When It’s Cold Outside…Don’t Forget To Warm Up!

Bury was frozen, and I was the only thing moving on an early Monday morning a few years back. What I learnt very early growing up as a goalkeeper was that in freezing cold conditions, the less you move…the more you are going to hurt after your training session. It is pivotal to keep moving before, during and after your goalkeeper training in winter conditions and I received a very cool question from one of our readers, so here it goes:

The reason I’m writing you is that last night I had a game and today I’m a sore as hell. This surprises me because I don’t usually get sore, I’ve been playing keeper for three or four years now and I’ve yet to be this sore after a game. It was cold last night, and it was a late game. But this was a sore like I hurt myself, but in multiple places (knees, elbows, hip). It’s nothing that is going to keep me out of the playoff next week, but I’m wondering if you know of any tips to prevent joint soreness?

John’s a 23 year old goalkeeper, and was never enlightened to some pretty simple rules of thumb when it came to training n wintry conditions. Here are 5 killer tips we could all utilize to kick pain in the pants:

1. Cold…did you warm up? Usually in colder conditions you should warm-up for at least 20 minutes (sometimes more) before you even start the game. You should also warm down  actively after the game…don’t just stop immediately. Active recovery will help prevent muscle and joint soreness. Also, get a good hot shower and rug up quickly after the game and warm down.

2. Late Game…did you load your carbohydrates right before the game and during the week? If you are playing late in the evening, you might be able to put in an extra (small) amount of complex carbohydrates to help fuel your performance and prevent fatigue. Did you consume some simple carbohydrates immediately after?  You should, as it refuels muscle glycogen in the working muscle, preventing fatigue.

3. Preventing joint soreness? I don’t know how old you are John, but I am 28 and usually about my age is a great time to start stocking up on glucosamine and fish oil tablets to help prevent joint soreness, swelling, and help rebuild damaged cartilage…it has helped me to no avail during my knee rehabilitation. Just a suggestion though.

4. How about some remedial therapy. Go for a massage session to help alleviate all the aches and pains after your game. My Mrs. is a massage therapist so I’m lucky!

5. Pain killers? All of the above are natural ways to alleviate the pain and enhance performance. In London I used to train twice a day mostly for strength and power, and I would utilize aspirin to help manage the pain…cause there was tonnes of it. Again, just a suggestion.

Hopefully the above points will give you an overview on how to better manage the bite of winter before, during and after your goalkeeper training session.