Recovery – A few more ‘1 Percenters’

Over the previous couple months we have been looking at the all-important recovery-based aspect to both physical preparation, but also performance on match day. You may remember from an earlier article we quoted Oklahoma City Thunder Applied Sports Scientist Mark Simpson;

“We’ve found that the more complicated the strategy is, the less well performed it is. As such, we favour a program that involves few modalities and requiring limited staff input and technology: sleep, nutrition, CWI and contrast therapy.”

“My experience, consistent with the overwhelming evidence, is that sleep and nutrition are the 2 most critical elements of the recovery process. Therefore, much of our energy is directed towards these 2 areas.”

We delved in far greater detail into both sleep and nutrition in earlier articles – and I hope it is abundantly clear at this stage not only how important they are – but that they are equally as important as the physical training itself. Without them being done properly, any improvements made as a result of training will be short lived, and certainly you will not continue to improve beyond the short term. And as Mark highlights above, the quality sleep and quality nutrition make up the overwhelming majority of what you can do for yourself from a recovery point of view – and if they aren’t done properly, don’t even bother wasting your time and money with supplements, or other recovery methods.

"I’m a big believer in your recovery process starts with your training. Because if you over train or you do too much, no amount of ice baths or whatever recovery method you want to use is going to make up for a poorly designed training program."

Lachlan Penfold
Director of Performance Melbourne Storm

"Everyone’s always trying to have these crazy recovery methods, and foam rolling and all these other things. And all those things are great and they can really help a lot. But if you just don’t train like an idiot, you don’t need it as much."

Mark Bell

There are however other methods that you can employ to enhance your recovery after matches, as well as between bouts of training (we are mainly talking about the in-season week between matches at this stage however.) Some of them are a little more practical and less expensive than others.

Stretching

Nothing particularly exciting or ground-breaking here. We are talking about the static form of stretching too – holding a stretch for a period of time in the one spot. We quoted Charles Poliquin in an earlier article about sleep, highlighting the calming effect static stretching has on an excited nervous system, and Charles also indicates the effect that static stretching can have not only on recovery, but also the building of muscle itself.

Having 5 or 10 minute stretching sessions is something that needs to be mentioned and pushed, because lets face it, almost no one does it. Yet if we said do 10 pull ups or 10 push ups every hour on the hour as a method to develop muscle, it would be far more likely to occur. But the value in a humble short stretching session cannot be overstated – with the best time to look to do these being in the evening just before bed. Not only for the physical component, but also as a form of active meditation and winding down of the nervous system

That we also discussed previously. This also ties in well with part of the next form.

Massage and self-myofascial release (or foam rolling.)

 Massage is something that is used a lot at the highest level – with weekly massages compulsory at many clubs, and multiple massages each week common. Even 5-10 minutes of massaging certain body parts which strictly wouldn’t classify as a ‘massage session’ is a several times per week occurrence for players. There is little doubt about how ‘fresh’ a massage can have you feeling, and how it aids in recovery and reduced soreness, out of an increase in blood circulation, lymph circulation, sensory effects amongst other factors. However the problem for most everyday players, is they don’t have access to unlimited free massage. Where possible, shelling out the money for a full body massage once a month, or a shorter massage – say 20-30 minutes on just the legs for example – will still be helpful, but it hardly allows the regularity that would really help. And so we have to supplement the limited massage with something else.

That comes in the form of a foam roller. The initial rational for foam rolling was more of an acupressure approach (finding sore spots/trigger points, and then applying pressure to this point), but it has now progressed into self massage – a ‘poor mans massage’ if you will. The use of slow and deep strokes applied to the major muscle groups is a way of getting a similar benefit to that achieved from massage – although a foam tube will never be as adaptable as the human hands and fingers.

“Using the foam roller before stretching makes the tissue more pliable and extensible. The key is to search for tender areas, or trigger points, and to roll these areas to decrease tissue density and overactivity. Tissue that has been rolled can elongate properly. Why rolling works remains a controversial topic, but not one seems to doubt that it does work.”

Mike Boyle

There are other tools – different size and shaped balls, etc, and we are sort of lumping them all together in this category. However the foam roller is the most widely available, simple to use, and allows for the broadest strokes to the larger muscle groups. Done prior to or in conjunction with stretching is an ideal recovery option – particularly in the evenings.

Cold water immersion

Hydrotherapy – the use of water for recovery – is used to increase circulation, decrease inflammation, calm the nervous system, decrease stress, and help you rejuvenate. Cold therapy in particular decreases post-exercise muscle inflation. Overall, literature findings are inconclusive, however, most players will comment to feeling ‘lighter on their legs’ having used this method. It is a potential tool, if it doesn’t work for you, or you don’t like it, don’t use it. If you notice the benefit, then why not include it. There is also debate about whether or not cold-water immersion attenuates the adaptive response (interfering with it), however this is more related to potential gains from training. In this situation, we are talking more about after a game.

Heat – cold contrast

Similar to the last point – looking at a technique for immediately after a match – and so this of course isn’t possible unless you have the ability to do it at home. Alternating between hot and cold stimulates blood flow and recovery with little effort. When you enter warm water, blood flows to your limbs and skin in order to dissipate heat, whereas when you enter cold water, the opposite happens – blood is pulled away from the skin and limbs in towards the organs. This contrast forces your blood to move fast and circulate quicker – a good thing post training and post game, actively speeding up recovery (from blood flow and the nutrients this carries) with minimal to no effort. Once again, despite its effectiveness, practicality for a local player is admittedly the sticking point for this post match method – the best you could do is cold water in a bath and warm in the shower and alternate. But remember this is just another ‘1 percenter.’

Compression garments

Worn during training sessions by many players, especially through the winter months. But how many players are using them as the recovery aid that they are? These molded tights aid blood flow and recovery, therefore they are arguably (likely in fact) even more beneficial in between training sessions than during them. Don’t believe me – chuck on a pair the night after a game or a heavy leg session and see how they feel the nest day/morning. Another ‘1 percenter’ that if done consistently will yield noticeable benefit.

Active recovery

“Active recovery is the rapid elimination of waste products during moderate aerobic recovery exercise. During the first 10 minutes of continuous light jogging, 62% of lactic acid is removed. An additional 26% is removed in the next 10 minutes of jogging.”

“Thus maintaining an active recovery period for 10-20 minutes after strength training seems advantageous.”

Tudor Bompa

Active recovery is just as it sounds – recovery done in an active form. This usually takes on the form of light unloaded sessions on the spin bike, but can also be a slow jog, below 60% max heart rate. Make no mistake, doing this Sunday will leave you feeling fresher Monday than if you were to do nothing (physically) all day. This is another simple method, cost effective, and doesn’t take up much time or effort. This isn’t a long and strenuous bout – merely 15-20 minutes of very light movement – just don’t fall into the trap of letting it turn into a ‘run’ when you get a few minutes in, and are feeling good (which is an easy trap to fall into) because this certainly is no longer a recovery technique, or an active recovery technique.

During season – if you get a week off

This is a good time to add in a quick point about the layout of your year during the season. If you get a full week off from club training, while either you have the bye, or your competition has the bye, don’t do nothing. Even if you choose to have a deload week or a full recovery week – active recovery is still always better than full passive recovery (that is sitting around doing nothing, and dropping all the good habits).

“Experience tells us that complete rest of more than a few days during the season is not ideal. The body tends to go into shut down mode, and the risk of injury significantly increases when training restarts.”

“Active rest is regarded as better than complete rest.”

Paul Pook

Tailor it

“Just as athletes benefit from an individualised training program, they also benefit from an individualised recovery program.”

Mark Simpson
Oklahoma City Thunder
Applied Sports Scientist

In other words, tailor what you do based on what works for you, or what you like. Not only does this mean a different mix of the 1 percenters listed, but also means the evening sleep routine will look slightly different for you, the eating specifics will look slightly different for you. The key pillars and principles still apply for everyone, and are the same regardless, but all the little tweaks here and there – particularly with things like these 1 percenters, will vary from player to player.

Strength Coach