An insight into rest and recovery for NFL players

As we all may know, being a professional athlete in the NFL can be incredibly taxing – from brain damage to muscle injuries, it is rather easy to get hurt in this sport. So, what do the top players in this field do in order to ensure that they stay healthy and fit to compete at the highest level, and what does the recovery period look like if they have been injured?

The importance of meaningful rest

It is no secret as to why rest helps NFL players perform better – if players get more than eight hours of sleep per night, they are far less likely to sustain an injury. Not only this, but it can help them to deliver a better all-round performance on match day. If a player has had a few nights of bad sleep, then they will be cognitively functioning at a lower level, meaning that they will be less equipped to make the split-second decisions that can be vital during a game.

You don’t have to be an athlete performing at the top of your game to understand why getting enough sleep is really important. Along with all the physical effects, it can also have a big effect on mental clarity, with continued bad sleep potentially leading to a low point mentally.

Mental wellbeing

Something that viewers of the sport may not consider is the mental challenges that players face within the sport. It is all well and good to take care of your body and your sleep, but making sure that you are taking the time to be mentally fit for the game is also incredibly important.

If a team loses a big match – the Super Bowl, for instance – it’s easy to forget about how devastating it can be for the players on the losing side, and how they are coping with that loss. It’s important that these players get the appropriate help after the game in order to make sure that they are doing okay, mentally and physically.

This also applies to the winners of a big game; it can be a very exciting time for the players. All of the athletes’ hard work has finally paid off, after months and months. But then it just ends. After winning, players will go on a break, and all the glory of the victory will be in the past. So, making sure that these athletes also get the appropriate aftercare during their break is incredibly important.

What does recovery look like?

Injuries are common within the NFL; football can be a very physical sport, and with that comes the risk of getting hurt. So, in the event that this does happen, what will the recovery period look like for a player? How quickly can they get back out there and playing again?

Of course, this can vary considerably, from a couple of weeks out to an injury that signals the end of someone’s career. There is an inherent risk, and some injuries can put players out for years. Recovery can be difficult, both mentally and physically. Ice baths are common in the sport, which can help with swelling, but can be rather unpleasant.

For particularly bad injuries, players will likely have to go through physical therapy, which can be incredibly mentally draining, which again is why a good mental health support system is so important.  Recovery can entail months of physiotherapy and doing less intense exercise, such as yoga.

Why a good diet is so important

If you have ever watched an interview with an NFL player, they are likely to mention their strict diet. It may not seem like they are doing too much, but highly optimizing your diet can give you the ever-important edge that you may need to come out victorious in a game. Such diets will ensure that players have the exact right amount of all the different food groups, and even include electrolyte-based drinks in order to ensure that their muscles can repair themselves as fast as possible.

What comes next for the NFL?

The NFL has been around for a very long time, and it has seen a lot of changes in that period, but what are some changes that could come next? What does the five or 10 years look like for the sport? Well, we are beginning to see much more support offered to the players in terms of taking care of their mental health. This was rather poorly regulated for a very long time, meaning that players would often suffer from mental disorders without anyone knowing or helping.

The recent push for more inclusivity among players, along with the space to be open about their thoughts and feelings, is something that will hopefully continue to grow and become a mainstay within professional football.

It is no secret that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a massive issue within the NFL; it always has been, but we have more information about it than ever before. Although it is still a big issue that affects a lot of players, we will hopefully, in the future, discover more ways to combat this and make football a safer environment.

The NFL is and always has been a staple of US culture, and it seems to be growing by the day, with it becoming increasingly popular in countries outside the US. The NFL is bigger than it has ever been, and its growth doesn’t appear likely to slow anytime soon.