Ah, the age-old tradition: grabbing a football on Thanksgiving morning and heading to an empty field with the family and friends.

What starts out as a friendly game of two-hand touch often ends up being a testosterone-filled bout of middle-aged men trying to prove they’ve still got it. Everyone goes a little too hard, and on Friday morning you wake up feeling like you can’t move.

Sound familiar?

Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. Here are three recovery tips to make sure you can make it through the rest of your holiday weekend.

• Foam rolling. You can find these just about anywhere, including your sporting goods stores, Wal-Mart and Target. Foam rolling lengthens the muscles and is great for treating sore and tight spots. Roll the muscles in your legs, including the quads, hamstrings and calf muscles. Roll the middle, outside and inside of each muscle, stopping on tight spots to alleviate the soreness.
• Stretching. The trick to stretching is to use your belt. Loop it around your foot and stretch your hamstring by laying on your back and bringing your leg up to the ceiling. You can also stretch your quad using your belt by laying on your stomach and bringing your foot toward you with the belt. Your heel should be resting on your backside. Do 10 reps on each leg, holding each rep for 10 seconds.
• Ice. If you come home with bumps, bruises, pulls, strains, other minor injuries or just general soreness, ice is your best friend – especially during the first 72 hours. Avoid using heat for the first three days and stick to the cold stuff. Ice on for 20 minutes, off for 60. Keep this going as consistently as possible. If you aren’t getting better after three to five days, go see a sports medicine-trained physician.

This is the Part 3 of a three-part series.

SEE ALSO: Monday’s Part 1 about preparing your body for exercise.

SEE ALSO: Gameday tips to help your body prepare for competition.