Recovery after effort is essential in maintaining optimal physical condition

Abstract

Playing a sports game at a competitive level requires considerable physical effort that can only be sustained by excellent physical condition. The effort provided during both training and official competitions must be permanently in the attention of the specialised coach, who should be primarily concerned with preventing excessive fatigue in athletes. A clinical form of chronic pathological fatigue (an imbalance of the whole body, which strongly affects both the physical and mental spheres) is caused by overtraining. Modern means of tracking physical parameters in real time allow the coach to correctly dose exercise intensity as well as the frequency and length of the necessary breaks. The coach also has modern means of restoring the functional systems used during exercise, while being aware that these systems recover at different time intervals. The correct relationship between the recovery process and the recovery time of energy sources is essential in the effectiveness of the athlete’s body recovery technique. The proper load-recovery ratio is the key to the training process, and the decision on the recovery procedure will affect the physical condition of athletes. In the recovery process, specialists can use relaxation techniques, oxygenation, negative air ionisation, active or passive rest, medication, alkaline diet, massage, sauna, acupuncture, acupressure, thermotherapy, cold compression/therapy, vibration therapy, electrostimulation and lymphatic drainage.