On the Hyndman thread this is a quote from Fraser about his time at Aberdeen. I think this would apply to the mentality of a lot of lower league English players 10 or so years ago
“It all stemmed from Aberdeen. I used to have Domino's all the time and ice creams from Baskin Robbins. I think up there, I don't want to sound disrespectful because the standard was good, but it was a lot better down here.
"I think even if I was eating rubbish up there I could get away with it, whereas down here I got found out straight away. People knew that I wasn't doing the best for my body, which has all changed now.”
So yes, reserve players may have had more games to keep fit, but the overall fitness level of the first XI wouldn’t have been great either. It was a lot easier for players to come in from the cold regardless of the amount of reserve team matches