weight room.”
The technology has been used by professional football, basketball and baseball teams.
Those athletes and the Buffs are just a sample of those who have seen the benefits of MuscleSound, and those who use it are expected to keep improving in their respective sports, much like Colorado has this season.
“The results of this year are not a coincidence,” San Millan said of the Buffs’ success to the Daily Camera. “It’s been a process, a multidisciplinary effort from a lot of people involved in the team for the last four years. This has been one of the tools.”
