River's draw in Liniers with Ricardo Gareca's weakened Velez, which has not won since March 20, left a bittersweet taste in the leader of the Professional Football League. His coach, Martín Demichelis, analyzed what happened in Liniers in the post-match press conference but also what his team experienced in recent weeks. Then, he used a term that does not exist in the formal plane of medicine: "jet stress".
"You start to see that the teams that play during the week have a huge attrition. Not only the wear and tear of the 90 minutes, but what is called the 'jet-stress', before traveling, after traveling, the hours at the airport, "argued the technician who succeeded the successful cycle of Marcelo Gallardo.
Asked if the thrashing suffered with Fluminense in Brazil was a turning point, the Cordovan recalled the draw with Sporting Cristal for the Copa Libertadores in Peru last Thursday. "We arrived (from Lima) the day after at nine o'clock at night, the players arrived at 22, 22.30 at their homes, a day after having played. That's why injuries also appear, injuries that were not even in the game, because of that accumulation of fatigue. So, whenever I can, without underestimating the situation, in some positions I will rotate, I will do it. But I don't think there's a turning point from that match," he explained.
The doctor Daniel López Rosetti, a specialist in stress, author of several books and member of the Argentine Society of Stress Medicine, clarified before the Clarín consultation that the term "jet stress" does not exist at least "in the formal plane of our specialty."
There are two other terms recognized in medical dictionaries that are related and could help clarify what Demichelis meant. One is renowned jet lag, which according to Harvard University's Medical Dictionary of Health, indicates "a feeling of fatigue that occurs when the biological clock resets after traveling across time zones, usually by plane."
The other, of course, is stress, "an innate survival response in which certain hormones are released that increase blood flow to the brain or heart." "The stress response leads to a surge of energy, allowing a person to flee dangerous situations. However, continuous stress can deplete energy and damage health, "says the book that can be consulted online.
If both are combined, it could be concluded that the "jet stress" to which Demichelis referred is the exhaustion suffered by a person as a result of the fatigue caused by regular trips and the wear and tear caused by that lack of fatigue. Although there is some bibliography -such as the book "Jet Stress: What is it & how to Cope with it" by Judith Goeltz-, whichis not scientifically substantiated.
A month without travel ahead
River players celebrate Robert Rojas' goal in Liniers. (Marcelo Carroll)
After having gone to La Paz, Rio de Janeiro and Peru – in addition to domestic trips to Rosario, Tucumán and Córdoba – between April 4 and May 25, River will face the definition of the group stage of the Copa Libertadores as a local.
On Wednesday, June 7, they will face Fluminense in a key match for their aspirations in Group D (they are last with 4 points but by goal difference than Sporting Cristal) at the Monumental, while they will receive The Strongest on the 27th.
In between, for the local tournament, he will always play in Buenos Aires: Defensa y Justicia (L), Banfield (V) and Instituto (L). His next trip will be just at the end of July and to the always close Rosario, for the penultimate date of a tournament that could already have resolved its champion.
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