It’s no secret that football is a hard-hitting physical sport. These professional athletes continually take big hits week in and week out and continue to suit up. This leaves many fans wondering how these football players recover after their games.
After a football game players may take an ice bath but the majority of players will head home and rest. On Monday players will not have to practice and will often take this time to receive massages, have hot tubs/ice baths as well as participate in hot yoga.
It is common for NFL to not practice until Wednesday following a Sunday football game. For veterans in the league, Thursday is often their first practice of the week.
These athletes will use these first few days of the week to let their bodies recover from their injuries. These athletes face major injuries in their sport but also must deal with many minor yet painful injuries as well.
After each game, these players are covered in bruises and have plenty of sore muscles. Oftentimes resting their body by sitting in bed or plopping down on the couch is done by players after the game.
Routines to recover from football games vary greatly amongst the league. Different players need different treatments and teams often provide different services to keep their players in shape.
Massages
Massages are one of the main ways that a player will recover from a football game. On Monday mornings it is common for the players to arrive at the stadium in order to get a massage.
The players will work with a massage therapist to find the areas of their body that need to be worked on. Often times these players will receive several massages in a single day to help alleviate their pain.
Massages like this are not going to fully recover players but will allow them to decrease the amount of time it will take for the body to recover.
Some players will have a personal massage therapist that arrives at their house throughout the NFL season. These massages are essential for players looking to keep their muscles loose.
Hot tubs and ice baths
Hot tubs and ice baths are two more common tactics used to recover after a football game. Hot tubs allow players to loosen up their muscles which can help in the recovery process.
Ice baths on the other constrict your blood vessels. This ultimately slows down blood flow which reduces soreness and swelling in the area.
This is a great way for players to easily reduce the pain they are feeling without having to result to more painkillers or other medication.
Hot yoga
Hot yoga is another strategy used by football players to recover after games. In most cases, this is going to be done in the days following a game.
Hot yoga is simply yoga in a room with high temperatures which makes it easier for your muscles to stretch.
By participating in hot yoga players can improve their mobility and loosen up tight muscles they built up during the game.
Rest
Rest is an obvious yet sensible response to the physical nature of a football game.
One may think that there should tactics to fix all injury woes but time is often the best healer.
Players will regularly spend a day in bed or on the couch after a hard-fought football game. This is especially common when players are dealing with injuries that are quite painful.
Having a day of rest before after the game can often make the pain much more bearable.
All in all, there is no secret sauce for football players recovering after a game. Most of these players will simply use massages and stretching to help heal their bodies.
And for many of these players, they must simply buckle down and continue to play out the season in pain.
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