STRESS AND RECOVERY IN KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUEERKKA WESTERLUND

PURPOSE OF STUDY Get more information from the

recovery of the players during the playing season.

Find out the individual differences of the stress and recovery of the players, when the program is the same for all.

KHL The biggest difference of the KHL compared to

national leagues is travelling and the long distances between cities.

The team plays every second day and travels after the game to the next city by a plane.

Usually one road trip includes three or four games in a row.

Jokerit is travelling inside 4 hours time zone. Normally after the visiting games the team has

three or four home games. On all road trips the team lived all the time in

Finnish time zone.

SUBJECTS Jokerit Helsinki

31 players 12 measurement periods – 78

measurements  Average Maximum MiniumAge (years) 29,32 36,0 20,0

Height (cm) 185,42 191,0 179,0

Body mass (kg) 91,24 kg 97,5 82,0

Fat (%) 12,94 14,8 9,9

VO₂max (ml/kg/min) 53,86 63,2 48,2

Firstbeat Bodyguard 2 Beat-to-beat heart rate monitoring device

Firstbeat SPORT and Firstbeat Life Assessment methods. Computer programs - Analyses beat-by-beat heart rate

and heart rate variability. Analyses physiological variables describing stress and

recovery.

FIRSTBEAT

PROCEDUREPre-season:

14.8-18.8 (Home) – 9 players Practice-game-game-rest

19.8-23.8 (Home) – 10 playersGame-practice-game-practice

26.8-30.8 (Away) – 9 PlayersPractice- travel- practice- game –game- travel- rest

Regular season (Away):

12.9-16.9 (Away) Trip 1: First measument – 4 PlayersPractice- game- travel –practice-game-travel

16.9-20.9 (Away) Trip 1: Second measurement – 5 PlayersPractice- game- travel –practice-game-travel

10.10-13.10 (Away) Trip 2 – 7 PlayersGame- travel– practice- game- travel- rest

26.10-29.10 (Away) Trip 3: First measurement – 8 PlayersTravel- game- practice- game

31.10-2.11 (Away) Trip 3: Second measurement– 6 PlayersGame- travel- practice- game

Regular season (Home):

17.11-19.11 (Home ) – 8 PlayersRest- practice- practice

30.11-2.12 (Home) – 4 PlayersGame- game- practice

11.12-13.12 (Away) Trip 4 – 4 PlayersGame- travel- practice- game- travel

RESULTS Recovery starts average 7 hours 42

minutes after the game Average recovery duration during the

night is 5 hours 33 minutes

The away game SKA-Jokerit was played on Friday 10.10. The game ended at 21.00 and the recovery was measured by seven players. After the game the team arrived to the next city, Bratislava in Slovakia on Saturday at 02.35.

An average time when the players started to recover after the game, was 10 hours 30 minutes. The duration of the night recovery was on average 4 hours.

The upper curve shows the good night recovery of the Player 6 and lower curve the poor recovery of the Player 29 after the away game.

AWAY GAME 1

On the next day the team practiced at 17.00 in Bratislava. The duration of night recovery after practice day was on

average 5 hours 55 minutes.

The upper curve shows the good night recovery of the Player 6 and lower curve the poor recovery of the Player 29 after the away game.

PRACTICE

HOME GAME 1 The home game Jokerit–Amur was played on Sunday 30.11. at

16.00. The recovery was measured by four players. After the game an average time when the players started to recover,

was 8 hours. The duration of the night recovery was on average 4 hours 35 minutes

The morning skate for the game of next day started at 11.00 a clock.

The upper curve shows the good night recovery of the Player 6 and lower curve the poor recovery of the Player 29 after the away game.

BODY RESOURCES Recovering during the day and night estimates whether

the body’s resources have accumulated or been consumed during the measured period.

The nights before the games are 26. and 28.10 The nights after the games are 27. and 29.10

Player during the same measurement period

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Importance of recovery in athletic life

The night recovery after the games The athletic programming of the

team Big individual recovering

differences in a team Key for better recovering – Follow

up

IMPORTANCE OF RECOVERY IN ATHLETIC

LIFE There are lot of research and information

about physical stress in different exercises and competition situations.

In addition to high training and playing load, also recovery plays an important role in athletic life.

It is not anymore enough to practice and compete well, it is more and more important, how athletes spend the time between physical activities.

A player has to be an athlete 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week.

THE NIGHT RECOVERY AFTER THE GAMES

Most critical situations for recovery are the nights after games.

Jokerit utilized this information during the season by changing totally programming between the games.

More time to recover

THE ATHLETIC PROGRAMMING OF THE

TEAM How to optimize playing and recovery

for all team players?Individual differences Finding a balance between playing

load and recovery is a key factor to maintain good athletic performance.

Returning from the road trip back to home. Human side of the life – Away and Home

games.

BIG INDIVIDUAL RECOVERING

DIFFERENCES IN A TEAM Night recovery after the game

Recovery delaysDuration is short

6 players from total 30 players had big problems to recover.

8-10 players, who recovered well after the games.

Individual coachingThe continuing desire to improve yourself is

one of the most important values in professional sport.

FOLLOW UP - KEY FOR BETTER RECOVERING

Regular recovery assessment is a key factor in successful athletic programming.

Firstbeat is an easy-to-use method to assess the recovery of an athlete or a team.

Night time heartbeat recording does not disturb sleep significantly or at all.