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Recovery strategies for basketball athletes

This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Basketball by National Basketball Strength & Conditioning Association (NBSCA) & Bill Foran.

By Todd Forcier

MVPs of Recovery

In this chapter we discuss methodologies and practical applications for recovery strategies that can help the basketball athlete return to normal. But first, we discuss the MVPs (most valuable players) of recovery: sleep, nutrition, and work capacity.

Sleep

Sleep is the most important factor in athletic performance and recovery. If there is no other takeaway from this chapter, remember that sleep is king! An athlete can hydrate, stretch, and consume fruits and vegetables, but if their sleep is not optimal, athletic performance and recovery will suffer. A study by Fullagar and colleagues (2015) examined the effects of sleep on athletic performance as well as physiological and cognitive performance. Improved sleep can help to not only increase your athletic performance, such as sprinting, jumping, and skills, but also improve your ability to recover (physiology) and your reaction time and mental acuity (cognition). Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach here, but in general, it is recommended for athletes to achieve a minimum of 8 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep during the night.

Proper sleep affects everything about the human body: metabolism, dietary choices, relationships, ability to handle physical and mental stress, and brain function, among many others. Sleep hygiene means following the habits and practices that are conducive to sleeping well on a regular basis. Williamson and Feyer (2000) have shown that going without sleep for 24 hours is the equivalent of being legally drunk!

In a sleep study conducted at Stanford University (Mah et al. 2011), subjects were asked to increase their sleep as much as possible, with a minimum of 10 hours in bed each night, for a duration of 5 to 7 weeks. During this time, such measures as sprint timing, reaction timing, shooting accuracy from both the free throw line and the three-point line, perceived fatigue, and physical and mental well-being were recorded. All such measures improved, including more than 9 percent in shooting accuracy from both the free throw and three-point lines, sprint scores, reaction timing, physical and mental well-being during practices and games, and perceived fatigue subscales.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to have a significant impact on athletic performance, namely submaximal, prolonged exercise. A study by Halson (2014) demonstrated the impacts of diet and nutrition on sleep. Some of the findings from the study are listed below.

• Diets higher in carbohydrates resulted in shorter time (latency) to fall asleep.
• Diets higher in protein resulted in better sleep quality.
• Diets higher in fat negatively affected total sleep time.
• Diets with decreased total caloric intake resulted in a disruption of sleep quality.

Sleep is even more critical to athletes when factoring in training load, practices, games, and travel. These habits must be addressed as an athlete would address any other weakness in their game.

Following is a list of factors that affect sleep and ways to correct them.

• Poor dietary choices: Avoid or minimize the consumption of alcohol and processed food.
• Room temperature: Maintain a room temperature between 65 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit (18-19 degrees Celsius).
• Blue light: Utilize blue-light-blocking glasses or put away the television, cellular phones, and video games at least two hours prior to bedtime.
• Stress: Apply breathing and relaxation techniques to get your mind ready to sleep.
• Environment: Use blackout shades and turn off lights or any distractions that can keep you from falling asleep or that may wake you up too early (such as morning sunlight).
• Dehydration: Maintain proper hydration throughout the day. Avoid drinking excess water prior to bed to avoid waking up to urinate.
• Time zone changes: Athletes traveling over several time zones experience disrupted sleep-wake cycles. Traveling west to east is very different from traveling east to west. Read current literature on best practices to avoid sleep disturbances.

These intervention strategies aim to improve sleep and can help an athlete to get a good night’s rest.

Nutrition

Nutrition is not only a key component to getting a great night’s sleep—it’s also a key component of recovery. The reason nutrition is so important to sleep is that food contains essential vitamins and minerals needed for recovery, and those vitamins and minerals create the chemistry required for getting a great night’s sleep. Here is a list of some vitamins and minerals that can promote sleep hygiene and where they can be found in food.

• Iron is a mineral in our blood that provides oxygen to our cells and tissues. Iron deficiency has been associated with sleep disorders, ADHD, and restless legs syndrome, to name just a few. Iron is found in dark-green leafy vegetables, beef, veal, chicken, broccoli, fortified cereals, and nuts. Iron is best absorbed in the presence of vitamin C. Vitamin C can be found in oranges, strawberries, and broccoli.
• Magnesium is a mineral that assists in nerve and muscle function, may reduce blood pressure, and can help maintain strong bones. Magnesium can affect sleep quality as well and serves as an alternative to melatonin supplementation. Magnesium is found in spinach as well as most seeds and nuts, including almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Calcium is most known for its role in helping to maintain strong bones. Adequate dietary calcium intake is also crucial to maintain and assist proper brain and muscle function. Calcium has the ability to lower blood pressure, which is important for recovery and a good night’s sleep. Calcium requires vitamin D for absorption. Direct sunlight on the skin—as little as 15 minutes per day—creates vitamin D. Dietary sources of calcium and vitamin D include nuts, milk, cheese, salmon, and fortified foods such as orange juice.
• Potassium is another mineral required for sleep and recovery. It lowers blood pressure, improves muscle and brain function, and assists in fluid balance in the body as a key electrolyte. Some of the many food sources high in potassium are bananas, beans, potatoes, dark leafy greens, avocados, and nuts.
• B vitamins are vital for converting food into energy and improving red blood cells, which carry oxygen molecules. There are numerous B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12), each with a specific name and function. Food sources rich in B vitamins include lean meats and fish, citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons, avocados, beans, eggs, and fortified cereals.
• Vitamin E is a strong antioxidant and helps the body maintain a strong immune system against damage from free radicals, viruses, and bacteria. Vitamin E also plays a role in the formation of red blood cells, which carry oxygen. Vitamin E is found in foods such as nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables.

Nutrition is critical to sleep hygiene. In short, an athlete must eat a balanced diet containing lean proteins, dark leafy vegetables, nuts, fish, and a variety of fruits and other vegetables. It’s best to eat dinner a minimum of two hours prior to bedtime to avoid disrupting a good night’s sleep, and hydration should be maintained throughout the day since dehydration also affects sleep.

Work Capacity

Work capacity is the athlete’s ability to perform repetitive and technically proficient sports skills and exercise without the onset of fatigue. In a practical application, it is the ability to handle the load of a single practice, game, training week, or cycle. Work capacity is vital to understanding the athlete’s need for recovery. The greater capacity an athlete has to handle volume and intensity, the less dependent they become on recovery strategies. Many factors contribute to work capacity, among them relative strength, training status, nutrition, hydration, sleep, and genetics.

For instance, Athlete A comes into training camp in the fall having completed an off-season of periodized training and conditioning, and thus is in optimal shape for handling the demands of training camp. Athlete B comes into training camp out of shape but is looking to “play into shape” in preparation for the upcoming season. Both athletes complete the same training load during training camp. Which athlete will need the greatest intervention of recovery strategies in order to handle the next day’s training load? Athlete B, based on the fact that their given work capacity is much less than Athlete A’s. Athlete B is operating at a much higher relative intensity than Athlete A, requiring a greater mechanical and physiological demand to complete the same training load.

Work capacity can be achieved or even improved in a variety of ways:

• Improved nutrition
• Strength training
• Conditioning
• Shooting workouts
• Biking and metabolic circuit training
• Improved sleep
• Mindset training

An athlete must be able to handle not only the demands of a single bout of training but also the cumulative demands of the day-to-day and week-to-week training loads of a basketball season. In short, the better physically and mentally prepared the athlete is to handle the demands of basketball, the fewer intervention strategies are required to help that athlete return to normal.

More Excerpts From Complete Conditioning for Basketball

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