As players across the premier league enter an incredibly busy period following the World Cup and Christmas fixtures, injuries and fitness questions will be asked while coaching staff will be doing all they can to support players in their recovery to get the most out of them on the pitch. But with advancements in recovery technologies, what can we learn from the pros?
We sat down with the ex-Aston Villa head of Fitness and Conditioning, ex-Rangers Head of Performance and ex-Liverpool FC – Strength and Rehab Fitness Coach, Jordan Milsom to ask all about player recovery including new methods of BFR from Hytro to improve our everyday performance.
Jordan Milsom is no stranger to the world of professional sports and today, he joins us in an exclusive interview and provides unique insight into what it takes to remain on top in today’s competitive industry.
How important is recovery within elite football?
Recovery is hugely important. The stresses placed on the players, particularly those who play in Europe competitions and represent their country are enormously high.
Doing everything possible inside and outside the training ground is imperative to give yourself the optimal chance to recover.
These players are playing between 60-80 games, covering up to 13km with 5-12% of that high-speed running. Impose on that air miles and jet lag from multiple flights per week and season it makes recovery hugely important.
Honoured and proud to say I've worked with SG over the past 5 years. Such an incredible person. Good luck in LA. YNWA pic.twitter.com/cIXJnlmn2n
— Jordan Milsom (@milsomlfc) May 24, 2015
What methods of recovery are footballers using?
Our approach has always been to give the players autonomy to choose the strategies they believe support their recovery. We have our pillars that are consistent such as sleep and consuming the appropriate macronutrients for fuelling and recovering.
However, outside of that, we provide numerous options from active recovery, Blood Flow Restriction (BFR), hot and cold-water immersion, cryotherapy, sauna bathing, hydrotherapy, hyperbaric chambers, red light therapy, mindfulness and sensory deprivation are all modalities possible to enhance recovery of metabolic, autonomic and central nervous systems.
What can amateurs or regular gym goers learn from the pros?
Although professional footballers may have access to lots of expensive equipment and systems that can support recovery, it’s important to know everyone can access lots of remarkable recovery options easily.
Sleeping 8-10 hours a day, consistency in time to bed and wake up times, and having a balanced food-first approach diet are all simple and controllable options.
Sauna bathing, and hot and cold water immersion are easily accessible for most people. Adding these in a few days a week at appropriate times can help.
One area we are seeing utilised across a lot of professional and amateur performance is Hytro’s BFR recovery garments – they use blood flow restriction or occlusion training.
This is the process of partially restricting arterial flow into the muscle whilst preventing venous return. This deoxygenates the blood within the muscle and creates an environment which results in increased stress and fatigue quicker.
These stresses are what result in increases in size and strength while boosting recovery. A Hytro garment sits as one of the most affordable pieces of kit to aid recovery by making a traditionally complex recovery method an easily accessible tool.