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Stretching

Lactic threshold

If you play three times a week within your lactic threshold, in other words, at the levels of exertion you are used to, you will not need to stretch much after playing. But, if you haven't played for a while, or you play harder or for longer than usual, you will exceed your lactic threshold and you may need to take action to reduce post match fatigue and stiffness.

Pre match stretching

Many people believe stretching before playing helps to prevent injury. While you can stretch when properly warmed up, stretching when cold strains muscle fibres, reducing muscle control and balance and actually increases the risk of injury. Warming up before you exert yourself is the most effective step you can take towards injury prevention. This is because muscles, tendons and ligaments stretch more when they are warm and are therefore less likely to tear or snap. For most squash players, a simple warm-up is all that is required. You can use an exercise bike or jog round the court, but the easiest way to warm up is to just start off hitting the ball gently in the knock up, then gradually build up before the match. This is a good approach because the movements are specific to squash, so the exact muscles you use when you play are prepared. For the warm-up to be effective, you should include the full range of movements that you will make while playing. Be sure to use the front of the court as well as the back. This will warm up your calves and hamstrings as well as honing your drop shots for the match.

Post match stretching

After you've played is the time to stretch carefully to flush out lactic acid that has built up in your muscles, especially if you will be playing again that day or the next day. It is recommended that you warm down after you have finished playing with a jog round the court or another five minutes on the exercise bike. If you aren't likely to do this, just make sure you don't get cold before stretching. If you are playing within your normal level of exertion, for the usual amount of time and playing three times a week ie. within your lactic threshold, you may be able to get away without stretching. If any of the above is not true, you should stretch if you want to avoid stiffness and fatigue the next day.

How to stretch

Stretch out each muscle group in turn. Stretch only to the point of tension and don't bounce. Avoid stretching too hard or you will strain the muscle and keep breathing. Hold the stretch until you feel a mild warm glow in the muscle and it no longer aches. This may happen after about 30-40 seconds, but can take 60 seconds or longer, depending on how much lactic acid has built up. When you release the stretch, blood will flush out of the muscle, taking most of the lactic acid with it.

Squash muscles

Stretching in this way can take quite a long time and unless you are especially diligent, or find the day after especially painful, it isn't long before you start to miss bits out of your routine. This happens, but however high your lactic tolerance, you will probably want to stretch the muscles which do the lion's share of the work in squash to reduce your fatigue and stiffness to bearable levels. These are the central deltoids (exterior upper arm) - mysteriously both arms seem to be affected - the Gluteus Maximus (aka your bum) but also the other Glutes (Minimus and Medius) which run up under your hip bone, the other main leg muscles (calves and quadriceps (thighs)). If you do nothing else, try and focus on these muscles - you will probably find you end up doing a couple of other stretches as well, once you get into it. Also bear in mind that you may not need to stretch every muscle, only the ones that have been taken beyond their lactic threshold and you do not need to stretch every muscle for the same length of time - if you are a right-handed squash player, the muscles on the right-hand side of the body are used more than on the left and will need stretching for longer.

Stretches

There are too many stretches to go into here, so if you don't already know them, I will leave you to glean information from your fitness instructor or the Internet. Alternatively, "The Anatomy of Stretching" by Brad Walker (ISBN 978-1-905367-03-0) covers just about every stretch you could possibly need for any sport.

Acclimatising to squash (or going for the ice bath)

The first game back after a long period away from the game is never going to feel good the next day (or the day after that!) It is far too easy to go straight back in and expect to play at the same intensity as you did before - it really is best to take a more gentle approach and acclimatise your body by starting with a few games and stopping even if you feel you can easily carry on. When you ignore this sound advice (as I always do), the best thing you can do is jump in a ice bath. This may sound drastic, but it is the most effective way to reduce the levels of lactic acid in muscles and is widely used by athletes. You should do this within about half an hour to an hour of finishing playing and sit in it for about 5 minutes until you feel a sensation of warmth. This is the blood moving to the surface of your body to keep your extremities from freezing. A secondary effect of this is that lactic acid is flushed out of the muscles before it can set as crystals. There is also believed to be some benefit from reducing inflammation. Whatever it is, the end result is well worth it (as long as you don't have to do it too often!)