AW collaboration
The term recovery is very broad in sports and in exercise and fitness, there are various ways athletes can recover and even more varied methods one can employ to ensure they recover effectively. Every athlete knows that recovery is a vital part of training. So what is recovery? The simplest explanation we can give is that recovery is the act of resting your body and mind to prepare for the next session of activity. It’s very important to stress that you need to rest both your physical and mental resources during recovery.
Cornerstones of Good Recovery
Sleep
Sleep is often underrated, but the reality is sleep is a crucial part of training. During sleep cells regenerate themselves, encouraging muscle repair and muscle growth. Also, pay attention to the quality of sleep you are getting. Eliminate blue lights from electronic devices and switch off your online casino and social media notifications. Sleep in a peaceful and calm place and be consistent in your sleeping and waking times.
Rehydrate and Refuel
Aim to replace all fluids lost during exercise within the first four hours of exercise and try to rebalance your electrolytes. Nutrition is also an integral part of the recovery process, aiming for foods high in protein after a training session. Avoid empty calories and artificial sugars as these will just spike your blood levels and leave you crashing afterwards.
Relax and Socialise
Go away with family, visit friends, take an arts and craft class, whatever it is but stay away from the gym, exercise, your training apps, and even sports shows. This will help your mind focus on these things and find fulfilment in different activities. Competing requires mental strength just as much as physical.
Why is Recovery Overlooked
Go Big or Go Home
The major reason athletes overlook recovery is that they don’t want to appear weak, and want to apply more pressure to their training schedules with the hope of producing better results. So when you have been running 20 miles every day for two consecutive weeks and you start to notice a dip in your times, the knee-jerk reaction is to train more and get better times. But the reality is your body and mind are starting to fatigue and the more you push yourself the worse off you’ll be.
Time Management
Whether you are a professional athlete, a long-distance runner, or a gym rat there never seems to be enough time. There are work commitments, family time, and other things that demand your time and then we sacrifice our ‘downtime and don’t recover properly. So instead of sleeping in until 7 am you get up at your usual 5 am and work, and because you didn’t go training you assume it’s enough for recovery. It isn’t.
Lastly
There is no blanket approach to recovery as each sports code is different and every athlete is unique, but we can all agree that recovery is where we get better for the next match, the next marathon, or the fight. Underestimate it at your peril.
