WHY YOU SHOULD RECOVER AS HARD AS YOU TRAIN
Training without recovering is like mixing flour, sugar, eggs, & butter together for a cake and then never putting the batter in the oven. We don’t get stronger during the training session - we get stronger when we recover from our training.
But why is that?
Why can’t we train hard every day?
Why isn’t more always better?
To start, we need to understand what happens to our bodies during exercise…
WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BODIES WHEN WE EXERCISE?
When we exercise with a high enough intensity, we cause stress to the system:
Glycogen (the fuel inside our muscular “gas tanks”) AKA stored carbs, become depleted.
Muscle fibers undergo mechanical stresscaused by high levels of tension from heavy or exhausting loads.
Muscles undergo metabolic stress as a result of the accumulation of metabolites (lactate, phosphate, and ions of hydrogen)
These events set off a series of signals that tell the body to STEP ITS GAME UP, so it can be completely prepared for the next time you do that workout or exercise. Our bodies then get to work replenishing glycogen stores, repairing damage to soft tissues such as muscle fibers, ligaments, & tendons, and initiating central nervous system (brain!) adaptations. And voila! Over time, we find ourselves stronger, fitter, faster, and more coordinated.
To sum it up simply:
Stressor + Recovery = Improvements in fitness!
SOUNDS SIMPLE ENOUGH, BUT HERE IS THE ISSUE…
Many of us focus all of our efforts on the training side of the equation. We run, lift, jump, sprint, and sweat in the name of fitness. But many of us fail to address the recovery side of the equation, which limits our ability to actually achieve the improvements in fitness that we work so hard for.
Here’s an analogy I find helpful:
Picture a restaurant that is flooded with an unexpectedly large dinner crowd. The diners come in and eat all the food. They dirty the dishes, silverware, tablecloths, and napkins. The staff works at full capacity to make sure all the diners get their meals.
When it’s all over, if the restaurant’s management doesn’t spend time and money to replenish food stores, restock supplies, clean up the restaurant, have dishes washed, and bring in more staff members, they won’t be able to deal with the next evening’s dinner rush.
The same concept applies to our bodies. When we give our bodies the time and resources to deal with the stress we’ve put on them during training, they are able to adapt and adjust to a higher level of fitness to meet that demand. When we don’t allocate time or resources for recovery, our bodies end up depleted and unprepared to deal with the stressors we place on them. The longer and more intense the training, the more time and resources we will need to recover from it.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP WITH RECOVERY?
There are multiple factors that impact how quickly and completely we recover. Here are a few:
Age
Fitness level
Stress
Sleep
Nutrition status
Hydration status
So, how do we make sure we’re giving our bodies a chance to recover and make the gains we train so hard for? Here are a few simple places to start:
Time: Allow 48-72 hours before training the same muscle groups.
SLEEP: This is when our bodies repair many of our damaged tissues.
Eat: Without adequate carbohydrates, proteins, fat, and calories, our bodies don’t have the raw materials or energy to make needed repairs & replenish glycogen stores.
Active recovery: Low intensity, low impact movement like walking, easy jogging, easy cycling, swimming, and low intensity mobility work can aid recovery.
Hydration: Aim for .5-1 ounce per pound of bodyweight, and more if you train in the heat or for long periods of time.
Manage stress: To the body & brain, stress is stress, regardless of where it comes from.
And here are some things that can limit your body’s ability to recover:
Frequent use of ice and/or NSAIDs post-workout: our bodies use the inflammatory response to induce recovery
Under-eating
Unmanaged stress
Alcohol use
We at Level TEN like to say “Do less, fam!” and that principle applies here.
If you train hard, you need to recover just as hard.
Remember these principles when you feel tempted to adopt the “no days off” mentality…
Without recovery, gains don’t happen!
References:
de Freitas, M. C., Gerosa-Neto, J., Zanchi, N. E., Lira, F. S., & Rossi, F. E. (2017). Role of metabolic stress for enhancing muscle adaptations: Practical applications. World journal of methodology, 7(2), 46–54. https://doi.org/10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.46
Schoenfeld B. J. (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(10), 2857–2872. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e840f3
Baechle, T. (1989). Essentials of strength training and conditioning (4th ed.). Human Kinetics.
Bompa. Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1999.
WITH GOOD VIBES - COACH SARAH