How to Recover from a Soccer Match:
Have you ever played 90 minutes of intense football, walked off the field, changed & showered, headed home and took a nap?
I don’t know about you, but I have..
Sometimes, this may be what your mind thinks is best, but your body definitely thinks different the next day.
The truth is that most of the time you will feel absolutely exhausted after a match, and the last thing you want to do is do a cool down jog, eat a healthy meal, or take an ice bath.
But, if you truly care about your body and career, those are some of the things that you need to do!
Sometimes, we must embrace the suck, and do what we NEED to do, in order to be able to do what we WANT to do.
Taking care of your body and recovering properly is one of the most important things that you can do to take your game to the next level.
The Importance of Recovery:
You may ask, “why, I thought training hard and intense is what will make me a beast and make me a professional?”
And I would say, “yes, there are times and places within the week to train hard and intensely, and there are times within the week that you need to listen to your body and let it rest. The better you recover, the harder you can train the next week.”
Let’s think together really quickly:
The faster you recover, the better you can train the next week, which will help you adapt and become a better player.
A Professional Player’s Schedule with One Match Per Week:
Monday: Light Technical and Regeneration/Activation (6/10 exertion)
Tuesday: Developmental (technical and small sided) (8/10 exertion)
Wednesday: Football Conditioning (sprints and small sided) (9/10 exertion)
Thursday: Tactical and Technical (6/10 exertion)
Friday: Tactical (3-4/10 exertion)
Saturday: Match
Sunday: OFF
-If you play on a Saturday, you recover properly after the match and the day after (Sunday)…
–Monday (depending on your coach, strength coaches’ periodization model and your game schedule) will generally be a “light activation” session to get back into the week.
–Tuesday will generally be a “hard” session, Wednesday will be a “very hard session,.” Thursday will be “semi-hard,” Friday will be tactics, and Saturday you are back playing again!
-If you take your recovery seriously, you will be fresh again for the two hardest days of the week (Tuesday and Wednesday),where you will get most of your adaptations for the week.
-These are the days where you need to prove again to your coach that you belong in the starting eleven for the weekend.
Small Consistent Effort Everyday Leads to Massive Gains Over Time:
Taking care of your body and making yourself .01% better each and everyday leads to MASSIVE GAINS over time.
Marginal Gains each and every day add up really quickly.
Take a look at this image:
There are 365 days in a year. If you get .01% better every day, you will be 37.7% better by the end of the year, as opposed to doing nothing; where you would still be at 1.00.
This should prove to you that you don’t have to do “that much” every single day. You just have to do it CONSISTENTLY with RAZOR SHARP FOCUS & CONCENTRATION.
7 Practical Tips to Recover from a Soccer Match:
Now, that I’ve convinced you that recovery is vital (which is my job as a coach and writer. It’s the principle of motivation. I need to show you “why” to do it and how it will benefit you, and then I take you through the PRACTICAL STEPS of how to actually do it!), let us actually talk about how to do it:
First and foremost, the next day or two after a soccer match, you will feel FATIGUED mentally and physically, and there is no need to worry about it.
This shows you and your coach that you worked hard and put in a serious graft for 90 minutes.
Even though you will be sore and tired, there are specific protocols that you can follow to moderate that fatigue:
- 10-15 Minute Cool Down Post-Match:
-This should include a light jog (with your shoes off, so your feet can touch the ground, is even better ;))
-Foam Rolling for about 20-60 seconds on each sore muscle group.
-Static Stretching to get your mind & body into a parasympathetic state (rest and digest) as quickly as possible.
-If you’re really ambitious, you can follow all of this up with 3-10 Minutes of Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing. using this simple box breathing sequence:
-4 Inhale, 4 Hold at Top, 4 Exhale, 4 Hold Exhale, Repeat (All through the nose).
- An Ice Bath or Cold Shower after the Match:
-5-15 Minutes hits the mark
-If you are new to ice baths, start with 3-5 minutes, and then work your way up. No need to push yourself 😉
-This has been proven to decrease inflammation, and put you into a more parasympathetic state.
-If you want to read more on how to take and ice bath, take a look at this article that I wrote (click image):
- A High Carbohydrate, High Protein Meal within 2 hours of the match finish:
-This is absolutely necessary to replace depleted glycogen stores (glucose in your liver).
-If you get hungry after a match, you can pack yourself a protein shake with a banana or 1-2 dates. This is not necessary if you don’t get hungry after the match (which I never due, probably due to all the adrenaline ;)), and if you are eating within 2 hours of the match.
-Stay away from FATS in the post-match period because they take a long time to digest and can possibly slow down protein synthesis.
-I know I’m going to be asked, “Ric, but what type of meal?”
-It’s very similar to how your pre-game meal looked 3-4 hours before. Okay, okay, I will give you 2 choices of each to eliminate decision fatigue. Sorry Vegans, I still love you 😉 :
-Protein: Chicken or White Fish
-Carbohydrate: Sweet Potato or Quinoa
-Fats: Cook Your Protein in Coconut or 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Vegetables: String Beans, Spinach (them Micros baby ;))
-Condiments: Hot Sauce, Greek Yogurt (Instead of Sour Cream), Mustard.
Bon Apetit!
- Rehydrate:
-During a tough match, you will lose potassium, sodium and other essential electrolytes (Chloride, Calcium, Magnesium).
-How do you get them?
-Bananas
-Coconut Water
-Watermelon
-Avocado
- Epsom Salt Hot Bath (Wow, it makes me relaxed, just typing about it)
-You can do this instead of an ice bath, or in addition (you choose).
-Sit in in a “warm-hot bath” for 15-30 Minutes with 1-2 bags of Epsom
Salt dumped inside.
-Epsom Salt is rich in magnesium, which is a vital mineral for muscle and nervous system recovery.
- Get Your Mind Off of Football:
-You’ve prepared the whole week for this. I am sure you’ve worked very hard and smart. Now it’s time to relax and get your mind off the game a little it.
-Go spend time with good people, have conversations, smile, enjoy yourself. Or, if you’re more into the introvert vibe, go cuddle up with some Netflix under the covers and relax (of course after you’ve sorted out all of the above tips ;))
- 8-9 Hours of Sleep:
-Probably the most important of them all!
-Try your best to get to bed before 10:30 PM. Yes, of course, if you have a later match, you can’t do that…
-But, if you can get to bed before 10:30 PM, I guarantee you will feel much better and fresher the next day.
-Just do your best to get 8-9 quality hours of sleep.
The Next Day:
-If you have a team recovery session the next day, get in, smile, enjoy yourself, and follow protocol.
-If you don’t have team training, don’t worry, I have you covered.
Here is a full foam rolling and stretching video that you can do to recover from your soccer match:
You can do this before or after an active recovery bike session, jog or swim.
-Go for 20-30 minutes, and keep your HR at 60-70 of Max HR.
I hope this article helped you out!
As always, reach out if you have any questions, and I am here to help you!
Stay well and stay healthy my friend!
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