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ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Sports training recovery

by SHEREE DiBIASE, PT/Lake City Physical Therapy
| April 14, 2021 1:00 AM

Sport related activity recovery is a challenging thing. The habits we lay down run deep grooves in the brain and the brain likes habits. It likes consistency and the rhythm of behavior even when it comes to physical activity. Usually, recovery from a specific training pattern or sport specific activity takes 24 to 48 hours. That means the muscles that have been torn down will need that time to rebuild. But does that mean you don’t do any other exercise for that period of time also?

The act of recovery is often just as hard as your workout depending on your current level of fitness, so here are some tips to help you speed up your recovery time.

1) Nutrition — Often our recovery is directly affected by our water and food intake before the activity, and of course after the activity. If you were dehydrated because you overindulged the night before or didn’t eat dinner or breakfast before your activity, it can directly affect our level of recovery the next day. Many times people will bonk while playing or training. They will feel heavy in their legs or arms and they often get cranky in their mood. This means their body ran out of the necessary glycogen stores for their activity level. Good food is essential when you are training and playing sports. A balance of fruits and vegetables, proteins and fats and even carbohydrates are necessary in restoration of good musculoskeletal function.

2) Sleep — Our recovery is directly affected by our sleep patterns. The body heals when we are sleeping. It needs eight hours a night when they are training at such high levels.

3) Stretching — After the sport or training is done, a gentle stretching regime will benefit the body in its recovery time. Even if it’s done the next day, it will assist in increasing tissue mobility and pushing excess fluid out of the tissue.

4) Planning your Workouts — knowing how to schedule your workouts is key to preventing injury and aiding in recovery. If you have a hard workout day, then it needs to be followed by an alternate day of easier training or opposite muscle patterns. To build endurance in muscles you have to slowly add on with your time frames and you have to learn to listen to your body when it needs to rest. Cross training is beneficial in this case, but you still have to remember not to overdo it, and this takes you listening to what your body is saying. If you have trained the day before doing squats, lunge twists, box jumps and plyometric for an hour and a half, then the next day you need to bike or swim instead. That is what scheduling your workouts are about- giving those involved muscles a chance to rebalance themselves. If you don’t you will tear down the muscles and they will struggle to rebuild.

5) Mental Health — After a workout some deep breathing and calming meditation is helpful in restoring body health. Even five minutes of restorative work in this way is beneficial. Try the free app called Mindshift and use the tools for relaxation and breathing techniques at the end of your workout. It will make a difference in boosting your lymph flow and transporting any excess fluid out of the system. The body can heal faster when there is no edema.

6) Fun Recovery Tools — The use of massage balls, ice packs, foam rollers, kinesiology tape to decrease edema and assist muscle function and compression sleeves, shorts and tops all help to decrease recovery time and improve muscle health.

Recovery is an important part of being well. It is just as important as the training itself. Overtraining can create all kinds of issues, such as tendinitis, cartilage breakdown and stress fractures. If you have a hard time listening to your body and are not sure if you are recovering correctly from your activities come see a physical therapist. They can guide you as you move forward to your optimal level of health.

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Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy, and she and her incredible staff want you to take care of yourself and be well. Please take the step. We can help. Call: Hayden, 208-762-2100; Coeur d'Alene, 208-667-1988; Spokane Valley, 509-891-2623