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Zoe Holtby
Recovery Strategies in Sport
Recovery after training or competition has been identified by several authors to be an
important aspect of an athletes programme (Argus et al., 2013;De Pauw et al.,2014).
The recovery period allows the athletes body to return to homeostasis (Ratamess,2012)
and can potentially reduce injury and enhance performance if the correct recovery
method is applied (Argus et al.,2013).
Active recovery (AR) is generally the most widely used form of recovery used by
coaches and athletes (Coutts and Sirotic,2008) and is usually in the form of low intensity
exercise such as jogging, walking or swimming; however, Calder (2000) states that this
form of recovery is undermined by many sports personnel. Kellman (2002) echoes this
and claims that many coaches and athletes confess to giving a higher priority to
warming-up rather than cooling down; the reluctance to participate in active recovery
may be due to a fatigued physical and mental state after a training session or match,
making AR a chore to complete (Coutts and Sirotic,2008).
Nevertheless, this form of recovery is claimed to facilitate the removal of metabolic
waste (lactate, potassium hydrogen ions) and assist in neurological recovery (Calder ,
2000; Coutts and Sirotic,2008). A study by Martin et al., (1998) found that active
recovery (20min on cycle ergometer) was the most effective in reducing blood lactate
concentrations (59.38%), compared to sports massage (36.21%) and passive rest
(38.67%). Although, as previously mentioned, using active recovery may be an
additional strain for some athletes after a demanding training session or competition,
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which can cause some athletes to skip this important recovery phase (Argus et
al.,2013).
Aside from the more obvious methods of recovery such as rehydration, nutritional
intake, sleep and passive rest (Coutts and Sirotic,2008; Maffiuletti and Cardinale,2011),
authors have started to measure the effects of alternative recovery methods, such as
compression garments, electronic muscle stimulation, humidification therapy (Argus et
al.,2013) or whole body vibration (Shakerian et al.,2012). Therefore, this short article will
aim to identify how these methods work and if they are appropriate for improving post-
exercise recovery and subsequently improve athlete performance.
Electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) involves attaching electrodes to the muscle, which
transmit an electrical current to artificially activate the muscle (Maffiuletti and
Cardinale,2011) ; this is claimed to be a popular method of post-exercise recovery used
by athletes (Argus et al.,2013). According to Maffiuletti and Cardinale (2011) EMS is an
acceptable form of improving muscle strength and is attributable to neural adaptions,
such as an increase in muscle activation. In terms of recovery, Leeder et al.,(2011)
reported that EMS did not alleviate delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), though
knee extensor strength was shown to recover rapidly; the electrical stimulus into the
muscle is suggested to improve the level of lactate clearance through an increase in
blood flow (Argus et al.,2013).
Alternatively, compression garments are suggested to improve recovery through a
similar method, although instead of through an electrical stimulus a pressure is applied
to the relevant muscle; moreover, the external pressure applied is suggested to reduce
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inflammation as the muscles are enable to swell as much, this ultimately reduces
muscle soreness (Argus et al.,2013).
A study by Argus et al.,(2013) measured the effectiveness of EMS, compression
garments (CG),humidification therapy (HT) and passive recovery on the recovery rate of
11 trained cyclist after repeated bouts on a cycle ergometer (4 x 30s sprints,20min rest
intervals). The humidification trial was conducted with the participants receiving warmed
air through a nasal cannula (38% relative humidity;45L/min flow rate) and the passive
recovery entailed subjects sitting in a temperature controlled room for 20 minutes.
Power outout, perceived recovery and blood lactate were measured; results
demonstrated that short burst of cycling display a better performance after using
humidification therapy and compression garments as recovery methods, in a short
recovery interval.
Compression garments displayed a 0.8% and 1.2% increase in power output between
sprints and HT displayed 2.1% increase in power output from sprint 1 to 3, although no
difference was found in blood lactate apart from the EMS trial, which did it improve
recovery (Argus et al.,2013). The improved recovery from the HT trial was speculated
by the authors to be due to an improvement in the efficiency of respiratory muscles via
reversal of dynamic inhalation (Argus et al., 2013:547), though the authors claimed that
they can only speculate this theory as this is the only study measuring recovery rate
with HT.
Additionally, a study by Valle et al.,(2013) found that wearing compression garment in
an incremental submaximal test (3 mins @ 8km/h,3% slope, 1km/h increase every min)
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lead to a 26.7% reduction in injury compared to the control. However, participants acted
as a control and experimental group with one thigh have the compression garments and
the other thigh being free from the garment (control thigh), which may have effected
results. Nevertheless, the biopsies that were taken displayed compression garments
were a sufficient method in reducing the effect of DOMS, which was claimed to be due
to a reduction in muscle oscillation, thermal effects of the CG and a reduction in ROM in
the hip and knee (Valle et al.,2013).
Another method that has received a large volume of attention, on recovery or
performance enhancement, is whole body vibration. Maffiuletti and Cardinale
(2011:197) define vibration as a mechanical stimulus characterised by an oscillatory
motion. A recent study by Shakerian et al.,(2012) investigated the effects of whole body
vibration combined with active rest on the blood lactate levels of 14 university football
players; participants were required to run on a treadmill at 10 km/h, incline 0%, after 2
minutes the incline was increased by 2.5% until subjects fatigued, this was followed by
either 15 minutes active recovery on a treadmill (5 km/h) or 1 minute on a vibration
device in a semi-squat position followed by 1 minute of AR, for a total of 15 minutes.
The researchers found that there were no significant differences in blood lactate after
either recovery method, although it was noted that both trials were sufficient in reducing
blood lactate levels. It was proposed that the vibration provided a massaging stimulus
for the muscles and subsequently increased blood flow.

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It is apparent that there are several recovery strategies that athletes can use to
accelerate recuperation and purportedly improve performance; this may be due to a
prevention or reduction in muscle soreness (DOMS), although only one study has
proven to have the effect. The aforementioned studies have demonstrated that most of
the recovery methods mentioned have the ability to physiological repair the body after
exercise, mainly through the removal of blood lactate, although delayed onset muscle
soreness has been argued to be due to damage to the muscle fibers and muscle protein
breakdown, which ultimately leads to an inflammatory response in the muscle activating
pain receptors (Plowman and Smith,2007). Therefore, these recovery methods may not
eliminate DOMS but may accelerate the recovery process. In addition, it could be
argued that some of these methods are unobtainable for some athletes or fitness
enthusiast as the equipment may be expensive and require an assistant to help manage
the equipment.
In conclusion, it has been identified that there are several methods of improving
recovery rate and aiding in performance enhancement, although some of these
methods are costly and still require further research. For those, who do not have the
financial availability for these method it can be proposed that an active recovery, if
performed properly, can be a sufficient recovery strategy for any sporting personnel, but
may not result in any performance enhancement.

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References
Argus, C. K., Driller, M. W., Ebert, T. R., Martin, D. T., & Halson, S. L. (2013). The
effects of 4 different recovery strategies on repeat sprint-cycling performance.
International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 8(5), 5428.
Calder,A.(2000) Recovery Strategies for Sports Performance. [Online] Available from
http://smscsqlx.sasktelwebhosting.com/services/exphys/recoverystrategies.pdf
[Accessed April 16th 2014.]
Coutts,A.,and Sirotic,A.(2008) Post Match Recovery for Team Sport atheltes.[Online]
Available from http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/sports_sciences/post-
match_recovery_practices_for_team_sport_athletes [Accessed 18th April 2014.]
De Pauw, K., Roelands, B., Vanparijs, J., & Meeusen, R. (2014). Effect of recovery
interventions on cycling performance and pacing strategy in the heat. International
Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. Vol.9,No.2:2408.
Leeder,J.Spence,J.Taylor,E.Harrison,A., and Howatson,G. (2011) The effect of
electrical stimulation on recovery from exercise induced muscle damage. British Journal
of Sports Medicine.Vol,45,No,15.
Maffiuletti, N.A and Cardinale.M.(2011) Alternative Modalities of Strength and
Conditioning: Electrical Stimulation and Vibration.In Cardinale.M.,Newton.R.,and
Nosaka.K( 2011) Strength and Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical
Applications.UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Martin, N.A., Zoeller, R.F., Robertson, R.J. & Lephart, S.M. (1998) The comparative
effects of sports massage, active recovery, and rest in promoting blood lactate
clearance after supramaximal leg exercise. Journal of Athletic Training. Vol. 33, No. 1:
305.
Plowman,S.,and Smith,D.(2009) Exercise Physiology for Health, Fitness and
Performance.USA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Ratamess, N.(2012) ACSM's Foundations of Strength Training and Conditioning. USA:
Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Shakerian, S., Korandi, H., & Habibi, A. (2012). Comparison of active recovery and
whole body vibration combined with active recovery effects on blood lactate after
exhaustive activity. Scholarsresearchlibrary.com. Vol.3,No.8:39453948.
Valle,X.Til,L.Drobnic,F.Turmo,A.Montoro,J.B.Valero,O., and Artells,R.(2013)
Compression garments to prevent delayed onset muscle soreness in soccer players.
Muscle Ligament Tendons Journal.Vol 3,No.4:295-302.