Athletes tend to forget that along with actually training, recovery is just as important. Whether you train one, two or three times a day, recovery should be one of your highest priorities. The faster you can recover the quicker you can get back into the gym for another session.
I believe there are 6 essential steps for recovery: cool down and stretching, hydration, nutrition, cryotherapy, compression and sleep.
Cool down and stretching
A cool down only takes around fifteen minutes and is just as beneficial to your training session as the warm up. Unfortunately I have seen so many athletes walk out of the academy and drive home without doing a cool down or stretching routine. These athletes need to understand that when you constantly contract your muscles through exercise they become incredibly tight. If you do not stretch your msucles will continue to get tighter until you get an injury. A simple cool down with low impact exercise followed by static stretching is a great way to cool down and stretch. There are a lot of benefits to a cool down including the removal of by-products in the muscles, reduction in the amount of adrenaline in the bloodstream, helps relax your muscles, prevents blood pooling in your muscles which gives you that sense of tiredness, dizziness or even nausea.A cool down also gives you time to reflect on the session you have just completed.
As part of your cool down make sure you stretch for ten to fifteen minutes. when stretching it is important to hold each stretch for 15-40 seconds, not to bounce or jerk and not to hold your breath.
Hydration
Fluid is extremely important when exercising due to the fact that water is used maintaining body temperature. When our body temperature rises due to exercise we begin to sweat. When these beads of sweat are evaporated off our body the body heat goes with it, cooling us down. Do not under estimate the affect dehydration has on you physically (especially during exercise). When you are dehydrated your body gives several warning signs including, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, over-heating, loss of concentration, muscle fatigue, irritability, muscle cramps and an inability to perform fine motor skills well.
For prolonged and intense training sessions you may re-hydrate using a sports drink that contains sugar (for energy) as well as electrolytes. These drinks will not only give you energy from the sugar contain but also assist in re-hydration.
Dehydration can severely affect your sporting performance, mental skills as well as your recovery. I urge you to put strategies in place that will assist you in maintaining your hydrations levels.
Nutrition
The period directly after training has been coined “the anabolic window” by fitness trainers around the world. This window is the 30 minutes after you finish training. In this time you need to re-fuel your body with glucose, protein as well as vitamins and minerals to begin rebuilding and restoring your body back to normal. Your post training meal is once again personalized to you and your lifestyle. After training some trainers may have a long drive ahead so straight after training they refuel their energy levels with a sports drink. Then when they arrive home an hour later they refuel with carbohydrates and protein. Generally following exercise (within the first hour) high GI carbohydrates are best as these will restore your glycogen (energy) stores. Foods such as honey, fruit, chocolate milk, white bread and sports drink are great to consume directly following exercise as they contain High GI carbohydrates.
Other athletes bring their post training meals with them and consume after training. The important thing is that you are aware that your body is craving nutrients after training and it is vital that you refuel your body. If not you will be running on empty and may find it hard to concentrate, sleepy and moody. It is vital to replenish your Glycogen stores between training sessions if you do not then this will dramatically affect your performance in the following session including the onset of fatigue as well as decreased strength and motivation.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is the method of using hot and cold stints in water, usually in a spa. Cryotherapy is a very popular use of recovery for athletes all over the world. Usually the athlete enters a warm spa between 30-40 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. From here the athlete enters a small but very deep pool called the plunge or dip pool, this pool is around 10-15 degrees. The athlete must submerge their whole body except for the head for a period of time. The theory behind Cryotherapy is it helps remove waste from the muscles due to blood rushing in and out of the muscles which stimulates de-oxygenated blood back to the heart (Venus return) resulting in muscle recovery.
It is important that you finish on a cold stint. This is due to the fact that when you get into the hot your blood vessels and capillaries Vaso-dilate (open up) and when you enter into the cold the blood vessels and capillaries Vaso-constrict (close up) resulting in stopping toxins from bruises etc from spreading, (exactly the same as icing an injury) If your blood vessels and capillaries stay open toxins will spread resulting in a larger bruise and longer recovery period.
Recommended ice bath is one minute in the hot and one minute in the cold, repeated five times.
Compression wear
Compression gear is still a new field in the area of recovery. In the last few years have athletes started including compression wear as part of their recovery regime with many athletes saying that it works wonders for their recovery. The theory behind compression garments is that by keeping continual pressure on the muscles blood flow is increased, both in and out of the muscle. This means that your muscles will be receiving oxygenated blood while removing de-oxygenated blood from the affected muscles.
Compression garments are said to help prevent injury, prevent cramps, increase blood flow, encourage Venus return and prevent the onset of Deep Vein Thrombosis.
Sleep
Sleep is a very important factor in maintaining optimum health and vitality. Having a lot of late nights and functioning on minimal sleep is bound to catch up with you sooner or later, and can seriously hamper your training.When you are suffering from lack of sleep you feel lethargic and lazy because your body hasn’t had time to recover from the day before. Whether you went to the gym, went for a run or were flat out at work, your body needs to rest and recover, both physically and mentally. When you sleep your body maintains important bodily functions such as blood pressure, cell repair and kidney functions. Sleep also plays a large part in keeping our immune systems strong which helps us to fight off germs, infections and sickness such as the common cold.
Tips for a better night sleep include have a sleeping schedule, limit caffeine before bed, be hydrated, avoid daytime sleeps and have a comfortable bed and pillow.
If you follow all of these steps your recovery will improve dramatically and you will be able to train harder, for longer.
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