Athletes are more competitive than ever before, and they are getting fitter than ever before to achieve their full potential. As a result, injuries have become more visible, and there is now a lot greater focus on monitoring an athlete’s training load and recovery techniques. We want not only to keep our sportsmen safe from harm, but we also want to make sure they are physically and mentally prepared to perform at the top level daily.
Post Exercise Recovery was described by Tomlin and Wenger (2001) as “the restoration of the muscle to its pre-exercise condition after activity.”
This term, however, has been expanded to include physiological, metabolic, mental, dietary, and social elements. We will now look at the advantages of different recovery methods and when each one should be used.
Salt Water
A salt soak or a swim in the sea are said to aid a player’s post-exercise recuperation. In the wintertime, the cool water of the ocean helps decrease irritation, and the salt in the sea assists in eliminating surplus positive hydrogen ions from the blood, restoring normal blood acid-base levels. 8 It also offers some weight loss advantages by allowing athletes to take a burden off their feet while making an active recovery in the waters.
Active Recovery
Active recovery is a helpful method for eliminating lactic acid and other compounds from muscles after the workout. This is due to increased blood circulation and, therefore, oxygen delivery to tired muscles. Active recovery has also been shown to have a beneficial effect on an athlete’s psychological condition. Walking, running, swimming, cycling, stretching, and other low-intensity (3050 percent MHR) activities performed immediately after or in the days after training/competition comprise active recovery.
When combined with hydrotherapy and massage, it is the most effective method to recover from pain, neurological exhaustion, and physical weariness. Using this method regularly can assist athletes in avoiding future injuries and preparing for their next session quicker.
Walking
Walking is often regarded as the essential type of active rehabilitation. It may also be changed to offer additional health advantages to an athlete. Phillip Beach, an osteopath and acupuncturist practitioner, strongly advises taking off your shoes and walking on uneven ground. It may seem odd, but it has shown to be highly successful. He refers to our feet as the route into the neurological system, which implies that shoes act as “sensory deprivation chambers,” reducing the quality of data transmitted from the feet and absorbed. We stimulate sensory receptors, the CNS, and the body’s self-correcting ability by walking barefoot on uneven terrain.
Walking or running for 1015 minutes or more as part of an active recovery shortly after exercise can decrease muscle stiffness and cramps experienced by the athlete. This period should be dedicated to rallying in the 24-48 hour period after the competition. Walking for at least 30 minutes, coupled with static stretching, will aid recovery and enable the athlete to do more intensive training later in the week to retain endurance.
Relax and Have Fun
Any health professional will tell you that activity is an essential component of leading a healthy life. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting adequate physical exercise may save one out of every ten premature deaths. It may also decrease stress, enhance sleep, and make us feel happier.
Take, for example, hiking. Hiking does not have to be a 10-mile journey up a high mountain. Thousands of acres of parks in the United States are crossed by pathways of varying difficulty levels. Try AllTrails.com to discover hiking trails near you, where you can search for routes depending on geography, difficulty level, and length.
You can even go swimming. Swimming is an excellent method to keep healthy whether you have access to a pool or live near a lake. Swimming raises your heart rate and helps tone your muscles in the same way that jogging does, but without joint strain. If swimming laps isn’t your thing, you may try water aerobics or just treading water. Take it to the next level by leaving the shallow waters and going deep-sea fishing.
Any recovery activity aims to avoid injury, decrease muscular pain, and replenish carbohydrate, fluid, and electrolyte reserves. The player would be unable to sustain a high-performance level if the required recovery treatments are not implemented. The most important thing for athletes to do after a competition is to utilize a range of recovery methods rather than just one before returning to a flexible training schedule that will allow them to compete at their top performance the next time.
