Recovery has become a bit of a buzz word over the past few years.

Teams and physios are always looking for the best methods to help sport stars recover from their gruelling training sessions as quickly as possible.

Rugby teams and other sports stars use massage, stretching sessions, relaxation therapy, steam baths, yoga and swimming to help their players overcome stiffness.


Tennis player Lee Childs feels the cold pain of the ice bath

But the recovery method which has become the choice (and curse) of the players is the ice bath.

You may ask why Jonny Wilkinson bothers jumping into an ice bath after a match when all he wants to do is rest with a few cool drinks and a massage.

The reason lies behind what the cold, icy water does for a sportsman after a hard day at the office.

To understand how the ice baths work though, we first need to understand what recovery is all about.

In simple terms, it's about helping the muscles, tendons, bones, nerves and all the different tissues used in sport recover from their workout.

Just like Michael Schumacher's car needs a complete overhaul with new parts and tyres after a Formula One race, the body needs to service itself and its parts for the next day, next race or next match.

You're body is pretty battered and bruised after a heavy game - it's the best way to recover from the aches and pains

Jonah Lomu on ice baths

The body does this with the help of the blood vessels that bring oxygen to the tissues and remove the waste products of exercise, the most common being lactic acid.

Too much lactic acid build up can cause the muscles to function poorly and over a long period of time feelings of fatigue, heavy legs and general tiredness can set in.

So how do ice baths help to boost the body's recovery processes and prevent injury?

When you get into an ice bath for five to 10 minutes, the icy cold water causes your blood vessels to tighten and drains the blood out of your legs. After 10 minutes your legs feel cold and numb.

So when Wilko gets out of the bath, his legs fill up with 'new' blood that invigorates his muscles with oxygen to help the cells function better.

At the same time, the more blood coming into Jonny's legs will have to leave as well, draining away and at the same time taking with it the lactic acid that has built up from his match.

Most of the players at major tournaments will be taking ice baths regularly after training sessions to help their muscles stay fresh and avoid injury.

The website catches up with Matty Quinn first team captain after a busy pre - season and asks him a few questions



How's the move been from New Bradwell ST Peter to Ampthill Town ?

The move has been very smooth and in all honesty it has been a breath of fresh air to come to a club that is so well run and has such a good set up. Things were definitely stale at Bradwell and the players and management had done all they could down there.

How's Pre season gone?

Pre season has been good and there has been some very good training sessions. Ampthill certainly has enough hills around to run up and down. Personally, I was gutted to have split my head open within 10 minutes of our first friendly against Newport Pagnell Town. However it was good to get back from hospital just in time to see us turn around a one nil deficit to win the game in the last 5 minutes. It has been hard for me being fit enough to play in the pre season friendlies but having to watch from the sidelines because of my head. I thought the lads had a very good 45 against Hitchin and showed what we are capable of doing but the rest of the games have been a bit inconsistent. We do not seem far off though. Fitness levels are good, just some fine tuning required. Was glad to get 90 minutes under my belt in Saturday, even managed to notch with a cheeky left foot lob.

What's Ampthills goals for this season?

We should realistically be looking for a top 4 finish this year. With the strength of the squad, considering the majority of it has finished 4th in the league for the past two years, and with the new additions then this is certainly possible.

What are your own personal goals?

Even at my age I get excited about a new season starting. I can only be thankful that I am still fit enough to play and that managers still require my services. People say it's because of my long throw that I get in but I like to think it's my attitude towards the game that they like (not to mention my impeccable ball skills, confidence in possession and X rated tackling!).

Whats the mood in the camp with the new season just around the corner?

I think the players are very happy about way things are being run down Ampthill. The club, although only currently playing in SML Div 1, is being run very professionally and the introduction of ice baths, diet information etc etc are all things that will contribute to us having a succesful season. The players seem keen to get started now and now how important it is to get off to a good start. A win against Winslow is massive and then we go back to Bradwell. That should be interesting!

We will try and catch up with Matty every week.We will also get the thoughts of the new manager Steve Goodridge.

CAPTAIN'S THOUGHTS

What was the feeling of the team before the Winslow game?

I think I can speak for most of the players and say that most of us were certainly nervous about the game. I think we were excited to get the season started after a busy pre-season but apprehensive about putting in a good team performance in front of the Ampthill faithful.


You came out 3-1 winners, it must be great to get off to a winning start?

A winning start was very important for us especially if we are to achieve anything this year. We must keep in touch with the early pace setters and get up the right end of the table.


It looked like our fitness level was far superior to Winslow’s, do you agree?

The game was played at a very high tempo and I was surprised at how quickly Winslow started. Some first games of the season can be quite lethargic but this was all action, huffing and puffing, blood and sweat. We are a better team playing like this and we need to get this in to all our games whether the opposition are good or poor.


What was the mood after the game?

The changing room was great after the game and all the lads were buzzing having won the game and getting those first 3 points under our belts. I was well chuffed for Stu who scored a fantastic hatrick after not having scored in pre-season. In fact we were still talking about it at 12.30am in the Indian in Stony High Street.

With a big game coming up against your old side New Bradwell St Peter on
Tuesday, how do you see the game going?

This is going to be an interesting one. I am looking forward to going back, especially as it is so close to where I live. They lost 2-1 to Harpenden at the weekend and they will not want to lose this one especially with the management and majority of the players coming back to face them. I believe they have a new squad of players, mainly made up of ex Old Bradwell players but have strengthened it with players who have stayed with the club from last year. I am sure these players will be extremely keen to get one over on us, but I am sure we can put in a performance good enough to come away with all 3 points.

The website catches up with captain matty quinn after a good start to the season.


was you dissapointed with a draw against New Bradwell ST Peter in midweek?

I think we were certainly less happy than them when the final whistle went. I think the fact that their goal-keeper, sweeper and left back picked up the Bradwell Man of the Match awards sums it up really. They certainly had their chances to score and Gibby dealt quite comfortably with what they could offer but we missed some very good chances, especially Andy Bailey's and their keeper made some great stops. It was always going to be tight and I hope that their performance level wasn't a one off against us. If they continue to play like that they could do quite well this year.



Great result on saturday what did you think to the teams performance?

It was an excellent team performance on Saturday and once again it is great to see Stu getting another hatrick. We were fast out the blocks and started the game at a very high tempo, Arlesey were not ready for this and were 3 nil down before they knew what had hit them. Every player contributed to this result and we need to maintain this level of performance to keep us at the right end of the table.



Thats 3 good results now and with some hard games coming up against Buckingham and Stony Stratford do you see us dropping any points?

As with Bradwell game on Tuesday these are both local derbies for us even though we are not quite so close now. We have history against both these sides and both teams have been our main rivals in the past two seasons when we were with Bradwell. For this reason both games are going to be very tight and getting a full 6 points is going to mean all the lads really pulling together and showing the fighting spirit that is required to come through these type of matches. Let's hope we can do it.



whats the feeling whithin the team after the 3wins?

The feeling within the team is very positive. The players can see things happening behind the scenes and this is being carried through to the performances on the pitch. I would like to thank Colin for giving us such an excellent playing surface to show our stuff on.



Another big crowd saturday against Arlesey that must be a good feeling with the locals are backing the new manager and team?

It was great to see that we had 75 people watching last weekand a similar crowd this week, the highest
attendance in the league both times. Lets get over 100 for our next home match and then build from there.

Hopefully a successful side in Ampthill will give the locals something to get excited about and they will be happy to come and watch us play.

We will certainly try and entertain!