Written by Kieron Vorster, Strength & Conditioning Coach at fit8.
If your son or daughter plays competitive sport, you’ve probably watched them push through match after match with barely a day to recover and wondered whether that’s doing more harm than good. In today’s world of sport, there is increasing pressure on athletes and teams to perform at their optimal level, week in and week out. That kind of consistency is impossible without careful planning of recovery strategies the only way for a young athlete to repeat a strong performance the following day or week. Tennis players can face five or six matches in a single week; footballers often play three. That reality forces every coach, parent and sport scientist to ask one question: what does my athlete or team need in order to perform at their best, day in and day out? The answer: recovery strategies.
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The 8 Pillars of Athlete Recovery
Here’s a quick overview of what’s covered below - use it as a checklist when you plan your own recovery strategy:
• Education - get full buy-in before you ask an athlete to change their habits
• Planning - build recovery into the structure of the training and match programme
• Nutrition and hydration - fuel and rehydrate before, during and after every session
• Sleep - where the real repair work happens
• Lifestyle management - protect your downtime from outside commitments
• Personal life - manage the off-field stress that quietly affects performance
• Individual approach - there is no one-size-fits-all recovery plan
Education: Get Buy-In Before You Ask for Change
It’s no good for a coach to bark orders at an athlete or team about what to do post-match or post-training without explaining the reasoning behind it - and, most importantly, the benefits they’ll gain from following the recovery strategy. The athlete needs to fully buy into the programme, understanding the following:
• Why recovery matters - its role in optimising performance
• The different mechanics of stress and fatigue
• Buy-in to what happens away from the pitch and training ground - lifestyle management
• A variety of recovery strategies, since one size doesn’t fit all - let the athlete find what works for them
• Timing - when to build recovery strategies into a daily and weekly routine
Planning Your Recovery Strategy
Planning your recovery strategy is essential - but to do it well, you first need to understand the overall structure of the training and match programme. Once that’s mapped out, you can build the following into it:
• Nutrition and hydration
• Sleep patterns
• Post-match and training plan
• Lifestyle plan away from the pitch and training ground
• Mental plan
Nutrition and Hydration
It’s essential that your nutrition and hydration plan covers more than just competition day - it needs to reflect your general lifestyle and its demands. There’s no significant difference in the general caloric requirements of carbohydrates, fats and protein (macronutrients) between an athlete and the general population. However, based on training and competition demands, athletes need additional hydration to replace sweat loss and additional fuel to replace energy loss (calories). Replacing both post-match and post-training is critical to restoring the body’s normal balance.
How Much Water Do Athletes Need?
The minimum daily water requirement to keep your hydration tank topped up is:
• 3.7L for men
• 2.7L for women
Electrolyte Replacement in Hot or Humid Conditions
When competing or training, pay attention to both the weather and the match or training conditions. In more humid conditions, for example, there’s a greater demand for sodium (salt) in your drinks. Replacing electrolytes is vital in humid conditions; the recommended minimum is:
• 1.5g/day of sodium (salt)
• 4.7g/day of potassium (from foods such as bananas and leafy greens like spinach)
Checking Hydration Through Bodyweight
Weighing yourself before and after training or competition is an easy way to monitor hydration. A drop of 2% or more in bodyweight post-session means you’re dehydrated. Replace every 1kg lost with 1 litre of water. For example:
• Pre-training weight: 100kg
• Post-training weight: 97kg
• 3% drop in weight = dehydrated
• 3 litres of water required to restore hydration
Meal planning before, during and after training or competition takes real thought and detail.
Pre-Training and Pre-Match Nutrition
The guideline is to eat at least two hours before training or competing, with food and water broken down as follows:
• Half a litre of water
• Low-fat food choices
• Low-fibre food choices
• Moderate protein
• High carbohydrate - but low-glycaemic-index, so energy is released steadily rather than in a spike
Nutrition During Training or Competition
While competing or training, the main objective is to maintain hydration and energy levels to give yourself the best chance of optimal performance. The recommended guidelines are:
• Carbohydrate replacement of 30–60g per hour of elapsed time, medium-to-high on the glycaemic index so it’s absorbed into the bloodstream quickly
• Carbohydrate concentration in drinks of 4–8%
• Sodium intake depends on humidity and duration; on average, 0.5g per litre is recommended
• Drink as much fluid as you can tolerate to maintain hydration without triggering gastric distress
Post-Match Nutrition: The Glycaemic Window
This is the critical stage for maximising recovery. Your initial goal is to replace glycogen stores (carbohydrates) as soon as possible after competing or training - ideally within a 40-minute “glycaemic window.” The carbohydrate you eat should be high on the glycaemic index so it’s absorbed quickly, at a carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of 4:1. The general guideline is 1.5g of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight within that window. For example:
• 100kg athlete
• Needs 150g of high-glycaemic carbohydrate and 30g of protein post-exercise (a 4:1 ratio)
Research has shown that glycogen levels are significantly higher six hours post-exercise when carbohydrate is replenished within that 40-minute window, compared with waiting two hours to refuel.
Sleep: The Foundation of Recovery
During training and competition, your muscles, tendons and ligaments are stretched and torn. Ligaments, bones and cartilage withstand trauma and forces of up to eight times your bodyweight, while your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems supply a constant stream of fuel to your brain, muscles and organs. The result of all that stress and strain is tissue damage and breakdown - and the repair and rebuilding of that tissue happens primarily during sleep.
How Much Sleep Do Athletes Need?
Everyone needs an average of 7 to 10 hours of sleep a night. Sleep occurs in roughly 90-minute cycles, with deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurring toward the end of each cycle. Deep sleep is essential for building and repairing muscle, while REM is vital for restoring normal neural function. If a sleep cycle is disturbed before deep sleep and REM have occurred, the whole 90-minute process restarts - delaying recovery. Recommended sleep by age:
• Ages 1–10: at least 10 hours per night
• Ages 11–22: an average of 9.25 hours per night
• Ages 23+: an average of 8.25 hours per night
The most successful athletes in sport today follow a disciplined sleep routine.
Sleep Tips for Better Recovery
• Avoid naps longer than 2 hours - longer naps can disrupt your sleep pattern
• Only sleep when you’re actually sleepy
• Avoid heavy studying or computer/video games for at least an hour before bed
• Avoid training within 3 hours of bedtime
• Avoid sleeping with lights, a computer monitor, radio or TV on
• Keep your room quiet, cool and dark
• On weekends, sleep in if you need to - but no more than 2 to 3 hours later than usual
• Go to bed at the same time every day to build a routine
• Train yourself to associate your bed with sleep, not with other activities
• If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something boring until you feel drowsy
• Open the curtains or blinds as soon as you wake up to stimulate alertness
• Spend time in natural sunlight throughout the day
Lifestyle Management
The more successful you become as an individual or a team, the more pressure there is to do appearances, commercials, endorsements and other off-field commitments. That pressure can spiral and directly affect performance, leaving you with less and less downtime to recover. Managing your off-field commitments - and your time - is essential.
The more success you have, the more famous you become. Try to limit invitations to social events such as nightclubs, bars and red-carpet events - the temptation is always close by.
Personal Life and Its Impact on Recovery
Personal life is closely tied to lifestyle management, and it can affect your recovery from training and matches in ways many coaches don’t fully appreciate:
• Family breakdown, such as parental separation or divorce
• Relationship breakdown, separation or divorce
• Financial stress
• Financial excess linked to substance misuse - gambling, alcohol abuse or reckless spending. It’s been suggested that two in five footballers in the UK end up bankrupt
• The emotional pressure and stress of performing day in and day out
Individual Approach: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Every athlete’s physiology is different, so as a coach, offering a range of options to optimise recovery — and letting the athlete find what works for them — is vital. You only discover what works through trial and error, so make sure each mistake is only made once.
Summary: Leave No Stone Unturned
As you can see, optimising performance means maximising every facet of recovery. There’s a lot to consider, and the devil is in the detail. Addressing short-, mid- and long-term recovery goals is essential to making sure your performance is never held back.
Remember: you’ll spend far longer as a non-athlete than as an athlete. Once you retire, you want to be able to look in the mirror and ask yourself one question:
“Did I leave no stone unturned on my journey to success as an athlete?”
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water should my young athlete drink each day?
At minimum, 3.7 litres for men and 2.7 litres for women, with more required in hot or humid conditions to replace sweat loss.
How do I know if my child is dehydrated after training?
Weigh them before and after. A drop of 2% or more in bodyweight means they’re dehydrated — replace it at a rate of 1 litre of water for every 1kg lost.
What should my young athlete eat after training to recover faster?
Aim for a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein within the 40-minute “glycaemic window” after exercise — roughly 1.5g of high-glycaemic carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight.
How much sleep does my young athlete need?
On average, 7 to 10 hours a night. Younger athletes (ages 1–10) need at least 10 hours, those 11–22 need around 9.25 hours, and adults 23+ need around 8.25 hours.
Recovery Strategies for Young Athletes: A Parent's Guide
Written by Kieron Vorster, Strength & Conditioning Coach at fit8.
If your son or daughter plays competitive sport, you’ve probably watched them push through match after match with barely a day to recover and wondered whether that’s doing more harm than good. In today’s world of sport, there is increasing pressure on athletes and teams to perform at their optimal level, week in and week out. That kind of consistency is impossible without careful planning of recovery strategies the only way for a young athlete to repeat a strong performance the following day or week. Tennis players can face five or six matches in a single week; footballers often play three. That reality forces every coach, parent and sport scientist to ask one question: what does my athlete or team need in order to perform at their best, day in and day out? The answer: recovery strategies.
The 8 Pillars of Athlete Recovery
Here’s a quick overview of what’s covered below - use it as a checklist when you plan your own recovery strategy:
• Education - get full buy-in before you ask an athlete to change their habits
• Planning - build recovery into the structure of the training and match programme
• Nutrition and hydration - fuel and rehydrate before, during and after every session
• Sleep - where the real repair work happens
• Lifestyle management - protect your downtime from outside commitments
• Personal life - manage the off-field stress that quietly affects performance
• Individual approach - there is no one-size-fits-all recovery plan
Education: Get Buy-In Before You Ask for Change
It’s no good for a coach to bark orders at an athlete or team about what to do post-match or post-training without explaining the reasoning behind it - and, most importantly, the benefits they’ll gain from following the recovery strategy. The athlete needs to fully buy into the programme, understanding the following:
• Why recovery matters - its role in optimising performance
• The different mechanics of stress and fatigue
• Buy-in to what happens away from the pitch and training ground - lifestyle management
• A variety of recovery strategies, since one size doesn’t fit all - let the athlete find what works for them
• Timing - when to build recovery strategies into a daily and weekly routine
Planning Your Recovery Strategy
Planning your recovery strategy is essential - but to do it well, you first need to understand the overall structure of the training and match programme. Once that’s mapped out, you can build the following into it:
• Nutrition and hydration
• Sleep patterns
• Post-match and training plan
• Lifestyle plan away from the pitch and training ground
• Mental plan
Nutrition and Hydration
It’s essential that your nutrition and hydration plan covers more than just competition day - it needs to reflect your general lifestyle and its demands. There’s no significant difference in the general caloric requirements of carbohydrates, fats and protein (macronutrients) between an athlete and the general population. However, based on training and competition demands, athletes need additional hydration to replace sweat loss and additional fuel to replace energy loss (calories). Replacing both post-match and post-training is critical to restoring the body’s normal balance.
How Much Water Do Athletes Need?
The minimum daily water requirement to keep your hydration tank topped up is:
• 3.7L for men
• 2.7L for women
Electrolyte Replacement in Hot or Humid Conditions
When competing or training, pay attention to both the weather and the match or training conditions. In more humid conditions, for example, there’s a greater demand for sodium (salt) in your drinks. Replacing electrolytes is vital in humid conditions; the recommended minimum is:
• 1.5g/day of sodium (salt)
• 4.7g/day of potassium (from foods such as bananas and leafy greens like spinach)
Checking Hydration Through Bodyweight
Weighing yourself before and after training or competition is an easy way to monitor hydration. A drop of 2% or more in bodyweight post-session means you’re dehydrated. Replace every 1kg lost with 1 litre of water. For example:
• Pre-training weight: 100kg
• Post-training weight: 97kg
• 3% drop in weight = dehydrated
• 3 litres of water required to restore hydration
Meal planning before, during and after training or competition takes real thought and detail.
Pre-Training and Pre-Match Nutrition
The guideline is to eat at least two hours before training or competing, with food and water broken down as follows:
• Half a litre of water
• Low-fat food choices
• Low-fibre food choices
• Moderate protein
• High carbohydrate - but low-glycaemic-index, so energy is released steadily rather than in a spike
Nutrition During Training or Competition
While competing or training, the main objective is to maintain hydration and energy levels to give yourself the best chance of optimal performance. The recommended guidelines are:
• Carbohydrate replacement of 30–60g per hour of elapsed time, medium-to-high on the glycaemic index so it’s absorbed into the bloodstream quickly
• Carbohydrate concentration in drinks of 4–8%
• Sodium intake depends on humidity and duration; on average, 0.5g per litre is recommended
• Drink as much fluid as you can tolerate to maintain hydration without triggering gastric distress
Post-Match Nutrition: The Glycaemic Window
This is the critical stage for maximising recovery. Your initial goal is to replace glycogen stores (carbohydrates) as soon as possible after competing or training - ideally within a 40-minute “glycaemic window.” The carbohydrate you eat should be high on the glycaemic index so it’s absorbed quickly, at a carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of 4:1. The general guideline is 1.5g of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight within that window. For example:
• 100kg athlete
• Needs 150g of high-glycaemic carbohydrate and 30g of protein post-exercise (a 4:1 ratio)
Research has shown that glycogen levels are significantly higher six hours post-exercise when carbohydrate is replenished within that 40-minute window, compared with waiting two hours to refuel.
Sleep: The Foundation of Recovery
During training and competition, your muscles, tendons and ligaments are stretched and torn. Ligaments, bones and cartilage withstand trauma and forces of up to eight times your bodyweight, while your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems supply a constant stream of fuel to your brain, muscles and organs. The result of all that stress and strain is tissue damage and breakdown - and the repair and rebuilding of that tissue happens primarily during sleep.
How Much Sleep Do Athletes Need?
Everyone needs an average of 7 to 10 hours of sleep a night. Sleep occurs in roughly 90-minute cycles, with deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurring toward the end of each cycle. Deep sleep is essential for building and repairing muscle, while REM is vital for restoring normal neural function. If a sleep cycle is disturbed before deep sleep and REM have occurred, the whole 90-minute process restarts - delaying recovery. Recommended sleep by age:
• Ages 1–10: at least 10 hours per night
• Ages 11–22: an average of 9.25 hours per night
• Ages 23+: an average of 8.25 hours per night
The most successful athletes in sport today follow a disciplined sleep routine.
Sleep Tips for Better Recovery
• Avoid naps longer than 2 hours - longer naps can disrupt your sleep pattern
• Only sleep when you’re actually sleepy
• Avoid heavy studying or computer/video games for at least an hour before bed
• Avoid training within 3 hours of bedtime
• Avoid sleeping with lights, a computer monitor, radio or TV on
• Keep your room quiet, cool and dark
• On weekends, sleep in if you need to - but no more than 2 to 3 hours later than usual
• Go to bed at the same time every day to build a routine
• Train yourself to associate your bed with sleep, not with other activities
• If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something boring until you feel drowsy
• Open the curtains or blinds as soon as you wake up to stimulate alertness
• Spend time in natural sunlight throughout the day
Lifestyle Management
The more successful you become as an individual or a team, the more pressure there is to do appearances, commercials, endorsements and other off-field commitments. That pressure can spiral and directly affect performance, leaving you with less and less downtime to recover. Managing your off-field commitments - and your time - is essential.
The more success you have, the more famous you become. Try to limit invitations to social events such as nightclubs, bars and red-carpet events - the temptation is always close by.
Personal Life and Its Impact on Recovery
Personal life is closely tied to lifestyle management, and it can affect your recovery from training and matches in ways many coaches don’t fully appreciate:
• Family breakdown, such as parental separation or divorce
• Relationship breakdown, separation or divorce
• Financial stress
• Financial excess linked to substance misuse - gambling, alcohol abuse or reckless spending. It’s been suggested that two in five footballers in the UK end up bankrupt
• The emotional pressure and stress of performing day in and day out
Individual Approach: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Every athlete’s physiology is different, so as a coach, offering a range of options to optimise recovery — and letting the athlete find what works for them — is vital. You only discover what works through trial and error, so make sure each mistake is only made once.
Summary: Leave No Stone Unturned
As you can see, optimising performance means maximising every facet of recovery. There’s a lot to consider, and the devil is in the detail. Addressing short-, mid- and long-term recovery goals is essential to making sure your performance is never held back.
Remember: you’ll spend far longer as a non-athlete than as an athlete. Once you retire, you want to be able to look in the mirror and ask yourself one question:
“Did I leave no stone unturned on my journey to success as an athlete?”
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water should my young athlete drink each day?
At minimum, 3.7 litres for men and 2.7 litres for women, with more required in hot or humid conditions to replace sweat loss.
How do I know if my child is dehydrated after training?
Weigh them before and after. A drop of 2% or more in bodyweight means they’re dehydrated — replace it at a rate of 1 litre of water for every 1kg lost.
What should my young athlete eat after training to recover faster?
Aim for a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein within the 40-minute “glycaemic window” after exercise — roughly 1.5g of high-glycaemic carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight.
How much sleep does my young athlete need?
On average, 7 to 10 hours a night. Younger athletes (ages 1–10) need at least 10 hours, those 11–22 need around 9.25 hours, and adults 23+ need around 8.25 hours.