Apr 7, 2017Relax, Recharge, Recover
As a coach, you want your athletes to give it their all when competing. One way to make sure this happens is to keep them working their hardest during practice. However, the staff for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team has found that the way athletes recover and take care of their bodies outside of practice has a monumental impact on effort, as well as on injury prevention.
According to an article from The Citizen’s Voice, the Penguins have been having a victorious and healthy season. Part of what keeps this team healthy and energetic is the way in which Strength Coach Doug Davidson has them recover. Knowing that it can be hard to get to sleep after going 100 percent for 60 minutes, Davidson focuses the athletes’ recovery time on relaxing both the mind and body.
“I think sleep is the No. 1 thing at the end of the day,” Davidson said. “If guys aren’t sleeping well, you’re going to have issues. That’s something that you can’t fake.”
While he still has players utilize the bike or treadmill, as is seen in many recovery workouts, Davidson begins the time with more peaceful activities. This includes a 10-minute cool-down period in which Davidson takes the athletes through a series of relaxing stretches. Other calming mechanisms might include breathing exercises, foam rolling, or low-intensity aerobic work.
“From my perspective, it’s just about getting that very low-level aerobic work that’s going to shift the body out of that wired state and into more of a calm and relaxed state that will help kickstart the recovery process,” Davidson said.
Davidson not only focuses his recovery efforts on what the athletes are doing with their bodies, but also what is put into them. When players come off of the ice, they are offered cups filled with cherry juice, which has plenty of antioxidants and melatonin.
Nutrition plays a big part on this team when it comes to both recovery and getting athletes’ bodies ready for the next big game. The Penguins have hired a professional chef to prepare healthy meals, including breakfast and lunch, each day. In order to make sure the athletes get proper nutrition, Davidson has asked Stephen Schappert, the team’s chef, to make meals that are soy, lactose, and gluten free.
Not only does having a professional chef help the athletes stay healthy, it also has had the added benefit of teaching them what is best to eat, and how to make different meals. Athletes have even been known to ask Schappert for advice with their grocery lists.
“If any of the players have any questions about how to cook an item, I’ll definitely let them know my spin on how to do it in a healthy way,” Schappert said.
Davidson continues pushing the value of healthy eating even when away from home. When at an out of town game, it can be difficult to find healthy options, but the players are always given guidelines. And Davidson works hard to find the best options for his players no matter what city they are playing in.
And the Penguin athletes buy into this ideal every step of the way.
“Personally, I’m a huge believer in nutrition,” team captain Tom Kostopoulos said. “Not only do we have food here after and before practices, but Doug makes sure we have good meals after each game. So, when we’re on a three-in-three, we’ve had a good meal each night after the game. Our record (in back-to-backs and three-in-threes) is a very good indicator of how things are going and what’s helping us.”
