Every training session is important to an athlete, as it is where an individual can increase the chances of having a better performance. This considered, with the correct recovery it means that an athlete can start each training session and game in a fresh state of body and mind, so that performance can be maximised, and ultimate benefits can come from each session. Therefore, recovery strategy techniques are used to increase performance, by decreasing body fatigue and stress.
Many athletes need to be educated about these modalities, as they may not understand the importance of recovery. For an elite athlete, recovery management may be a planned by a coach or manager, which will include complete monitoring of recovery management but for a non elite athlete it is up for an individual to know the importance of recovery, and the best ways to do it.
There are ma
ny modalities that can be used within recovery: Within this report, three of them will be looked at. These are Rest, Cryotherapy and Massage.
Rest
Rest is often overseen by individuals, as it is often thought of as un needed and a slight waste of time. Rest can be put into two categories. Passive rest, and active rest.
One of the most overlooked forms of passive rest by coaching and athletes is sleep. Sleep is one of the key ways for an individual to recover, as it provides adaptation time for an individual to adjust physiologically, neurologically and emotionally to the stress that they have put on their body during the day (Hoolihan, 2014). When an athlete is sick or unwell, sleep should increase as part of recuperation. It is important that an individual is educated about how much sleep and passive rest they should have on a day to day basis, as it has been shown that too much sleep and passive rest can reduce performance, as the lethargic like feeling can slow down the central nervous system (Hoolihan, 2014) (Harbili, 2015).
Active rest is also an undervalued part of an athletes’ programme. After a heavy training session, it is good to introduce some active rest. This should be an activity that is within a session, to help recover from the physiological state that the individual is in. This could include a light jog, walk, swim or cycle, which will all recover the lactate system, or light shaking/massaging of large muscle groups. Active rest should be a different activity to the individuals normal training (Valenzuela et al., 2015.
General rest days should be stressed to an athlete, as these are an essential part of recovery. A rest day should include absolutely no training of any type. This allows time for physical and psychological recovery, and also means that an individual will have personal time to themselves (Valenzuela et al., 2015.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is the broad term for any type of therapy that uses low temperatures or ice. This can be localised to a specific area, or full body. It is a popular recovery tool, as it can be used to accelerate recovery from muscle damage, reduce pain, and reduce swelling (Hawkins et al., 2015).
Cryotherapy can be used as general recovery, or specific for a particular injury. Most studies show that the use of cryotherapy has a positive effect on perceived pain, swelling, and overall recovery time of an injury (White and Wells, 2013).
Physiologically, it appears that the blood flow increases with superficial cold therapy, yet decreases with application over a large surface area of the skin. It should be made clear to an individual about when the best times to use ice are. It has been shown that motor performance is affected when the body is exposed to low temperatures. Therefore, cryotherapy shouldn’t be used before training or game, as this is likely to reduce performance. Prolonged application of low temperatures could deteriorate performance. In general literature around cryotherapy, it is undecided what the most effective type of treatment/recovery (Bielik, 2010),(White and Wells, 2013),(Hawkins et al., 2015).
Massage
Massage and local soft tissue therapies are also a widely accepted modality for recovery. It is known to speed recovery following heavy trainings or competition, and can also have a part to play in the rehabilitation process following an injury (Bielik, 2010). Some studies claim that sports massage can reduce muscle fatigue, loosen overworked or tight muscles, reduce swelling and discomfort within an area, increase sleep, release trigger points, increase flexibility within the muscles, and reduce tension (which can improve range of motion) (Bielik, 2010). However, it is believed that with incorrect technique and over working can lead to a short term reduction in power performance. Considering this, it is important that a sports massage is used with the correct technique at the correct time of an individual’s training programme. Appropriate measures should be made to link massage in with other recovery techniques that may be used, and that the individual has a slight understanding about why they are having a massage, and what benefits that will have for their training programme as a whole (Weeks and Horan, 2009).
When an athlete is going through a heavy training programme, their muscles and joints will be under extreme loads. This can create micro-tears to the muscles and surrounding soft tissue. Following the overload training, the tissue adaptation occurs and slowly become stronger. This is when the muscles will be tight and under tension from other parts of the body such as the joints and the ligaments, and a massage with the correct techniques could be greatly beneficial (Jonhagen et al., 2004).
These recovery strategies should all be used in conjunction with each other when an individual is training, to achieve optimum recovery. Many of the recovery systems are personal choice, and some individuals will find different modalities more or less effective. This is where trial and error is needed, to see which modalities are best tailored for the individuals training programme and personal regime.
Bielik, V. (2010) Effect of Different Recovery Modalities on Anaerobic Power in Off-road Cyclists. Biology of Sport. Vol. 27, No. 1: 59-63.
Harbili, S. (2015) The Effect of Different Recovery Duration on Repeated Anaerobic Performance in Elite Cyclists… Journal of Human Kinetics. Vol. 49, No. 1: 171-179.
Hawkins, J.R., Mesa, C. and Hawkins, S.W. (2015) Clinical Applications of Therapeautic Modalitites Among Collegiate Athletic Trainers, Part 1: Cryotherapy. International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training . Vol. 21, No. 1: 62-68.
Hoolihan, C. (2014) Recovery: The Rest of the Story. IDEA Fitness Journal. Vol. 11, No. 4: 32-40.
Jonhagen, S., Ackermann, P., Eriksson, T., Saartok, T. and Renstorm, P.A.F. (2004) Sports Massage After Eccentric Exercise… American Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol. 32, No. 6: 1499-1503.
Valenzuela, P.L., De La Villa, P. and Ferragut, C. (2015) Effect of Two Types of Active Recovery on Fatigue and Climbing Performance.. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine . Vol. 14, No. 4: 769-778.
Weeks, B. and Horan, S. (2009) Massage: Diagnosis and Management. Modern Athlete & Coach. Vol. 47, No. 1: 16-20.
White, G.E. and Wells, G.D. (2013) Cold-wtaer Immersion and Other Forms of Cryotherapy: Physiological Changes Potentially Affecting Recovery from High-intensity Exercise. Extreme Physiology & Medicine. Vol. 2, No. 26: 1-6.