Sauna + Hot Bath + Massage

Hello all,

I'm a massage therapist from a football (soccer) club.

I would like to ear some opinions from people with experience regaring this Sauna, hot bath, massage issue.

What is the best way to do it, when, how many times a week, to prevent injuries and give a best muscle recuperation from fatigue.

I've been searching on the web about this, but i cant find anything.

I'm talking about trainning 4 times a week, plus 1 game at the weekend.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday --> Trainning Days
Friday --> Rest
Saturday --> Game
Sunday --> Rest

How should i shedule the sauna and massage?
Once a week? Two times a week?

I've been reading some, and what i found is that we shouldn't do sauna about 48 hours before competion.

Can someone help me with this?

Thanks,
Ricardo.

hi trouper!! i think its easy to manage. i would give a massage to the players twice to 3 times a week, one after the match, tuesday and thursday. seems that the players have a though programm with only 2/7 rest days. wednesday is a good sauna day. make sure that athletes rehydrate properly, that the reason for no sauna 48 h prior to competition. injury risk might be increases, because body is in a kind of regeneration phase concerning to hydration but also immunsystem, cardio-vascular etc.
most important is to make sure that athletes cool down properly and have an adequat stretching programm. that plus massage would be great.
take care.

Hey, thanks for your opinion.

I'd like to hear some more :)

Hi,

I don't think you will find much different out there - Wutti seemed to cover it all. :)