Injuries are a part of every sport, especially one as physical as lacrosse. Are you doing enough to remain injury free?

Many practices, especially at high levels of lacrosse, go for 1.5-2 hours at a minimum. Most of these practices are filled with high tempo drills and sprints on top of weight room workouts and any other sprint/conditioning sessions. All of these practice sessions coupled with games doesn’t leave much time in the way of injury prevention. What can be done then, with the limited time available to maintain a healthy body?

As a coach, I would suggest shortening practice times and weightlifting times. Obviously, this suggestion will garner a lot of backlash. Most coaches love using the full-time they have allotted even if it means players are fatigued. But, players who are fatigued are less likely to perform well and more likely to injure themselves.

Instead, let’s focus on these three practical ways to promote injury free training.

Active Recovery

The purpose of recovery is to allow your muscles (and your mind) to heal from whatever activity they have just completed. This allows them to recover and become stronger for the next time they are engaged. Many athletes believe that recovery just means taking a day off or doing some static stretching. In reality, these things may have the opposite effect, sitting around all day to “recover” may lead to muscle tightening. This is the major difference between rest and recovery, rest includes sleep and taking time off of activity. While recovery includes proper hydration, nutrition, posture, stretching, and mental stress management. There is also an aspect to recovery that includes activity. This seems counterintuitive as the athlete wants to recover from the activities they have already performed. An active recovery includes a low-intensity workout designed to get the blood pumping and provide a mental break from high-intensity activities. This can include:

Running at a slow pace for ~45-60 minutes

Biking for ~60-75 minutes

Swimming for ~30-45 minutes

Walking or hiking

For both of these activities, the focus is on low intensity so that the athlete can focus on breathing, form, and mental relaxation. By completing these active recovery exercises, athletes should feel less fatigued, reduce recovery times, and be less likely to injure themselves.

Stretching

Static and dynamic stretching have always been included during warm ups and cool downs. But athletes should always be stretching more. Not only will lengthening muscles allow for better flexibility and range of motion, the simplicity of stretching can act as a meditation technique. When stretching, athletes should focus on breathing and clearing their mind as a way to mentally recover from the workout or from the day. Stretching/meditation will help with sleep and recovery. Simple stretches such as hip flexor lunges and glute stretches only take about 5 minutes to complete. For a relaxing and mindful stretch at the end of the day, try this before bed:

While standing, reach down with your fingers and touch your toes (or as far as you can reach) – hold for 1 minute

Stand up and focus on your breathing, large breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth – 1 minute

Repeat 5 times for a total of 10 minutes

This simple routine will help with relaxation and clear the mind before bed. It will also make your legs and back feel much looser.

What can you do during exercise to promote recovery?

Take the time needed to recover from sprints or explosive lifts. The more time athletes take to recover, the better they will perform during the next set. This does not mean take 10-15 minute breaks between every exercise, but athletes should be resting for at least 1 minute per 10m sprint.

Check out this table for rest times:

These rest times only go higher for higher-class athletes. The proper amount of rest time will be very beneficial to athletes and allow them to recover properly.

The practices outlined here are only a few ideas for athletes who want to promote recovery and maintain a healthy body during the grueling lacrosse season. Using recovery techniques such as active recovery, proper stretching, and rest times will help greatly reduce the amount of fatigue and injury that can plague players throughout the season.