Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group, LLC Blog

Recovery Techniques for Athletes

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Thu, Feb 26, 2015 @ 09:02 AM

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Article orginally published on Aspetar.com

 

High performance sport and the importance of successful performances have led athletes and coaches to continually seek any advantage or edge that may improve performance. It follows that the rate and quality of recovery is extremely important for the high performance athlete and that optimal recovery may provide numerous benefits during repetitive high-level training and competition. Therefore, investigating different recovery interventions and their effect on fatigue, muscle injury, recovery and performance is important.

 

Recovery aims to restore physiological and psychological processes, so that the athlete can compete or train again at an appropriate level. Recovery from training and competition is complex and involves numerous factors. It is also typically dependent on the nature of the exercise performed and any other outside stressors that the athlete may be exposed to. Athletic performance is affected by numerous factors and therefore, adequate recovery should also consider such factors (Table 1).

 

METHODS TO ENHANCE RECOVERY

There are a number of popular methods used by athletes to enhance recovery. Their use will depend on the type of activity performed, the time until the next training session or event, and equipment and/or personnel available. Some of the most popular recovery techniques for athletes include:

  • hydrotherapy,
  • active recovery,
  • stretching,
  • compression garments,
  • massage,
  • sleep and
  • nutrition.

 

SLEEP

Background

Although the function of sleep is not fully understood, it is generally accepted that it serves to recover from previous wakefulness and/or prepare for functioning in the subsequent wake period.  An individual’s recent sleep history therefore has a marked impact on their daytime functioning. Restricting sleep to less than 6 hours per night for four or more consecutive nights has been shown to impair cognitive performance and mood, disturb glucose metabolism, appetite regulation and immune function.  This type of evidence has led to the recommendation that adults should obtain 8 hours of sleep per night.

 

While there are considerable data available related to the amount of sleep obtained by adults in the general population, there are few published data related to the amount of sleep obtained by elite athletes. 

 

Sleep deprivation

There are a limited number of studies which have examined the effects of sleep deprivation on athletic performance.  From the available data it appears that several phenomena exist.  Firstly, the sleep deprivation must be greater than 30 hours (one complete night of no sleep and remaining awake into the afternoon) to have an impact on anaerobic performance (Skein et al., 2011). Secondly, aerobic performance may be decreased after only 24 hours (Oliver et al, 2009) and thirdly, sustained or repeated bouts of exercise are affected to a greater degree than one-off maximal efforts.

 

The mechanism behind the reduced performance following prolonged sustained sleep deprivation is not clear, however it has been suggested that an increased perception of effort is one potential cause. While the above studies provide some insight into the relationship between sleep deprivation and performance, most athletes are more likely to experience acute bouts of partial sleep deprivation where sleep is reduced for several hours on consecutive nights.

 

Partial sleep deprivation

Only a small number of studies have examined the effect of partial sleep deprivation on athletic performance.  From the available research it appears that sub-maximal prolonged tasks may be more affected than maximal efforts particularly after the first two nights of partial sleep deprivation (Reilly et al, 1994).

 

Effects of sleep extension and napping

Another means of examining the effect of sleep on performance is to extend the amount of sleep an athlete receives and determine the effects on subsequent performance. Information from the small number of studies suggests that increasing the amount of sleep an athlete receives may significantly enhance performance.

 

Athletes suffering from some degree of sleep loss may benefit from a brief nap, particularly if a training session is to be completed in the afternoon or evening.  Naps can markedly reduce sleepiness and can be beneficial when learning skills, strategy or tactics in sleep deprived individuals. Napping may be beneficial for athletes who have to routinely wake early for training or competition and for athletes who are experiencing sleep deprivation.

 

Habitual sleep duration

According to a 2005 Gallup Poll in the USA, the average self-reported sleep duration of healthy individuals is 6.8 hours on weekdays and 7.4 hours on weekends (National Sleep Foundation, 2006). However, the sleep habits of elite athletes have only recently been investigated. Leeder et al (2012) compared the sleep habits of 47 elite athletes from Olympic sports using actigraphy over a 4-day period to that of age and gender-matched non-sporting controls. The athlete group had a total time in bed of 8:36 hour:minutes, compared to 8:07 in the control group. Despite the longer time in bed, the athlete group had a longer sleep latency (time to fall asleep) (18.2 minutes vs 5.0 minutes), a lower sleep efficiency (estimate of sleep quality) than controls (80.6 vs 88.7%), resulting in a similar time asleep (6:55 vs 7:11 hour:minutes). The results demonstrated that while athletes had a comparable quantity of sleep to controls, significant differences were observed in the quality of sleep between the two groups (Leeder et al, 2012).

 

While the above data was obtained during a period of normal training without competition, athletes may experience disturbed sleep prior to important competition or games. Erlacher et al. (2011) administered a questionnaire to 632 German athletes to assess possible sleep disturbances prior to competition. Of these athletes, 66% (416) reported that they slept worse than normal at least once prior to an important competition. Of these 416 athletes, 80% reported problems falling asleep, 43% reported waking up early in the morning and 32% reported waking up at night. Factors such as thoughts about competition (77%), nervousness about competition (60%), unusual surroundings (29%) and noise in the room (17%) were identified as reasons for poor sleep (Erlacher et al, 2011).

 

Register TODAY for the 2015 BSMPG Summer Seminar before seats fill up.

 

 

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Topics: Charlie Weingroff, Eric Oetter, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Derek Hansen, Al Smith, Erik Helland

BSMPG 2015 - Welcomes Back Eric Oetter

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Wed, Oct 1, 2014 @ 07:10 AM

BSMPG is proud to announce ERIC OETTER as a speaker at the 2015 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 15-16th, 2015.  Last year was a sell out and the only difference this year will be us announcing a sell out well in advance! This will be one of the greatest performance and therapy seminars of all time!  If you were in Eric's session last year you know he absolutely killed it and our boy from Georgia is back to drop the #boom again this year!

Be sure to save the date and reserve your hotel room well in advance.

See you in Boston in May!!!  

 

 

Eric Oetter

 

ERIC OETTER

SPONSORED BY:

 

bsmpg 

 

Eric is an author, speaker, coach, and student, currently pursuing his DPT from the Emory University School of Medicine.

Following an injury-shortened athletic career at Georgia Tech, Eric has coached a diverse clientele at two of the top gyms in the country, Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training and Cressey Performance. He has since consulted with coaches in the Big Ten and was recently named one of the Top 25 Fitness Industry Rising Stars by FitnessBusinessInterviews.com.

Eric champions the principles of the Postural Restoration Institute and has been formally trained in the methodologies of DNS, FMS/SFMA, and PRRT, among others.

His articles can be found on EricCressey.com, 8weeksout.com, and in Fighting Fit magazine.

 

Registration Opens Jan 1, 2015

Additional speakers to be announced shortly - Trust us when we tell you that this year will blow your socks off!

Topics: Eric Oetter, Robert Sapolsky, BSMPG Summer Seminar

What the Leaders are Reading - Eric Oetter

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Thu, May 29, 2014 @ 07:05 AM

We asked the leaders in Sports Medicine and Performance Training what they are either currently reading or have read and here is what they said!

See complete (and ever growing) list of suggested reading at the BSMPG LIBRARY. 

 

Eric Oetter

ERIC OETTER


 

 

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Topics: Eric Oetter

The Future is Here - BSMPG Summer Seminar 2014

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Mon, Oct 28, 2013 @ 07:10 AM

 

 

BSMPG is proud to announce Eric Oetter as a speaker within the popular Sports Fusion Track at the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar - May 16-18th, 2014.  Last year was a sell out and the only difference this year will be us announcing a sell out a month in advance!  This will be one of the greatest performance and therapy seminars of all time!

Seriously, this will sell out - Registration will open January 1st, 2014.  Members of the BSMPG family will receive an opportunity to reserve their seat in advance - stay tuned for details. With speakers and attendees traveling from around the world, this seminar will close in record time.

Be sure to save the date and reserve your hotel room well in advance.

See you in Boston next May!!!

 

Eric Oetter

 

ERIC OETTER

SPONSORED BY:

 

ucan

 

 

Eric is an author, speaker, coach, and student, currently pursuing his DPT from the Emory University School of Medicine.

Following an injury-shortened athletic career at Georgia Tech, Eric has coached a diverse clientele at two of the top gyms in the country, Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training and Cressey Performance. He has since consulted with coaches in the Big Ten and was recently named one of the Top 25 Fitness Industry Rising Stars by FitnessBusinessInterviews.com.

Eric champions the principles of the Postural Restoration Institute and has been formally trained in the methodologies of DNS, FMS/SFMA, and PRRT, among others.

His articles can be found on EricCressey.com, 8weeksout.com, and in Fighting Fit magazine.

 

 

 

CRESSEY 

From Eric Cressey

"Eric Oetter is one of the brightest young minds in the world of health and human performance. He's incredibly well versed in a number of different realms, making him not only a great coach, but also a great teacher. Don't miss an opportunity to see him present; you'll regret it."

 

MIKEROBERTSON

From Mike Robertson

"It's rare that I've met someone at his young age that has the intellect and critical thinking skills to take what's taught to him, critically analyze it, and then make it his own.

Don't let his age fool you - Eric is wise beyond his years, and someone I expect to lead our industry for many years to come."

 

 

BILLHARTMAN

From Bill Hartman

"Eric is one of the sharpest minds in the industry with a broad understanding of the movement and sports sciences. Those of us who have had to opportunity to work with him directly already know that he will be one of the big names in a few short years. Credit Art Horne for knowing where to find the newest top talent and for providing Eric a forum to share his knowledge of the complex subject matter of human performance."

 

Registration for the 2014 BSMPG Summer Seminar opens January 1, 2014

BSMPG: Where Leaders Learn

 

 

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Topics: Eric Oetter, BSMPG Summer Seminar, Ben Prentiss, Boo Schexnayder