User blogs

As summer arrives, athletes face unique challenges and opportunities that can influence their performance throughout the upcoming fall season. While the warmer weather and longer days provide an ideal environment for training and recovery, they also demand tailored approaches to ensure athletes stay healthy, motivated, and prepared. Here’s how coaches, trainers, and support staff can effectively support athletes during these months and set them up for success in the fall.

1. Prioritize Hydration and Nutrition

Heat and humidity can significantly increase the risk of dehydration and heat-related illnesses. Educate athletes on the importance of proper hydration, emphasizing water intake before, during, and after training sessions. Incorporate electrolyte-rich drinks to replenish minerals lost through sweat. Additionally, focus on balanced nutrition that fuels energy, supports recovery, and maintains immune health—think colorful fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. 

2. Implement Safe and Effective Training Protocols

Summer training should be adjusted to prevent heat exhaustion and injury. Schedule workouts during cooler parts of the day, such as early mornings or late evenings. Encourage athletes to listen to their bodies and take regular breaks. Incorporate low-impact activities like swimming or cycling to diversify training and reduce joint stress. Utilize indoor facilities or shaded areas when necessary, and consider cross-training to maintain fitness levels while minimizing burnout.

3. Emphasize Rest and Recovery

Rest is vital during the summer to allow the body to recover from intense training and adapt to physical demands. Encourage athletes to prioritize quality sleep, which is essential for muscle repair, cognitive function, and overall well-being. Integrate active recovery techniques, such as stretching, foam rolling, and light activity, to promote circulation and reduce soreness.

4. Foster Mental Resilience and Motivation

Summer can be a time of distraction, but maintaining a positive mental attitude is crucial. Support athletes’ mental health by promoting goal-setting, visualization, and mindfulness practices. Keep communication open to address concerns or burnout. Recognize achievements, no matter how small, to boost confidence and motivation for the upcoming season.

 5. Prepare for Fall Competitions

Use the summer months to focus on skill development, tactical understanding, and team cohesion. Incorporate periodized training plans that gradually increase intensity to ensure peak performance in the fall. Conduct fitness assessments to identify areas for improvement and tailor training accordingly. Additionally, consider hosting summer camps or clinics to build camaraderie and maintain engagement.

 6. Monitor Health and Wellness

Regular health check-ins can identify early signs of heat illness, overtraining, or other health issues. Encourage athletes to report symptoms such as dizziness, cramping, or fatigue promptly. Implement injury prevention strategies, including proper warm-up routines and strength training exercises targeting vulnerable areas.

Supporting athletes during the summer months requires a balanced approach that emphasizes safety, recovery, and skill enhancement. By adopting positive, proactive strategies, coaches and support staff can help athletes stay motivated and prepared, ensuring they hit the ground running when fall arrives. The summer is not just a downtime; it’s an opportunity to build resilience, refine skills, and lay the groundwork for a successful season ahead.

Sauna tents, cold plunges, ice baths, heat packs…what is best? And do you need both, like with contrast bathing where you alternate hot and cold therapy? It all depends on the circumstances and your goals!

Cold can reduce inflammation and swelling, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing all the time. When an injury occurs, inflammation is what helps with the healing process. Blunting inflammation immediately after being injured may not be ideal. Always consult with a doctor, physical therapist, orthopedist, or other healthcare professional before doing any kind of home treatment for an injury.

Cold therapy (Ice baths, ice packs, cryotherapy)

Pros: Mixed research suggests it may:

• Speed up recovery
• Enhance power the next day after a hard workout
• Improve performance
• Increase high intensity sprint performance
• Have an analgesic effect (dulls or numbs pain)
• Lower sensation of muscle soreness
• Decreased muscle swelling
• Decreased inflammation

You may want to use ice baths when you need to perform well on back-to-back hard days, such as two-a-day workouts or important multi-day competitions. They can also be helpful if you are fatigued or injured and need to make the next session really count. Ice baths can help cool body core temperature to improve performance in very hot weather.

Cons: While ice baths may help with recovery or blunting pain, they may not be great for long-term gains. Most research in this area shows it blunts a key signaling protein that helps with muscle building and recovery.

One really cool study took athletes through an exercise protocol, then gave them a protein shake and used tracers so they could see exactly where the protein molecules ended up in the body. They had the athletes place one leg in an ice bath and the other in a neutral temperature bath. The leg in the cold bath took up significantly less amino acids from the protein shake. This means that the cold bath blunted training adaptations and muscle rebuilding and repair. Longer-term similar studies have shown lower muscle protein synthesis and muscle mass and strength when using cold baths.

Heat therapy (Saunas, hot tubs, hot baths, heat packs)

Pros: It feels so nice! Heat therapy can help with body acclamation to hot weather. If you live in a cold climate but are headed to a hot/humid location for a training camp or big outdoor adventure, heat therapy can train your body to tolerate the weather.

Heat therapy can help make tight muscles feel more relaxed. It may be helpful for chronic tightness or overuse injuries. Heat shouldn’t be used if there is any kind of swelling. Heat also dampens inflammation on an acute injury, which is not ideal.

Other potential pros include:

• Increased blood flow
• Increased skin temperature
• Analgesic effect (pain relief)
• Increased range of motion (may be important if flexibility is key to your athletic endeavor)
• Increased connective tissue elasticity
• Improved capillary circulation
• Decreased perceived muscle stiffness

Cons: Heat doesn’t do much to penetrate below the skin, so it will not have any profound effects. There is a risk for burns, especially with fragile skin (such as over wounds), so use caution when using heat.

Contrast bathing: (Alternating cold and hot therapies)

Alternating cold and heat is not new, but there is very limited research on its usefulness and effectiveness. It seems to be, at best, a way to reduce perception of pain and fatigue. There is not enough research to determine specific protocols or even if they are effective (or ineffective!). It seems that for now it can be used for pain relief, but there is such limited understanding and research that I would not recommend alternating cold and hot therapies for long-term or short-term recovery. Anecdotally, physical therapists report that outcomes seem to depend on the individual. Some people swear by it, others don’t see a good outcome.

So should you use hot or cold therapy, or contrast bathing? If you’re looking for quick recovery or pain relief, these are viable options. Steer clear of cold therapy if you’d like to see long-term gains.

~This is general information only and not medical advice. Always ask your healthcare provider before doing any kind of intervention or therapy. 

By Marisa Michael