How the Brisbane Roar Stay Game-Ready with Rygg Heate™ & Rygg Khule™

This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Steve Andrews, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Founder of Rygg.

In professional football, recovery has become a performance metric in its own right. For the Brisbane Roar, three-time A-League Champions, two-time Premiers, and holders of the longest unbeaten run in Australian top-flight football history, partnering with Rygg has meant integrating Rygg Heate™ Thermo Performance Cream and Rygg Khule™ Cryo Active Gel into the weekly rhythm of training, matchday, and post-match routines at Suncorp Stadium and the club’s Logan Centre of Excellence.

Dr Steve Andrews, Orthopaedic Surgeon & Founder of Rygg:

“Football is a sport of repeat efforts. A player will accelerate, decelerate, jump, and change direction hundreds of times across ninety minutes. The teams that manage that load well are the ones still standing at the business end of the season.”

Scientific literature highlights football as one of the most physically complex team sports:

• Elite players cover 10–13 km per match, with 8–12% of that distance at high intensity and 150–250 brief sprints across a game (Bangsbo, Mohr & Krustrup, 2006).
• Repeated acceleration, deceleration, and rapid changes of direction place heavy eccentric load on the hamstrings, quadriceps, and adductors (Mohr, Krustrup & Bangsbo, 2003).
• Neuromuscular fatigue and muscle damage remain measurable up to 72 hours post-match, particularly when fixtures fall within a five-day window (Bengtsson et al., 2018).
• Aerobic demand averages around 85% of maximal heart rate, with peaks approaching 98% during decisive phases of play (Bangsbo, 2014).

Together, these factors create cumulative load on the lower body. This is a load the Roar manage through structured warm-up, cool-down, and between-match recovery protocols built around Rygg products.

Heat applied before exercise is one of the oldest tools in sports medicine. Modern research continues to explore how pre-activity warming influences tissue readiness and neuromuscular preparation (Petrofsky et al., 2013).

Rygg Heate™ Thermo Performance Cream is formulated to improve muscle performance, endurance, and stamina, and to help reduce mild joint aches and pains. It is delivered through a controlled warming sensation designed to sit naturally inside a pre-training and pre-match routine.

Benefits for players

• Formulated to improve muscle performance, endurance, and stamina.
• Helps reduce mild joint aches and pains.
• Informed Sport Certified for certainty and peace of mind.
• Delivers a controlled warming sensation as part of the pre-sport ritual.

Typical use of Rygg Heate™

• Hamstrings, adductors, and glutes before sprint drills and match warm-up.
• Quads and calves prior to small-sided games and interval work.
• Lumbar region before heading drills and set-piece work.

Dr Andrews:

“A footballer’s warm-up has to prepare the whole posterior chain (including their hamstrings, glutes, calves) because that’s where a lot of in-game soft tissue problems start. Heate is built for exactly that kind of preparation.”

Cold applied after exertion is a well-studied recovery modality, with peer-reviewed research examining its role in post-exercise recovery protocols (Bleakley & Davison, 2010; Dupuy et al., 2018).

Rygg Khule™ Cryo Active Gel is formulated to aid post-exercise recovery, help reduce mild joint inflammation and swelling, and help reduce symptoms of muscle sprain and strain. It is delivered in a fast-absorbing, non-greasy cooling gel that travels with the squad wherever the fixture list takes them.

Why athletes use it

• Aids post-exercise recovery.
• Helps reduce mild joint inflammation and swelling.
• Helps reduce symptoms of muscle sprain and strain.
• Informed Sport Certified for certainty and peace of mind.
• Delivers an immediate cooling sensation as part of the post-sport ritual.

Application zones

• Quads, hamstrings, and calves after sprint loads and match play.
• Adductors following change-of-direction sessions.
• Lower back after extended travel and weight-room sessions.
• Shins and feet after extended minutes on hard pitches.

Dr Andrews:

“Cooling helps signal to the body that the workload is done. It’s the full stop at the end of a sentence, and in a season that runs thirty-plus matches, those full stops matter.”

Clean sport is non-negotiable in the A-League, which operates under Sport Integrity Australia and the World Anti-Doping Code. Every batch of Rygg Heate™ and Rygg Khule™ undergoes independent screening by Informed Sport, verifying freedom from WADA-prohibited substances.

Why it matters

• Meets WADA and Sport Integrity Australia testing standards.
• Allows performance and medical staff to validate batch codes for compliance.
• Builds confidence among international signings moving between leagues and national teams.

Dr Andrews:

“Players should never have to second-guess what’s on their skin. Informed Sport means our athletes, and their clubs, can use Rygg with absolute certainty.”

Unlike cosmetic balms, Rygg formulations were designed from a sports-medicine perspective, balancing efficacy with regulatory and locker-room practicality.

Dr Andrews:

“I built Rygg to be useful on the sideline, not just on the shelf. Every ingredient had to earn its place clinically and commercially.”

This dual focus of science and simplicity makes Rygg a natural fit not just for the Roar, but for physiotherapists and performance coaches across Australian football.

• Rygg Heate™ Thermo Performance Cream: formulated to improve muscle performance, endurance, and stamina, and help reduce mild joint aches and pains.
• Rygg Khule™ Cryo Active Gel: aids post-exercise recovery, helps reduce mild joint inflammation and swelling, and helps reduce symptoms of muscle sprain and strain.
• Informed Sport Certified: tested, trusted, compliant with WADA and Sport Integrity Australia.
• Scientifically grounded: pre-performance heat and post-performance cold therapy backed by peer-reviewed research.
• Adopted by elite teams across football, baseball, rugby, and motorsport.

Dr Andrews:

“Recovery isn’t just what happens after the game. It’s what allows the next one to happen.”

1. Petrofsky JS et al. (2013). Comparison of heat modalities on muscle flexibility and skin temperature. J Med Eng Technol, 37(4): 357-362.
2. Bleakley CM & Davison GW. (2010). What is the biochemical and physiological rationale for using cryotherapy in sports injury management? Br J Sports Med, 44(3): 179-187.
3. Dupuy O et al. (2018). An evidence-based approach for choosing post-exercise recovery techniques. Front Physiol, 9: 403.
4. Nédélec M et al. (2013). Recovery in team sport: physiological, psychological, and performance effects. Sports Med, 43(1): 9-25.
5. Seroyer ST et al. (2010). The kinetic chain in overhead throwing: its potential role for performance enhancement and injury prevention. Sports Health, 2(2): 135-146.
6. Fullagar HH et al. (2015). Travel fatigue and sleep in professional athletes. Sports Med, 45(3): 367-381.
   
   This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Steve Andrews, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Founder of Rygg Health & Performance - Rygg - Surgeon-formulated. Informed Sport certified. More than movement.