Recovery after games

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by ChicagoLJ

How do you guys do it??? I've never had a problem in the past but this week has been awful. After 7 games from Friday to Sunday I've just been hurting. Normally after Monday's I'm fine but I woke up in pain again today.

Luckily, I suppose, all the pain is located in just one of my legs (hey, I got two). Achillies, knee, and hamstring all killing me on the left leg.

What do you guys do to recover after games and get ready for the following week?

You did 7 games in 3 days... likely a 48-hour period? You should be hurting!

Rest is the only thing to physically prepare for this weekend.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by HLin NC

A new routine I've added this season is on Saturday morning I get to the fitness center as soon as they open at 7:30. Ride the bike for 30 minutes until the pool opens and then soak in the spa/therapy pool for 20 min or so.

I like the sound of that a lot better than sitting in a damn tub of ice. I hope it sounds worse than it is.

I actually have more trouble with my legs and feet during football than basketball. That's comparing 4-6 varsity basketball games a week to a JV and a Varsity football game each week.

[InsideTheStripe]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

You did 7 games in 3 days... likely a 48-hour period? You should be hurting!

Bah - I regularly do 12+ games from 17:00 Friday to 17:00 Sunday. You have to be in shape to do it - no doubt; however, it can be done. It takes time and effort in the off-season to build up your strength and endurance to handle that number of games.

[HossHumard]

For many of us in the +40 category, the issues are joint related, and usually knees are involved. After three or four decades of running, jumping, twisting, falling and ripping these joints the cartilage has decayed (or in my case, pretty much disappeared) and doesn’t provide the protection it used to from the smashing of the femour and the tibia.
Include a body frame that has packed on 20 or 30 pounds more than it used to and you’ve got the perfect recipe for inflammation in the knee joints causing stiffness and pain.

Ice is your friend my brothers. As soon as you get home, fill a zip lock bag with some ice cubes and go from knee to knee (ankle to ankle if you’re hurting there too) for a good hour and the next day you will feel a million times better than if you’d done nothing. I’ve got a couple of freezer packs that are about 12” x 18” and they’re perfect for wrapping around the joint for complete cool down therapy. You may also apply cold beer to your “interior muscles” as added therapy, but that’s another story entirely.
Ever see a photo of a baseball pitcher after he finishes a game? Their throwing arm is wrapped in ice from wrist to shoulder, even if the guy’s arm is fine. It’s now been proven that pro-active icing can reduce future injuries by taking the heat out of the joint that contributes to cartilage breakdown in later life.

Celebrex is a wonder too....but you got to talk to your doctor about that one.

I’m not a doctor, but after six trips to the surgeon, I know my way around the knee and given I'm based in Western Canada, lord knows I'm all up to snuff on this ice thing....

[ChicagoLJ]

Well like I said, I like to think I'm in the best shape I have been going into a season. I've done that many games before, I just didn't understand how this week it's been so bad. Normally my pain is gone Monday morning, like clockwork. This week though, I've just started to feel better now.


Maybe I'll just have to double up the whiskey regimine.

[Canned Heat]

Ibuprofen, gel inserts to go with my new Reebok's, and some good whiskey for afterwards.

I have pins in my surgically repaired right knee and lack an ACL from an accident 9 years ago when I lost the MCL, PCL, and ACL....all in one bad incident.. It's usually my feet that hurt after 4 youth games on a Saturday...not the knee.

Soaking seems to work well, although I never seem to have the time to do it.