What is Recovery and Why it’s SO Important

We all talk about recovery often, “I need to recover from yesterday’s training session” or “I just need one more day of recovery.”

• What does recovery actually mean?

• What is the importance of it?

• What does is look like?

The dictionary definition of recovery is “a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.” It almost sounds too simple right? In all seriousness though, the dictionary definition is correct. How often do we say, “I’m too sore, too tired, too tight or too much everything?” What’s important about recovery is understanding how it works for each individual referee and what they do for it.

Now that we have a general idea of what recovery is, let’s talk about it in terms of being dynamic athletes. As athletes, we train so hard in our resistance/weight training, running programs, and matches that we automatically think “the harder I push in my training session the fitter I will become the next time I do this session.” There can be some validity to that statement, however, we become fitter by having our bodies recover properly and adapt to the new training load being placed on it.

Passive vs Active Recovery

Passive recovery - resting for a considerable period after strenuous exercise or physical activity.

Active recovery - involves performing low-intensity exercise following a strenuous workout.

Each will have their own benefit depending on how much load has been placed on the body from the previous training session or match.

Obviously with passive recovery - REST - I think that is pretty self explanatory.

However, when it comes to relieving muscle soreness, recovering quicker, and seeing benefits in the next workout the best choice is active recovery.

Some examples of active recovery would be

• Slow paced jog with heart rate staying low - running 20-30 minutes in heart rate zone 1 or 2

• Slow paced bike ride with a heart rate staying low - 20-30 minutes in heart zone 1 or 2

• Easy pool swim or pool running/jogging

In one study runners who used active recovery as part of their training program as opposed to passive recovery were able to run 3x longer during their next run. In another study of swimmers, it showed active recovery dissipated 68% of the lactate that had accumulated in their blood that would have otherwise settled into their tissues.

Also, active recovery aids in

• Blood flow and lymph function after your strenuous exercise, bringing more oxygen to your tissues to keep you feeling good and avoiding the ‘fatigue’ crash

• The increased blood flow helps reduce inflammation

• You don’t build up as much lactic acid in your tissues, meaning that you minimise your post-workout soreness and stiffness

• Keeping your heart rate at a higher level helps improve your endurance.

As one can see from the two studies listed above clearly demonstrate how active recovery can help. If you are looking for more scientific studies on active recovery, check out National Strength and Conditioning Association website for scholarly articles.

In the past few years, the fitness industry has come out with some tools that help aid in recovery. These are what I like to call the “passive-active” recovery tools. This is because you are not actively training but you are using tools or doing something to help alleviate muscle soreness, stiffness, tightness, etc. Items like compression boots, massage guns, foam rollers, rehab bands, as well as stretching can all help. Being able to recover quicker can help prevent acute injuries that can lead to chronic injuries.

Another ‘recovery tool’ to look at is dietary supplements. There is entire page dedicated to supplements which you can check out here. If you are looking for some of the best recovery and performance supplements in the market for refereeing, check out my Supplements page, you won’t be disappointed.

Being a referee requires a great deal of training load on the body, whether you are looking at increasing your whole-body fitness or focusing on just a few key points. Being able to recovery properly through passive or active recovery is ideal for any referee at any level. Using certain training tool aids like compression boots, massage guns, foam rollers, rehab bands, etc. and supplements can help aid in recovery and help prevent certain injuries based upon each referee’s level of experience.

Some recovery tools I would recommend are:

Hypervolt Go 2 - This is the travel size massage gun that I use which is perfect for when you have to travel to games or tournaments. It comes with two interchangeable heads or you can purchase some separately if you want more options. The noise level of this gun is also very quiet which is always nice. I use my massage gun before training sessions/game to help bring blood flow to the areas that are going to be working. I also use it post training/game or the following day to help move some of the toxins or lactate out and bring new blood to those areas.

Hyperice Normatec Go - If you don’t want to spend the money on the full Normatec boot or hate traveling with all the hoses and wires, these travel friendly calf compression sleeves are for you. I bought these late last year as I loved the Normatec Full Compression Boots but they were impossible to travel with. They are TSA approved so you can bring them in your carry-on and they are wireless which is amazing. I can literally wear them anywhere as they are battery powered. They are meant to be for your calves but I can actually wear them on both my calves and quads which is an added bonus. If your legs are bigger than mine however, they definitely won’t fit your quads so I would recommend the ful boot.

Hyperice Normatec 3 - These are the main full leg boots. You can travel with them, but they take up a significant amount of room so you would probably only put them in checked luggage. They have varying intensity levels and can also add a zone boost into a certain area of the legs you want to focus on. These are great for clearing lacate out of the legs after a match or high intensity run. Your legs will feel fresher and less fatigued. I always recommend at least 30 mins in these boots.

Foam Roller - Foam rollers are great because you vary the amount of intensty when rolling. They can also hit the muscles a little deeper than the Hypervolt. They are meant for post-training or when you are taking a recovery day. They help alleviate muscles sorness and can also be apart of injury prevention and rehab.

Rehab Bands - These come in different resistances and can help with muscle activations and rehab. They can aslo provide certain support for differnent kinds of stretches.