Time off and healing the body

46n2

46n2

SILVER ELITE
Since its break time for some.
How much time off is good time off?
  • Does No Time Off do damage.....
  • Does a week off give the body the time it needs to recharge and heal?
  • Does 2 weeks off do more bad than good?
  • By 3 weeks off does your kid forget how to spell soccer?
We stay active or like I like to say "Warm at all times" but these little break IMO are good for the soul and body, but how long is too long.

Im not talking Ulittles too.....we all see your headband wearing , man bun having 7 year olds, ahhh he so cute, thanks mommie!!

I feel like my older benefits from about a solid week off , just curious as to what others think...
 
For the first time we gave a month off (June) for our 2001. It was needed as we had so many injuries that wouldn’t heal. I think as they get older they need more time. A week is not enough.

A little longer creates the excitement to play again when they return and heals them up. Touches and such were fine on return. Conditioning not so much.
 
yes a month off does wonders , but the cardio aspect of it does play a major factor. Saw this when my older was dealing with a knee issue years back, my younger bounces back quickly though.
I feel like if your off a month its X1.5 to make it back to normal speed again.
 
46n2 said:
Since its break time for some.
How much time off is good time off?
  • Does No Time Off do damage.....
  • Does a week off give the body the time it needs to recharge and heal?
  • Does 2 weeks off do more bad than good?
  • By 3 weeks off does your kid forget how to spell soccer?
We stay active or like I like to say "Warm at all times" but these little break IMO are good for the soul and body, but how long is too long.

Im not talking Ulittles too.....we all see your headband wearing , man bun having 7 year olds, ahhh he so cute, thanks mommie!!

I feel like my older benefits from about a solid week off , just curious as to what others think...
Click to expand...

I have noticed that after a couple of weeks of lying on the couch watching WC games several hours a day that my back doesn't hurt so much.
 
at all ages I think time off is good. recharge and get back to wanting to play soccer. At olders it can be a grind at times. My son does fitness and still trains with his position coach and plays fortnight with his teammates but not everyday. He will get back into late July as there is no Surf for us this year.
 
espola said:
I have noticed that after a couple of weeks of lying on the couch watching WC games several hours a day that my back doesn't hurt so much.
Click to expand...
You beat me to it. I was going to say that after about a month off, it takes me a while to get back into the groove of finding that good spot of turf on the sidelines where my sportbrella create maximum shade without getting blown over by the wind.

But joking aside, a week is not enough time off. I think a month for teenage athletes is very good if you mix in some low impact cardio (swimming laps or cycling/stationary bike) and yoga. Ideally for our kid, it's one week off all activity. Really lets those joints and muscles recharge. Then resume some light workouts, gradually ramping up so that when she returns to practice it's not too jarring. The only soccer is watching it on TV and maybe juggling if she wants to. The swimming and yoga is very rejuvenating but keeps her fitness from dropping off entirely. I don't push it. I just suggest it. I let her dictate how much activity and when. Explosiveness and quickness partly depends on the elasticity of your ligaments and tendons. Rest and recovery is essential to preserve it. Also, breaks from any activity have shown to be beneficial to the brain once that activity is resumed. Kids need at least a month off every 5 months, in my opinion.
 
espola said:
I have noticed that after a couple of weeks of lying on the couch watching WC games several hours a day that my back doesn't hurt so much.
Click to expand...
I hear ya!!
vegasguy said:
at all ages I think time off is good. recharge and get back to wanting to play soccer. At olders it can be a grind at times. My son does fitness and still trains with his position coach and plays fortnight with his teammates but not everyday. He will get back into late July as there is no Surf for us this year.
Click to expand...
Fortnite!! Ive heard... theres a balance with us with Youtube...my kids breathe youtube videos....

My older , shes technical and has finesse , so Im not worried about touch, its just the mental , intensity aspect of the game (cardio too) Im taking about...
 
Depends on how much / long you have been training and playing and of course age is a factor but yes kids needs breaks from " year" round youth sports

I've seen doctors recommend kids taking 3 months off each year from year round sports

After one season of 11 tournaments and ~ 100+ games our daughter took off like 75 days and came back focused and stronger than ever.

Without taking any time off from high level activities, the body will eventually begin to wear down faster than it can repair itself.

When you train and play too much injuries tend to happen more than they should; tendonitis, muscle tears, ligaments stress, stretch, etc

My son developed an overuse injury where he would have consistent pain in the same area & soreness that won't go away. His body was growing and had to learn new or approved stretching and conditioning techniques.

Going trough physical therapy and recovering from hamstring, quads, heel, ankle, knee injuries and other problems I could tell you my kids overplayed, over-trained, and didn't take enough time off before we knew better.

There is no one side fits all but for High School age kids I would say 3 weeks off is good for them. We had a PT tell us to get back to peak performance my son needed to get rid of all "Fatigue" and that takes at least two weeks off and he recommend we consider that every 3 months as needed to shed the Fatigue.
 
There is time off and there is time off.

Time off from competing in games and from playing at 100% is needed. Bumps, bruises, sore feet, legs, etc need time to heal.
But light workouts can still be done. Easy jog. Light work with a ball. Stay active. So when you get back to full blow practice and games, you aren't 10 steps behind in fitness and touch on the ball.

Laying on the couch and walking around the mall for 4 weeks isn't the worst thing on earth. But expect to see your player need about a month to get back to where they were.
 
Youknowthat & Timbuck, great points....
Sometime as a parent I push and demand more than whats needed from both of my Futbal players.....:)
Soccer is so physically demanding , that maybe more than a week off is needed......
Personally I was just afraid that they'd lose that edge, sharpness of being off longer than a few weeks......
Im just being selfish, I know....
 
46n2 said:
Youknowthat & Timbuck, great points....
Sometime as a parent I push and demand more than whats needed from both of my Futbal players.....:)
Soccer is so physically demanding , that maybe more than a week off is needed......
Personally I was just afraid that they'd lose that edge, sharpness of being off longer than a few weeks......
Im just being selfish, I know....
Click to expand...

Yeah when the kids kids where younger they looked like they could play all day and did for the most part but once they reached mid school at some point I started to notice Fatigue more often.

One of the PT's told us you need to take a break long enough to get rid of all signs of fatigue because everybody need a recharge point. If you go too long yes current level of fitness can suffer but my kids are pretty active outdoors; biking, swimming, surfing, playing volleyball at the beach etc and when they came/come back fitness is not really off that much if at all. The soccer touch and sharpness returns after resuming training & playing quicker than I originally thought at least with my kids it has.
 
Not quite soccer related. But a good listen on the best way to train for the long term. Keep in mind- this guy is talking about MMA fighters who are building up to try and peak for a few fights per year. Not a game every weekend for 40 weeks (which is a really bad idea, but something that we all have our kids do).

The premise- You are better off training consistently at a level of 7 (out of 10) for more days per week than you are going at 10 for only 2 days per week. At the end of the year - someone who trains moderately at a "7" for 5 days (average of 60 minutes per) per week for 48 weeks will put in 14,400 minutes. Whereas the person who hammers it at a "10" but only 2x per week will have put in 5,760 minutes.
And if you are training at a "10" more than 2x per week, you really aren't training at a 10. Because the body isn't capable of that much of a load.
 
With the DA we have a three week break but the girls do have weekly fitness assignments centered around staying fit that they need to do 2-3 times per week. Still there is really not much of a break this year since my dd will use this time to visit several colleges (and attend a few camps) to help her make a final decision on where to attend.
 
My player has been off since the end of January due to a minor surgery. She just got back to managed training. She missed not being able to participate in the spring but she says her touch is still there and her body feels as rested as ever. After 2200 minutes and 25 games in 3 1/2 months playing on a less than 100% knee she is fully recharged and motivated to get back to the College Cup.

Rest is very, very good for athletes of all ages...
 
A week completely off won’t hurt. It will help.
2 weeks of complete rest is probably not a great idea. Light work outs.
3 weeks completely doing nothing - will take 4 weeks to get it back.
 
46n2 said:
Since its break time for some.
How much time off is good time off?
  • Does No Time Off do damage.....
  • Does a week off give the body the time it needs to recharge and heal?
  • Does 2 weeks off do more bad than good?
  • By 3 weeks off does your kid forget how to spell soccer?
We stay active or like I like to say "Warm at all times" but these little break IMO are good for the soul and body, but how long is too long.

Im not talking Ulittles too.....we all see your headband wearing , man bun having 7 year olds, ahhh he so cute, thanks mommie!!

I feel like my older benefits from about a solid week off , just curious as to what others think...
Click to expand...
My DD is out of club soccer since last year. After 2 weeks back into HS season she was back into her old self after 5-6 months without playing competitive soccer. At a certain point in their skills, vision and IQ remains the same regardless whether they play or not. It might take a game or 2 to get into get match fitness or caught to the speed of the game.
 
I was asking myself the same question. When my dd has a break I let her keep doing saq and privates. Saq is 2x1hr each and privates is 1x1hr each per week. She get’s bored easily and want’s to keep at it but sometimes i wonder if i should make her take time off from everything.
 
Our kid has taken 3 weeks off each summer and is better for it. Mentally, physically, etc. And 3 weeks off at Christmas. DA breaks help with this but it mirrors what we did before DA.

I don’t agree at all that it then takes a month to come back. That’s crazy. Our kid is no unicorn and 3 weeks off is fine. They need the break! Their bodies need it. Their minds need it.

We saw this first hand when our kid was ulittle. One of the parents of a kid on the team was a pro coach and insisted his kid take a break over the summer. No practices no tournaments for a month (much to the horror of all of us parents who “know better.) And the dads wife was a D1 athlete as well. Their kid came back better than before! Didn’t miss a beat. They said the kid needs a break and they wanted their kids to love the sport at 18/19/20. By grinding them into the ground now the chances of that goes down. Kids need a break. Teens need a break. Pros need a break. They said parents push their kids out of fear that their kids will fall behind and that’s the worst motivation ever. Wise words that we’ve taken to heart and seen no ill effects, only positive ones.
 
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