Warm Up and Recovery

I get a lot of questions about what to do before playing a sport. I rarely get asked about what to do afterwards, which is equally as important. We seem to have forgotten the recovery aspect of using the body. I guess this is not surprising as we are a culture of go, go, go. Coffee, workouts on lunch breaks, more coffee. Constant stimulus. Remember, the body is always seeking homeostasis (equilibrium). When it gets tipped off the scale too often, we get break down. This is where injury occurs. If you want to improve performance, you do want to apply the right amount of stimulus, but then you must allow for recovery to keep injury at bay and to excel. This is called the hormetic effect. So let’s dig into how to approach this.

For a warm up, think active. Static stretching is probably not ideal. You want to break a sweat, and get some blood pumping. At rest, blood pools towards the gut, especially after a meal. If you get cold after a meal, this is why. As you start to use your limbs, more blood gets pushed to the periphery of your body. Think about what movements you are going to use for that sport, and make sure you are doing something that is specific to it. Let’s take golf for example. Golf, like many sports, is highly rotational. So you should include something in your warm up that is actively rotational. Sports like hockey and lacrosse that require a lot of stick handling place high demands on the forearms. So you should find an exercise that gets blood pumping to the forearms. 

Here is an example of how to actively warm up your forearms:

Many people think of sports as being good for your body. And it is, in some regards. However, you’ve placed stress on your body, particularly the muscular system. Metabolic waste is left behind. This waste is mitigated by your lymphatic system. This system is similar to your vascular system. The difference is that the vascular system has a pump; your heart. The lymphatic system does not have a pump and relies on muscle contraction to push the waste product through the system. 

So for recovery, again think active. At least immediately after exercise. Light movement is best. Going for a walk, bike, or a swim works fantastically. This is also the time to do your soft tissue maintenance. That could be using a massage gun, foam rolling, getting a massage, etc. If you like to stretch, this is probably when you want to do it.

Here is an example of a way to self massage the adductors:

There is a great quote from the music industry, “silence is just as important as sound”.

This relates to recovery in that the way you spend your down time can be equally important. Whether that is reading a book, walking in nature, working on a breathing practice or meditation, ice baths/saunas; these are all fantastic practices to incorporate into recovery. These all stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Put these principles into practice and you’ll certainly excel. Can you just play a sport and not do any of this? Sure, but expect decreased performance and increased risk of injury.