Everyone knows how the next day feels after you’ve gone through a tough and difficult skills or gym session. The soreness that goes throughout our body when we wake up is painful and annoying – especially since we know we won’t be able to train for at least a day or two without limitations to our strength & speed. In this article, we will help you reduce these aches and pains so that you’re back in action for your next session feeling 100% as quick as possible!
Why is Recovery Important?
Recovery is vital to everyone, no matter if you’re a beginner to the gym or grappling or an experienced athlete – everyone needs proper recovery. It allows our body to heal from the tough session we’ve just been through, so that we may physically improve and be able to train more throughout the week with high intensity. Who’s more likely to get stronger – Person A who can’t go to the gym due to the soreness from his skills training, or Person B who is able to train 2x a week in the gym on top of his skills training? Person B every single time.
Without proper rest, you’re essentially hindering this process. Not allowing your body time to recover means you’ll be less prepared for your next session, leading to fatigue, poor performance, and an increased risk of injury (which no one likes).
The Types Of Recovery
There are many ways to recover from hard sessions such as sleeping 7-9 hours a day, eating a well balanced diet, stretching, etc. However there are many more methods for recovery which aren’t often talked about! These methods are used by competitive athletes all over the world and could help you significantly reduce muscle soreness, fatigue & injury risk in your next training session.
Cryotherapy
One way of reducing muscle soreness is via the use of cryotherapy, this is the act of using cold exposure via an ice bath, ice pack, cryotherapy chamber etc, for a short amount of time. It has many benefits, such as reducing muscle soreness, muscle pain & inflammation – perfect as a post workout recovery method. However, it is best used after skills training due to its hypertrophy mitigation qualities (reduced hypertrophy).
How long should you use it for? If you are using an ice bath, go for around 3 minutes for optimal results. As for the chamber, it is best to listen to the professionals operating it in order to prevent injury.
This is a great method of recovery which prevents muscle soreness after hard contact sessions – but can a little bit pricey depending on the method you choose!
Sauna
Yes, we know this is talked about a lot, but it still has great benefits nonetheless. As most people know, the sauna uses heat exposure for a prolonged amount of time – this helps reduce muscle soreness, inflammation and increase blood flow, the perfect tool for after a hard gym/skills session.
Depending on the temperature set in the sauna, a 20-40 minute session should help you receive all the benefits from it. As always, listen to professionals operating the sauna & bring in water to avoid dehydration.
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is somewhat similar to the previous two, it uses water at a certain temperature for different uses. Cold water and warm water mimic the effects of cryotherapy and sauna respectively, but the use of both at different intervals has unique benefits. Here’s a table explaining the uses, timings & lengths for them down below so that there’s no confusion!
| Uses | Lengths | Timings | |
| Cold | Reduces muscle damage & fatigue | ~8 minutes | After skills sessions |
| Warm | Increases blood flow & mobility | ~20 minutes | Any time |
| Contrast | Reduces inflammation & increases blood flow | 1 minutes of warm water, followed by 1 minute of cold water (x8) | Best for immediately after skills/gym sessions |
Test the timings for yourself, and experiment for yourself with how long you spend in each method!
What’s the Best Method For Recovery?
The truth is that there is no best form of recovery for these methods, use them for whenever the situation calls for it and test what methods you like the most. However, these aren’t replacements for your nutrition & sleep. These two are the absolute kings for recovery – if they aren’t in top condition, then you are missing out on serious gains.
Conclusion
Sleep & nutrition should come first in your recovery routine, but the use of saunas, cryotherapy and hydrotherapy can significantly improve your recovery. Listen to trained professionals in these fields & experiment with what feels best for you!
