Are you training hard this winter and starting to see the benefits of those hours logged and sacrifices made?
Or are you starting to feel drained, sore, and unmotivated to continue?
Either way, a better recovery plan may be in order to maximize your results or get you back on track.
“I took a rest day last week” you tell me.
But what did that actually look like? Rest is not the same as recovery, and we must separate the two to get the most from both.
What is rest or a “rest day”?
Rest is simply absence of effort, movement, or exertion. This can be on the couch, in the sauna, napping, or sleeping. No matter how hard or easy we are training at a given time, rest is necessary for our bodies to continue functioning well.
Rest starts with getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night. This ensures our bodies are able to heal from the days activities and recharge for the next day. It’s critical to optimal performance for any athlete, and success at life in general.
A “rest day” for some athletes may also include a full day spent away from the gym or any activity that requires them to exert themselves. This is needed at times during a strenuous training regimen to fully recharge.
However, rest is only one part of true recovery.
Is recovery when I’m not sore anymore?
In the sports and fitness world, trainers build exercise programs around training periods and recovery periods in a cyclical pattern.
The recovery period is complete when your body can meet or exceed it’s previous performance in a particular activity.
The recovery process is the restorative steps taken to regain this state of normal health, balance, and vitality that performance requires. In fact, every time your body successfully bounces back with an appropriate level of recovery you establish a new “ceiling” of performance capabilities.
That’s what we want from our training, right?
We actually aren’t improving our fitness during our training sessions. We are making improvements in our bodies when we are recovering from that training. After each stressful workout we must repair damaged tissues, replenishing nutrient stores and remove waste products.
We can’t just “rest” and expect our bodies to fix themselves. That’s really just waiting around for the soreness and pain to set in.
Recovery refers to the techniques and actions taken to maximize your body’s ability to repair.
Recovery techniques can include:
- Hydration
- Nutrition
- Myofascial release or foam rolling
- Stretching
- Massage
- Stress management
- Manual Therapy
- Dry Needling
- Modalities (heat, ice, compression)
The goal of each recovery technique is to relieve soreness, improve flexibility, and optimize movement patterns so you can train more often and at a better quality.
How much recovery do I need?
We all know that if we want to perform our best we must train hard and push ourselves to our limit. The key is to learn that limit for our individual bodies. At that “limit” we must reserve time and mental space to nurture our bodies and allow recovery.
For most people, one day a week (or even every other) is all that is needed for an actual “rest day”. This is dependent on your commitment to getting adequate rest each night to allow repairs to take place.
Several other days during the week you need to fit self care and recovery into your schedule. That includes both post workout recovery techniques and recovery days when you move your body but keep activity less stressful.
How does recovery aid our training?
With recovery we are able to increase our performance, decrease future recovery time, and lower our risk of injury. It’s what we are all aiming for! Unfortunately, many of us miss the mark because we don’t want to dedicate the time to these little things that can matter the most.
Don’t ignore the cries of your body for rest and recovery until it becomes too late. At that point you will be forced to take unnecessary time off due to injury or burnout.
Our goal at Peak Potential Physiotherapy & Wellness is to guide you in recovery while you continue to train. We have both recovery and performance packages that can incorporate manual therapy, dry needling, and Astym to maximize results.
Inquire today about these game changing programs on our website. . . .
