A lot of athletes believe the only way to get better is to initially train harder and harder every day. However, to increase athletic performance you need recovery to help repair the body. When athletes train hard, the muscles in the body actually break down and need time to rebuild so they can be stronger. The good news is recovery doesn’t have to take long if athletes use simple strategies to help their bodies. Athletes can recover through sleep, good nutrition, stretching, ice baths, and mental rest. Using these recovery methods can help an athlete stay healthy and improve their athletic performance.
Athletes can use sleep and good nutrition to help recover the muscles in their body. According to the National Institute of Health, sleep is essential for an athlete when it comes to recovery. Sleep is important because it is the most efficient time for your body to physically repair, mentally restore, and replenish energy. Nutrition also plays a role in this process. By consuming 30g-40g of slow digesting protein, such as casein (found in cottage cheese, milk, Greek yogurt), roughly 30 minutes before bed you can provide your body with a steady stream of amino acids throughout the night. This can spike muscle protein synthesis and boost overnight muscle repair by up to 33%. Casein protein, also known as slow digesting protein, can sustain amino acids for up to 7-8 hours, which is important for athletes because it minimizes muscle breakdown and repairs the muscles.
Athletes generally need 7-9 hours of sleep per night for optimal recovery, but for max recovery more professional teenage athletes need 9-10+ hours of sleep to enhance muscle recovery and immune health, while also preventing possible future injuries. This mental restoration by promoting cognitive function and reaction time to repair some of stress the brain tissues suffered when training. Sleep can help the athlete reduce the stress and anxiety an athlete may experience. Sleep also can energize an athlete’s performance to train harder by accelerating their muscle repair and their faster reaction time for best performance.
In addition to sleep and nutrition, athletes can use stretching to help recover muscle length, range of motion and reduce stiffness after training, or exercise. According to Harvard Health, stretching can aid recovery by increasing blood flow, which helps remove metabolic waste that muscles produce when they work hard and can reduce soreness. In addition stretching reduces muscle tightness and minimizes delayed future muscle soreness. Stretching lengthens your muscles, which is important for preventing injuries and reducing pressure on the joints. Being consistent with stretching can also improve mobility along with enhancing muscle growth. Stretching increases the distance between the muscle’s origin and insertion points, stretching the muscle fibers and reducing the tension within the muscle. Along with lengthening your muscles during recovery, you can also help your muscles recover by increasing your range of motion. Increasing your range of motion brings oxygen and nutrients to tired muscles and removes the waste products made during the exercise, or training session. Common ways athletes can increase range of motion are through static stretching after a workout which can help muscles relax and recover. Dynamic stretching before exercising to help the body ready for movement. Recovering before activity is just as important as recovering after activity.
Ice baths are an important component to recovery by reducing swelling to help recover by reducing swelling, inflammation and muscle soreness. According to the National Institute of Health athletes use ice baths to decrease muscle inflammation and to speed up the body’s muscle recovery after an intense workout, practice, or training session. Ice baths are typically supposed to be 10-15∘C ,or 50-59∘F. By being this temperature, they constrict the blood vessels to stop inflammation, swelling and muscle soreness. Typically most experts recommend that staying in the ice bath for 10 to 15 minutes as any longer can risk the increase of hypothermia. This cold water therapy provides your body with a numbing effect by slowing down the speed at which your nerves send pain signals to the brain. Ice baths can calm the CNS(Central Nervous System) which stabilizes your heart rate and can improve sleep quality which can help you recover.
Proper recovery is just as important as training when it comes to improving athletic performance. Without giving yourself a recovery period after training, it can affect your athletic performance. As a student athlete myself, I recommend using these strategies because you might find your performance improving and feel healthier overall.. These strategies can give you the physical and mental recovery you need to be the best version of yourself.
