As every practice or game takes place, every athlete has to prioritize recovery after competing to reduce the risk of injury and also refine their ROM (range of motion). Every sport has unique motions and mechanics, therefore each sport demands various recovery methods. In the world of high school athletics, the majority of serious student-athletes prioritize mobility work, a sauna or steam room, chiropractor visits, etc. to help their body get back to its top shape.
“On my rest days, it solely depends on how heavy the workload was for the week,” senior soccer player Danny Graham said. “Definitely a lot of elevating my legs, using a massage gun, icing minor bruises or injuries from the week, and also heating sore muscles.”
As a soccer player, Graham is always on his feet running back and forth, up and down the field constantly, with a few moments of contact during the games. To reduce the lactic acid in his muscles, he will elevate his legs, ice, and heat, with a deep tissue massage gun to help his legs get back to normal the next day.
“Every Sunday during the high school season, that is truly my only real rest day. I use this day as more of a mental day, watching professional soccer and just relaxing, maybe occasionally using a massage gun while relaxing on the couch,” Graham said.
After a long week of high school soccer, Graham does his best to hit ‘reset’ on Sundays, just relaxing and watching soccer to keep his mind sharp. Senior basketball player Bobby Grganto has similar thoughts on the ideal recovery day as a high-level athlete.
“To recover, I usually just try my best to not do a lot. Typically, I just hydrate a ton and stretch, especially in areas I’m tight or sore,” Grganto said. “I honestly just relax on the couch most of the day as I find that the less movement I do, the more recovered my body is the next day.”
Grganto too trusts the process of only relaxing on his rest day for recovery purposes, incorporating a little stretching into his recovery routine. While this is typically what his rest day looks like, at times uses different methods depending on what his body demands.
“I also take an epsom salt bath to recover and ease my aches and pains and once again hydrate a ton, and get my mind right for the week ahead during my day off,” Grganto said.
The less movement an athlete does, the less lactic acid they will have within their muscles. Be that as it may, there are also athletes that believe doing a little movement, isometrics, or plyometrics work to help recover too while simultaneously lessening the lactic acid buildup.
“I think sometimes moving my body a little bit on my day off helps me recover, as well as improve my skills for baseball,” senior baseball player Edgar Santos said. “I get extra swings in on my day off, or whatever I feel I need to work on for the games ahead during the upcoming week, and get some movement in too.”
Every athlete’s body is different, everyone recovers in different ways, some need movement, some need to relax, some need heating/icing, a deep tissue massage, stretching, etc. An under-appreciated tool for athletes is going to the chiropractor.
“I go to Ratio Chiropractic whenever I feel it’s necessary to. It honestly helps me recover a bunch, especially in areas I can’t work on much such as my back and neck. While I’m there I get an adjustment, cupping, electro stim, deep tissue work, and more. That truly helps prepare me for the work I have to do in the coming week,” Santos said. “I think more athletes need to take advantage of opportunities like this because this is the key to helping me recover to 100 percent on top of all the work I do outside of there.”
