10 ways to recover from a soccer game

“Your body is only as good as its ability to recover” – Verne Gambetta

We all know the value of hard work and its benefits in football performance. The research is endless on how consistent effort and diligent work produce various results and how these positive aspects can influence your ability to perform at your best, but when do you really get the results? Cardio conditioning, strength training, power development, mobility, and all the other physical training your body goes through each week have a profound effect on our success, but are we really improving as we train or is it the result of the time after? we leave the field or the gym?

I think this question can be answered by saying “both”, but let me explain more. The different ways that we, as players, can improve come through various “channels” that can happen instantly and/or over a certain period of time. Exercise scientists call these channels immediate recovery (between reps or repeated sprints in a game), short-term recovery (between sets or reps of speed work), and training recovery (between practices or games). For example, when we train on a technical skill, our coach can give us insight into a new and better way to achieve the end result. This instant realization immediately makes us a more efficient and effective player on the field. However, the benefit of practicing and perfecting that skill will require thousands of repetitions and hours of work until it can become a constant tool during competition.

The same can be assumed with speed, agility, strength, and stamina. The skill sets we learn in acceleration and deceleration are sometimes instantaneous; How to use your arms correctly when running. However, most of the physical benefits of training don’t occur until you’re a long way from the boot camp. It is in this “down time” or recovery process that our body begins to adapt to the stress of training and becomes stronger and better able to work at higher levels of performance (also known as supercompensation). This process is where I feel most players don’t understand or take advantage of working to improve their game, and where I want to spend the rest of this post talking.

Recovery is one of the least understood and least researched components of the training-adaptation cycle, yet it is the most important part of our training routine. It may be the reason you don’t continue to improve, get fitter and more explosive… but find yourself stuck and injured.

“We define recovery, from a practical perspective, as the ability to meet or exceed performance in a particular activity.” Which means that if we have just finished an hour and a half of intense training, our body’s performance capacity will be reduced for a period of time. We all know we can’t play another 90 minute game at full intensity in 2-3 hours after the last one, but what about 2-3 days? And what about intense training on consecutive days…consecutive weeks…consecutive months? How does this affect us?

“It is well accepted that overload is necessary for improvement, while overtraining results in failure at some level, impairing, rather than improving, performance. Overtraining is generally viewed strictly in terms of training, but overtraining is also can be expressed like this in recovery. If the recovery rate can be improved, higher training volumes can be performed without incurring the negative effect of overtraining.” – Training Recovery: A Brief Review; Bishop; Jones; Woods; Strength and Conditioning Research Journal. 22(3): 1015-1024, May 2008

Let’s look at a simplified graph of how our bodies and our performance can benefit from the proper ratio of training to rest. As you can see below, the stimulus (in our case it would be any type of intense training) causes stress which decreases the body’s ability to perform at a given level. If the proper amount of recovery (displayed as recovery), the adaptive capacity of the body does not return above the original form before the next stimulus. This can be very detrimental, especially if we continue this pattern for a training period (week) leading up to a game (competition). As you can see, the performance capacity of the players is much lower than when they started.

This tendency is often seen in youth soccer, when a coach or player has the “no pain, no gain” mentality and decides to work as hard as the weather allows each time they train. The unfortunate part is that this not only leads to unfortunate performance, but also to injuries.

On the other hand, proper recovery can have opposite effects on a player’s performance, if done correctly. Looking at the graph below, we can see the opposite trend where the player is now getting adequate recovery and making progress, which we call supercompensation.

So how much time does it really take to adjust to training (perform better/better fit to play) and can we decrease the time needed? In a summary answer to both questions… nobody knows. There is very little research that has consistent results from valid populations to substantiate an answer, however, there are many favorite recovery rituals and habits that thousands of athletes apply and rely on every day. So, I’ll list them below and let you get an idea of ​​what works for you.

All of these have been researched and have shown some success value, even if it’s just anecdotal and not proven by actual numbers…

1) proper nutrition – Research has shown that consuming nutrient-dense foods that are rich in carbohydrates + protein/amino acids immediately after exercise is most beneficial. For high-intensity exercise > 90 minutes, choose one of the following to consume within: 30 minutes post-workout/game: Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat (WW) or WW Bagel, Cereal Bowl with Skim Milk, Chicken Pasta (or lean protein source), tuna sandwich on WW bread or WW bagel, oatmeal with skim milk or H2O with 2 tablespoons peanut butter, or a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich on WW or WW bagel.

2) rehydration – The investigation is good in this case. You must do it to recover well. Studies recommend the inclusion of a sodium-containing fluid (50 mmol/L) along with some potassium and carbohydrates (sugar). A large amount of sports drinks will suffice, but make sure you’re getting enough, which means you should be drinking as much fluid as you’ve lost. One 16 oz sports drink directly after practice/game + another 75-120 oz of water throughout the day.

3) narrowing – this is the preferred method of recovery tactics by most coaches and clubs around the world, as it will allow for constant training and improvement without breaking the rhythm players may have mid-season. Taper is the idea that reducing training volume (total time/duration) or intensity (% of max effort) by a certain amount during concurrent training sessions will allow consistent recovery throughout a given week. All coaches and teams should do this in their respective training weeks, and it can result in training improvement of up to 6% during that same week.

4) Compression – Have you ever seen Allen Iverson and all those other NBA players wearing tights and long sleeves under their uniforms…or what about runners wearing socks that only cover their calves? Well, as cool as they look, they serve a purpose. These compression sleeves and shorts (most often worn by soccer players) are great for cracking strawberries while sliding and support your muscles to eliminate swelling. This reduction of an inflammatory response does wonders for avoiding soreness and getting back to the intensity of the game on consecutive days.

5) cool down – I know, you never stretch after training. You’re tired, dirty, hungry and couldn’t care less what your coach has to say about your missed shot inside the six-yard box. Well, this will be the best and easiest way to ensure that he is recovering properly. All the processes and chemical releases that occur during intense exercise leave microtears and damage in the muscles. Your hammies are in dire need of adequate blood flow to give them the nutrition they need to get better and what they want to do is shrink to a shorter length. Stretching passively (another person) or actively (yourself) shows a great effect in giving your muscles exactly what they need for immediate relief.

6) ice baths – also known as cryotherapy, is a favorite way for college players to get the most bang for their buck between 2 times a day. As much as it is excruciatingly annoying, soaking your legs in an ice cube for 15 minutes has shown great effect in reducing swelling and pain, as well as keeping you awake faster than a Starbucks with 6 shots of espresso.

7) Hyperbaric Chambers – this is for all the million dollar gamers who don’t have a claustrophobic tendency. The idea that creating more oxygen and atmospheric pressure in the air around you forces your body to take in and use the benefits of oxygen has some impressive results. Just $10,000 and a good night’s rest in a coffin-like bedroom will get you at your best for the next time-lapse high school thriller.

8) massage therapy – A whole new industry has sprung up around this idea. Practical therapy is used to manipulate muscle and soft tissue damaged by training, making it possible for swelling and destructive elements in the local area to go away and the good stuff to come in faster. If it doesn’t work, don’t tell anyone, because this feels so good I’m willing to pass it up.

9) Ergogenics/Supplements – Creatine, amino acids, Flinstone vitamins, and ginseng have all been researched and have shown mixed results. My advice is to stick with something cheap, easy, and that at least shows good potential, like taking a good quality multivitamin that contains iron and folic acid a few hours after your workout.

10) REST – Doing nothing may be the hardest thing to fit into your routine, but it may be the best thing for you. Some studies show that the body cannot fully recover from intense exercise for up to 72 hours or more. This will shorten this process, but you can never go wrong by simply relaxing the modalities and letting your body do its thing.

My advice and the best recipe for the most effective recovery would be this: Post-workout, to get you ready for the next day…stretch while drinking a Gatorade before heading out on the course, all while wearing compression shorts during your session. . . 30 minutes post-workout, eat a meal that includes whole wheat carbohydrates, a lean protein, and 16-14 oz. water while submerging the waist down in 15 degree water. 2 hours post workout, take a multivitamin (with iron), stretch and foam roll all lower body muscle groups.

until next time

John