Athletic Recovery
Before getting into the methods of athlete recovery, it is crucial to understand why recovery is necessary.
Training alone does not directly benefit the body; it stresses the body, breaks down muscles, and improvement occurs due to the body’s amazing ability to adapt. Athletes, however, tend to go through more intense and prolonged training compared to the average person. From the start, it is evident that if everyone needs to recover from stress that training causes to the body, athletes must recover even more; otherwise, they will experience fatigue sooner and more frequently.
Although fatigue is easier to see in the body, the central nervous system (CNS) plays a significant role. Studies reveal that CNS can greatly limit performance, causing nerve cell inhibition and slower, weaker muscle contractions when fatigued. Explosive sports show clearer signs of fatigue, such as athletes becoming visibly slower, potentially struggling with coordination, and maintaining technique. Similarly, endurance sports can show decreased speed of movement and compromised technique.
If we fail to manage stress and fatigue resulting from training, athletes may enter a state known as overtraining. Overtraining occurs when the body doesn’t recover effectively from the stress and fatigue induced by training. If an athlete doesn’t adapt well or experiences poor adaptation, they are considered to be overtraining.
Overtraining typically doesn’t happen suddenly; the body will continuously strive to adapt. However, if an athlete follows a training plan lacking sufficient physical and psychological recovery, overtraining is likely to occur.
Recovery, like training should be tailored to each athlete’s needs. Factors such as age, gender, experience, and emotional state influence recovery requirements. For instance, older athletes need more time to recover, than younger athletes, and experience athletes adapt quicker and recover faster than less experience ones.
Recovery can be passive or active. Active recovery focuses on removing waste products generated during training. Simple activities like a 5-20 minute easy-to-moderate-paced bike ride can remove 62% of lactic acid in that time frame. Beware of any “Fitness experts” on social media claiming that 10,000m row is suitable for active recovery; best to avoid their advice!
Passive recovery or complete rest is essential for all athletes. The following are effective strategies:
1. Sleep is unbeatable: Quality sleep, including uninterrupted non-REM and REM cycles, greatly enhances body recovery. Athletes may aim for 10 hours of sleep, aided by naps to optimise recovery. If athletes face sleep challenges or insufficient hours, achieving optimal recovery becomes difficult!
2. Nutrition: Adequate nutrition is of the utmost importance. Many times, athletes can improve their results not just by training more but by eating better. A personalised nutrition plant that meets the caloric requirements and provides the right macro breakdown is crucial for successful athletes. For instance, if you train rigorously and have high muscular demands but fail to consume enough protein to rebuild muscles, all your hard work could be in vain. Without the necessary tools to adapt muscular stress, your body won’t fully benefit your efforts.
3. Stress Reduction: I recently wrote about cortisol and how a stressful life can cause a hormonal imbalance. Managing stress is crucial for hormonal balance, with low cortisol and high testosterone levels being essential for athletes. If constant stressors are present this cannot be achieved.
4. Additional Approaches: While supplements, sauna, cold therapy, and massage guns can aid recovery, they cannot replace the strong foundational role of sleep and nutrition.
A final note, athletes and Coaches must work closely on this. The focus can’t only be on training hard and hoping for results; athletes and Coaches should foster a symbiotic relationship to understand all the variables that impact training and recovery dynamics.
Eddie
References:
High performance training for sports – David Joyce & Daniel Lewindon
Periodization trainig for sports – Tudor O. Bompa & Michael C Carrera