Rugby is 80 minutes of hard hitting, full sprinting, fatiguing work. If you want to avoid injury after your game, rugby recovery at home is critical.
The key points to optimise recovery for rugby after a game or tournament:
- Water
- Electrolytes
- Compression
- Ice
- Roll out your muscles (it’s painful but the best time to do it)
- Sufficient protein
- Lots of carbs
Hydration
Try to drink 2 Litres a day and take it easy and watch the weekend games on TV. If you really want to optimise your rugby recovery, electrolytes will help you prevent cramp and are cheap for what they’re worth.
Buy Electrolytes from Amazon: Electrolyte Powder
Compression
Some of the proven benefits of compression are as follows:
- increases venous return
- reduces exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD)
- accelerates recovery processes
- removes lactic acid faster
- increases strength and power
- improves endurance
- increases muscle oxygenation
- improves body temperature control
For those of you that want the science shortcut, essentially it increases blood flow to the muscle to take away waste products and provide more oxygen.
A popular option amongst recreational athlete’s are Nike’s compression tights:
However recently, it’s become popular for pro’s and semi-pros to invest in an actual compression circulator. This is obviously a huge step up in terms of the benefits an athlete can reap physiologically and psychologically. It provides a great sensation and really makes you feel like a pro.
Buy: Full Leg Compression Circulator
VOODOO FLOSS
Voodoo floss is the world’s best kept recovery secret when it comes to joint recovery. It’s a compression tool that is essentially a heavy resistance band that you tie round your joints for two minutes twice a day and you will seriously notice results. Just run through a quick tutorial once you order yours to learn the proper way to use it.
Ice
Temperature manipulation is a great way to improve recovery. The expert jury is out on whether ice baths and packs provide the purported benefit that they’re hyped up to. However in an industry of marginal gains, everyone is certain that it can’t do any harm.
The great thing about icing is that you don’t need expensive equipment to recover like the pros. If you can find a clean wheelie bin or use your bath at home, all you need is ice.
For injury specific icing in order to reduce swelling and inflammation, there are fantastic ice wraps for knees ankles and shoulders. Otherwise, refillable ice bags are a flexible and cheap option.
These are fantastic and so versatile for the injury prone as you can use them on any joint / limb because they have a strap. A must have if you want to improve your chances of recovery.
Really easy and cold with no condensation or fuss that you get from dripping ice.
Rolling
This is an easy one. If you don’t have a foam roller / massage ball / trigger point device, just buy one now. Rolling breaks up fascia tissue and allows muscle fibers to realign, facilitatingthe recovery process.
BUY: Foam roller / trigger point massager (£10)
Nutrition
I won’t be the first to tell you that post exercise you want to fuel up with lots of protein and carbs in order to recovery efficiently. You should do this without the aid of supplements as much as you can. However supplements do provide convenience. Protein powders are portable and an instant fix if you don’t have enough high protein food at your disposal. Which Protein shall I buy for Rugby? The sport is irrelevant but Bulk Powders do an affordable, good quality whey product.
Buy protein: Protein Powder
ZMA is another great product to take before bed as it facilitates deep sleep and improves recovery.
Buy: BULK POWDERS ZMA
CONCLUSION
Hopefully this article has proved that a lot of recovery is within your control. With the right equipment and some gruelling dedication (I am talking about the rolling), rugby recovery at home is an effective way that you can half your turnaround time and be back on the field or in the gym quickly.
Rugby Review 