Loading...
Recovery
Consistent sleep, a real meal after hard sessions, and a week with easy days in it come before any ice bath or gadget.
How to Recover for Volleyball?
Training breaks you down, and you rebuild while you recover. For most players, sleep, food, fluids, and a sensibly planned week do more than any recovery tool you can buy.
TL:DR
- Sleep comes first: 7 to 9 hours a night, or 8 to 10 if you're a teenager.
- Eat protein and carbohydrate through the day, and rehydrate after hard sessions.
- Follow hard days with easy ones, and keep a simple record of how you feel.
- Massage and compression ease soreness a little. Skip ice baths after lifting.
- Stretch to improve range of motion. It won't help soreness.
What you're recovering from
A hard session causes small amounts of muscle damage, drains the carbohydrate stored in your muscles (glycogen), costs you fluid through sweat, and tires your nervous system. That last one is why your jump drops after a long practice even when your legs don't hurt. Recover well and you come back slightly stronger than before.
Soreness is a poor guide to how recovered you are. You can feel fine and still be flat, or feel sore and jump well. Pay attention to your sleep, your energy, and how your jumps feel as well.
Step 1: Protect your sleep
Athletes often sleep less than 7 hours a night. An expert consensus on athlete sleep recommends 7 to 9 hours for healthy adults and 8 to 10 for teenagers, and says athletes may need more when training is heavy[1].
- Pick a bedtime you can hit most nights.
- Keep your room cool, dark, and quiet, and get some daylight in the morning.
- Stop caffeine by early afternoon. It affects your sleep for hours.
- Night matches usually cost you sleep, so plan a wind-down: a shower, a meal, and your phone put away.
- If you're short on sleep and need to be sharp later, nap for less than 30 minutes between about 1 and 4 p.m. Skip the nap if it keeps you up at night.
Step 2: Eat and drink to recover
These targets come from the sports nutrition position statement of the American College of Sports Medicine and two dietitian groups[2].
Protein: 1.2 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight a day, spread across meals, with about 0.3 g/kg at each meal or snack. For a 70 kg (154 lb) player that's roughly 20 grams a meal, such as a couple of eggs and a glass of milk, or a palm-sized piece of chicken.
Carbohydrate: Carbs refill your glycogen. On a normal training day, regular meals with carbs usually cover it. When you have less than 8 hours between hard sessions, such as on double days or at tournaments, aim for 1 to 1.2 g/kg per hour for the first 4 hours, eaten as small, regular snacks.
Fluids: Weigh yourself before and after a hard session. For every kilogram you lost, drink about 1.25 to 1.5 liters over the next few hours. Keep salt in your food or drink, because sodium helps your body hold on to the fluid. Alcohol slows rehydration.
If you have specific needs, such as a restrictive diet, weight concerns, or a history of disordered eating, see a registered sports dietitian.
Step 3: Plan your week around load
Load is the total stress your training puts on you. Planning it is part of recovery.
- Don't put your heaviest lift, your hardest conditioning, and a long hitting practice on back-to-back days.
- Keep heavy leg work away from match days. The strength and conditioning guides cover timing.
- Count your jumps. Extra jump training on top of practice adds up fast.
A review of volleyball training studies recommends three simple ways to track load[3]:
- Session effort (RPE): Rate how hard each session felt from 1 to 10, then multiply by the minutes. A 90-minute practice rated 6 is a load of 540.
- Jump count: Use a wearable, or have a coach count.
- Daily check-in: Rate your sleep quality, fatigue, stress, and soreness.
You don't need lab equipment for any of these. What counts as a bad number is personal, so compare against your own normal and look for trends over several days.
Step 4: Tournament days
At a tournament you have hours to recover instead of days.
Between matches:
- Eat small, carb-rich snacks such as bananas, bagels, rice cakes, or sports drinks, with a little protein.
- Sip fluids steadily and check your urine color. Pale is the goal.
- Get off your feet and stay warm, then warm up again before the next match. The warm-up guide has a short version.
After the last match:
- Eat a real meal with carbs and protein within a couple of hours.
- Rehydrate, using the weigh-in rule if you can.
- Get to bed as early as you can.
Step 5: Recovery tools
Get sleep and food right before you spend money on any of these.
| Tool | What the research shows | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Massage | Did the most for soreness and fatigue in a review of 99 studies[4] | When you have access. It isn't essential. |
| Compression garments | Reduced soreness and fatigue | Travel and tournaments |
| Cold-water immersion | Helps power and soreness for about a day after hard exercise[5], but regular use after lifting reduces strength gains[6] | Tournaments and packed weeks. Not after lifting. |
| Foam rolling | Small drop in muscle pain, small effect on performance[7] | If you like it. Don't expect much. |
| Stretching | No effect on soreness | For range of motion (see the mobility guide) |
| Easy cardio | Reduced soreness, but not fatigue | The day after a hard session, if a light bike or swim feels good |
Recovery week
Off-season
| Day | Training | Recovery focus |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Lift (lower body) | Protein at every meal, no ice bath |
| Tue | Skills + conditioning | Rehydrate, normal bedtime |
| Wed | Easy day | Easy bike, mobility, early night |
| Thu | Lift (lower body) | Same as Monday |
| Fri | Skills | Log session effort and daily check-in |
| Sat/Sun | Rest or open gym | Sleep in, eat well |
In-season
- Day after a match: Easy movement or full rest, plus your daily check-in.
- Two days before a match: Last hard session of the week.
- Tournament weekends: Follow the plan in Step 4. Cold water or compression is fine here.
- Several bad check-ins in a row: Talk to your coach about cutting back.
Common mistakes
- Using soreness as your only signal. Track sleep, mood, and jump height too.
- Taking an ice bath after every lift. Save cold water for tournament weekends.
- Under-eating on double days. Small snacks add up.
- Buying recovery gadgets before fixing your sleep.