The Practical Importance of Recovery

Recovery is the word on everybody's lips these days, and for good reason. Without adequate recovery, the body finds it harder to return to or improve on pre training/match levels.

3 important factors in recovery are proper hydration, proper nutrition, and proper sleep. But there is one key factor that is often overlooked, and that is time....

A study by Physical Therapy in Sport, Studied 10 Male Semi Pro Australian Rules players, to assess how long it took them to return to baseline strength, post match. They used isometric knee flexion strength as the test.

The results showed that it took 50 hours to return to baseline. 

The bottom line, is that if players are asked to perform 2 strenuous sessions or matches in close proximity, the chances of hamstring injuries are significantly increased. 

You can see the study here -  http://www.physicaltherapyinsport.com/article/S1466-853X(17)30207-9/fulltext . 

It is a useful read for players who have many masters at this time of year, and for coaches who sometimes think that their team is the only team.