For young athletes, training hard is only part of the equation.

What happens after training, games and tournaments can be just as important.

Recovery gives the body time to replenish energy, repair and adapt after exercise, while helping young athletes prepare for their next training session or game.

And for teenagers, recovery matters even more because their bodies aren't only dealing with sport. They're also growing, developing, going to school, studying and navigating busy lives.

The good news?

Sports recovery doesn't need to involve expensive equipment, complicated routines or the latest recovery trend.

For most young athletes, the foundations are surprisingly simple:

REHYDRATE. REFUEL. REBUILD. RESET. SLEEP.

We call it the DYVAL Recovery 5.

Here's what young athletes and their parents need to know.

Why is recovery important for young athletes?

A young athlete may finish a game feeling absolutely fine, but their body has still been working hard.

During exercise, the body uses stored carbohydrate for energy, loses fluid and electrolytes through sweat and places stress on muscles and other tissues.

Recovery is about giving the body what it needs afterwards.

Good recovery habits can help young athletes:

• replenish energy stores
• replace fluids lost through sweat
• provide nutrients needed for normal growth and muscle repair
• manage fatigue
• support healthy muscle function
• prepare for their next training session or game
• maintain their overall health and wellbeing

This becomes particularly important for teenagers who train or compete several times each week.

A footballer, for example, might have club training, academy sessions, school sport and weekend matches all within the same week.

When the next session is never far away, recovery shouldn't be an afterthought. It should be part of training.

The DYVAL recovery 5

1. REHYDRATE

Start replacing the fluid you've lost

One of the first things a young athlete should think about after sport is hydration.

When we exercise, we lose fluid through sweat. How much depends on factors including exercise intensity, duration, individual sweat rate and environmental conditions.

This can be particularly relevant for young athletes playing sport in hot Australian conditions.

After exercise, encourage young athletes to continue drinking rather than assuming hydration finishes when the game does.

Is water enough after sport?

Sometimes it is.

For shorter or less intense sessions, particularly in mild conditions, water alongside normal meals may be sufficient.

After longer, harder or particularly sweaty sessions, electrolytes can also play a role in replacing electrolytes lost through sweat.

The key is to look at the circumstances.

A light 45-minute training session on a cool evening is very different from playing multiple football matches during a summer tournament.

Recovery tip: Keep a drink bottle readily available after the final whistle. Rehydration is much easier when drinking is part of the post-game routine.

2. REFUEL

Put energy back into the body

Teenagers need energy simply to grow and function normally.

Add sport into the equation and those energy requirements can increase considerably.

Carbohydrates are an important fuel source during many sports, particularly higher-intensity activities such as football, rugby, basketball, netball and athletics.

After exercise, eating carbohydrate-containing foods helps replenish the body's carbohydrate stores.

Good post-sport carbohydrate options might include:

• rice
• pasta
• potatoes
• wraps
• bread
• oats
• cereal
• fruit
• yoghurt
• milk

This is one reason we don't believe young athletes should be frightened of carbohydrates.

For an active teenager, carbohydrates aren't something that automatically needs to be avoided. They can be an important part of fuelling and recovery.

3. REBUILD

Don't forget protein

Protein often gets most of the attention when people talk about sports nutrition.

And while young athletes don't need to become obsessed with protein, it does play an important role.

Protein provides amino acids that the body uses for the growth, maintenance and repair of body tissues.

After sport, combining protein with carbohydrates can make a practical recovery meal or snack.

For example:

Greek yoghurt + fruit + oats

Eggs + wholegrain toast

Chicken + rice

Beef + potatoes

Tuna + wrap

Milk-based smoothie + banana

Protein smoothie + fruit

For many families, the biggest challenge isn't understanding that teenagers need nutritious food.

It's timing.

Training might finish at 8pm. There's a drive home. Homework still needs doing. Everyone is tired.

That's why having quick recovery options available can be useful.

A proper meal is ideal when practical, but a convenient protein-containing snack or smoothie can be useful when there is going to be a delay before the next meal.

Do young athletes need to eat immediately after sport?

There isn't a magical minute when recovery suddenly stops working.

The bigger priority is making sure the athlete is eating enough nutritious food across the entire day.

However, when another training session or game is coming relatively soon, getting some carbohydrate, protein and fluids after exercise can be particularly useful.

We'll explore post-game nutrition and protein timing in much more detail in our young athlete nutrition guides.

4. RESET

What should you physically do after a game?

This is where sports recovery can become unnecessarily complicated.

Ice baths.

Massage guns.

Compression boots.

Foam rollers.

Recovery tights.

Supplements.

Professional athletes may have entire recovery teams available to them, but a young athlete doesn't necessarily need an elaborate recovery protocol.

Start with the basics.

After training or a game:

Cool down. Allow the body to gradually settle after intense activity.

Keep moving gently. A short walk or gentle movement can be a simple way to transition out of competition.

Change out of wet or sweaty clothing. Particularly after cold or wet games.

Eat and drink. Nutrition and hydration are fundamental parts of recovery.

Listen to the body. Normal post-exercise tiredness is different from persistent or significant pain.

What about stretching?

Stretching can be useful for flexibility and may simply feel good after exercise, but it shouldn't be viewed as a magic solution that prevents every injury or eliminates muscle soreness.

We'll cover stretching, mobility, foam rolling and other recovery techniques separately because this is an area where there is a lot of confusing information for young athletes and parents.

5. SLEEP

The recovery tool teenagers often overlook

You can buy all the recovery gadgets you want.

But one of the most important recovery tools is completely free.

Sleep.

Sleep plays an important role in physical recovery, learning, mood, cognitive function and general health.

For young athletes, that's particularly important.

They aren't professional athletes who can train in the morning and spend the afternoon recovering.

They're teenagers.

They have school.

Homework.

Friends.

Phones.

Gaming.

Social media.

Early morning starts.

And then training might not finish until late in the evening.

Australian health guidance recommends that teenagers aged 14-17 generally get 8-10 hours of sleep per night, while children aged 5-13 are recommended to get 9-11 hours.

For a young athlete training regularly, protecting sleep should therefore be treated as part of their sporting routine.

That might mean:

• creating a reasonably consistent bedtime
• reducing unnecessary late nights
• eating after evening training rather than skipping dinner
• allowing time to wind down after late sessions
• keeping phones and screens from pushing bedtime later and later
• planning backwards from the time they need to wake for school

You can have the perfect protein intake and the latest recovery equipment, but consistently getting inadequate sleep isn't a great recovery strategy.

What does a good post-game recovery routine look like?

It doesn't need to be complicated.

Imagine a teenage footballer has just finished a demanding match.

Their basic recovery routine might look something like this:

Immediately after the game

Start drinking fluids.

If it's been a particularly hot, long or sweaty session, consider whether replacing electrolytes is appropriate.

Within the next couple of hours

Have a meal or substantial snack containing both carbohydrates and protein.

For example:

Chicken and rice.

Beef burrito bowl.

Egg and chicken wrap.

Pasta with lean beef.

Smoothie with fruit and a protein source.

Greek yoghurt with fruit, oats and honey.

Later that day

Continue eating and drinking normally.

There's no need to turn recovery into an all-day obsession.

Before bed

Allow time to relax and prioritise a good night's sleep.

That's recovery.

Not particularly glamorous.

But the fundamentals matter.

What about tournament days?

Recovery becomes even more important when young athletes need to perform again within hours rather than days.

Football tournaments are a perfect example.

A player might finish one game at 10:30am and have another at 1pm.

That's very different from having an entire week before the next match.

Between games, priorities should include:

Fluids: Continue replacing fluid lost during the previous game.

Carbohydrates: Choose easily tolerated carbohydrate-containing foods to help replenish energy.

Some protein: Particularly when there's a longer break between games.

Rest: Find some shade, get off your feet and conserve energy where practical.

Avoid experimenting: Tournament day isn't the ideal time to suddenly try a completely new food, drink or supplement.

We'll be creating a separate DYVAL guide specifically covering what young athletes should eat and drink between games at tournaments.

What about the day after a game?

Not every athlete needs to spend the next day lying on the couch.

Gentle movement can often be incorporated into a recovery day.

Depending on the athlete, their training schedule and how they feel, this could include walking, easy cycling, swimming, light mobility or gentle ball work.

But young athletes also need genuine rest.

More training isn't automatically better training.

If a teenager is constantly moving between club football, academy training, school sport, private coaching and weekend matches, parents should look at the total workload, not each activity individually.

Persistent fatigue, declining performance, significant soreness, recurrent injuries or pain shouldn't simply be dismissed as part of being an athlete. Seek advice from an appropriately qualified health professional where there are concerns.

Recovery isn't about being soft

There's sometimes a mentality in sport that working harder always means doing more.

More training.

More running.

More gym.

Another session.

But serious athletes also learn when their bodies need recovery.

Hard work and recovery aren't opposites.

Recovery is what allows an athlete to come back ready to work hard again.

And that's particularly important for young athletes whose bodies are still growing and developing.

The DYVAL recovery 5

If your teenager remembers nothing else from this guide, remember these five words:

REHYDRATE

Replace the fluids lost during sport.

REFUEL

Eat carbohydrates to help replenish energy.

REBUILD

Include quality protein to support growth, maintenance and repair of body tissues.

RESET

Cool down, change, relax and give the body time to recover.

SLEEP

Give the body the rest it needs.

You don't need a complicated recovery programme.

You need good habits, repeated consistently.

Because at DYVAL, we believe young athletes should learn early that performance isn't only about what happens during the game.

It's how you prepare.

How you train.

How you fuel.

And how you recover.

HARD WORK. CONSISTENCY. NEVER GIVE UP.

Where we'll go next

Over the coming weeks, we'll be breaking down young athlete recovery in much more detail, including what teenage athletes should eat after sport, protein and young athletes, hydration and electrolytes, sleep and sports performance, stretching and mobility, sore muscles and recovery, rest days, tournament recovery, recovering between games and evening training and late-night recovery meals.

Our goal is simple: give young athletes and their parents practical, evidence-informed information they can actually use.