This weekend I am playing in a soccer tournament, 2 games on saturday and a potential 3 games on sunday. Typically when I have to play this many games in two days, I get so sore and tight by third game that my performance deteriorates. What types of things would you guys suggest as far as nutrition/restorative techniques for keeping as fresh as possible. I can do (but of course am not limited to) contrast showers, ice baths, foam roller, epsom salt bath. I also have xtend bcaa’s and surge postworkout drink. Thanks for any suggestions
Simple hydration would be at the top of my list. I think that has the largest marginal impact. Light stretching between games will also speed up the recovery process by reducing tension in the tissue to improve blood flow. I would avoid the Surge between games. You don’t want to risk an insulin crash during a subsequent game on the same day. But it would probably be useful after the last game of the day.
What Flash said, plus ice baths / contast showers would probably be approriate. Good nutrition (minimizing insulin spikes) will probably help as well.
Hydration is important BUT can’t be left till the day. Make sure you are having enough water between now and then. A good breakfast is obviously important. One thing I do to keep going during long juggling gigs is to bring both diluted Gatorade and some cans of protein shake and sip on whichever as I feel it’s needed. Make sure to shovel enough quality food into you on the first day to not have an empty tank for day 2. Don’t resort to caffeine too early. You may want some midway through day 2, but you will burn out if you have too much too early. Food-wise, I suggest your normal game day diet for day 1 and hit the carbs hard for day 2 (I don’t know the science really for this but it seems to work for me).
maybe a contrast shower after game one and an ice bath after game 2? Or an ice bath after each game?
Water/bcaa/glutammine/minerals can help you.
Epsom bath/foam roller can relax your muscles too much, it’s bad, better after the games-day.
Stretching and idrotherapy is better between the games, you can try trigger point/acupressure work too.
If you have time pulsed EMS on major muscle group can help you.