Recovery advice

[JC009]

Seeking some advice... I've got a week of playing a tournament coming up, singles matches in the morning and teams in the afternoon. The last time I did it I almost comletely seized up and it really affected my performance, especially movement around the court. This type of playing is obviously very hard on a local player who does not have the conditioning of a pro. I'm pretty fit, but two matches a day is hard.

Any tips on how to keep going.... what do the pros do playing day in day out...?

[paul8241]

Whist I'm certainly no pro, I've noticed that they ensure that fluid replacement is a priority, and from what I noticed most stretch before and after the match. I've heard good and bad things about stretching, but a lot of bad. Apparently by using contrast showers, (hot and cold) you can increase the blood flow and recovery to the areas.

Most of the pros have conditioning that they get from training and then playing these tournaments. You should train and try to play as many matches as possible leading up to the event and then rest for a few days before hand just to freshen up. Practice the contrast showers and keep your fluids up.

The cause of the fatigue
When you activate the anaerobic system through hard match play your body uses glucose and produces lactic acid that causing your muscles to fatigue. You body will use glucose when your muscles are oxygen depleted, so the key is to regulate your breathing and keep the oxygen up to your muscles as best you can.

Drinking plenty of fluids helps your body to expel the lactic acid and in turn recover more quickly.

[shearsquash]

While physical preparation is vital for this sort of event, mental approach is also key. Think more about your game, your movement and your shot selection. No one can play flat out morning and evening for days on end but you can run at 85 - 90% repeatedly, so keep this in mind and play just below your maximum. As you become more tired use your head more.

[NMC8]

Hydration, hydration, hydration etc. The other thing to think about is to actually keep moving, nothing strenuous but with some simple stretching and movement you will stop ceasing up.

The pro's survive as they re conditioned to this as mentioned before but for us mere mortals our best defense in playing twice a day for a few days is WATER and Isotonic drinks.

nmc8

[ianball]

Does sleeping with your feet raised reduce swelling and stop soreness

Ian B.

[Nice Length]

Ok some good advice there; hydration, rest and stretching are all important. But probably the most significant factor is going to be nutrition..

What you need to do is keep shoving down the carbs.. bananas, nuttella sandwiches, GO bars, gels. Both before and after your match but after is especially crucial to recovery.

Pre match you want to eat a carb rich low GI (with a little protein) meal 3-4 hours before you game.. not always possible so adjust the quantity /timing as you can to make sure you have digested it fully by game time. The keep snacking lightly on carbs every hour until 1 hour before. Keep taking in plenty of fluids with each 'meal' too. 20 mins before the mtach, have a drink of sports drink as a final top up.

During the match slip a sports drink as required in between games.

Post match EAT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. This should consist first simple high gi carbs. And then ideally some form of easy to digest protein. A scoop of whey protein with 50 or 60g dextrose mixed in a shaker is ideal. A flavoured milkshake works ok (sugar/milk) but anything with fat in it should be avoided as it slows the rate that the carbs are digested. But a banana or an energy bar or both would be good too. And again plenty of fluid.

If the timing allows try to eat a solid high carb, medium protein meal 30 60 mins after you post game recovery 'meal' but again modify this if you have another game to play within a few hours. Instead just keep loading the carbs every hour with a little protein if you can.

Why the post game meal is important.. basically as your body depletes the stored carbs in your muscles, it switches to it's next most readily available source.. no not fat, it can't metabolize that fast enough. Instead your body released the chemical cortisol into your blood which starts catabolising the muscles themselves for energy. If you don't give the body a better source of carbs - sugar - this will continue to happen for hours after you stop exercise. While ordinarily you should avoid simple carbs, by giving your body some simple carbs after exercise the cortisol response is switched off and the energy is quickly transported to replace the depleted stores in the muscles. Unless you go crazy, these carbs will NOT BE STORED AS FAT, just replace the depleted muscle glycogen. So you can see why it makes such a significant difference to your recovery!! And by adding a readily available source of protein that will allow your muscles to start repairing themselves/building up right away as well. You basically have a window of opportunity to do this of 0 - 30 mins after excercise. For all the time you leave it after than you hinder your recovery significantly. And although eating anything is better than nothing, really try to get around 50g of simple carbs above anything else and avoid fats (even the good ones).

Make sure you have the right kind of food with you. dont take the risk of it being to hand - you might get called to mark right away or the cafe/drinks machine be closed. Put some bananas in your bag and find some energy bars and gels you like the taste of. Even if you take other food keep some of these in you bag at all time as backup.

Then when you are done playing for the day, eat a high carb (low GI this time) high protein meal in the evening to make sure you are fully fuelled up ready for the next day and to aid your body's repair process overnight. Get as much sleep as you can too.

Ultimately you also need full rest for the recovery process and you will gradually tire no matter what but try what i recommend and you should find it makes a huge difference to your recovery time and stamina during the tournament.

Good luck.

p.s. and make sure your footwear is in good order. Get some decent padded socks and if you have two pairs of shoes consider rotating them to help protect your feet. Nothing much else will help if you get sore feet.