Midseason Monitoring: The Importance of Appropriate Recovery Strategies
Massage therapy, hot packs, ice baths, compression garments, and more. All are strategies that you’ve likely heard about to optimise recovery after training and competitions. Time is limited and it’s not likely that all of them can be done! This blogpost looks at your favourite recovery methods and explores the help they provide to the tired athlete.
Sleep & Relaxation
Sleep is a fundamental pillar in the foundation of athletic recovery, playing a pivotal role in enhancing both performance and overall well-being for athletes. Sleep emerges as a natural performance booster, with the body leveraging this time to fortify tissues, elevate energy levels, and consolidate memory and learning. You may have read in our earlier blogpost about building a healthy sleep pattern and taking that time before bed to really relax. This means taking away things that put on a higher cognitive load such as intense training sessions the night before or stressful video games.
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is a well-liked technique for athletes to recover from rigorous training or competition. This therapy is submerging the body in water, usually using techniques such as contrast baths or ice baths (alternating between hot and cold water). The goal of hydrotherapy is to speed up recovery in between sessions by lowering tiredness, inflammation, and soreness in the muscles.
Active Recovery
Low-intensity workouts or other activities are a part of active rehabilitation after training or competition. This method is intended to improve blood flow, aid in the elimination of metabolic waste products, and aid in the process of healing as a whole. Active recuperation methods often incorporate exercises like swimming, cycling, or light running. The selection of activities is contingent upon the unique requirements of the athlete, the characteristics of the sport, and personal inclinations.
Stretching
One of the most used methods employed as a recovery strategy, there are psychological implications in the preparedness of an athlete when incorporating stretches as part of a cooldown routine. However, evidence remains mixed as to the benefits that stretching has towards recovery. Additionally, there is a consensus that while stretching does not necessarily promote better recovery, there is no detrimental effect that it can have on performance post-exercise.
Compression Garments
It is believed that wearing compression garments will increase blood flow return by applying progressive compression our more distal areas (fingertips or toes) to more proximal areas (upper arms or thighs). By encouraging stable muscle fiber alignment and lowering the amount of intramuscular space available for swelling, the external pressure that is produced may lessen the inflammatory response and lessen pain in the muscles. Compression garments and rehabilitation for endurance athletes are the subject of little research at this time, but what little evidence there is suggests that the garments may help rather than hinder the healing process.
Massage
Evidence remains limited regarding massage therapy. However, there are psychological benefits towards having a massage to areas that had been put under strain for the athlete and no literature.
Nutrition & Hydration
Athletes can agree that nutrition and hydration are critical elements when it comes to a good recovery after competition and training. A healthy diet and adequate hydration are essential for promoting recuperation following strenuous exercise. Restoring energy stores and promoting muscle regeneration are aided by consuming enough calories, distributing macronutrients properly, and timing nutrition intake before and after exercise or competition. Sustaining appropriate water levels is also critical for optimal performance and recuperation. Furthermore, it can act as a preventative against developing certain conditions explored in an earlier blog post.
Feel like you need physiotherapy to help with your recovery? We have Sports & Exercise Physiotherapists ready to help!
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