Why active recovery is vital for achieving goals

October 13, 2011

“I train 24/7,” says ironman queen Chrissie Wellington. “This means I train and I recover and this adds up to being a 24/7 athlete.”

For most professional athletes, and now a growing group of amateur sports people, recovery time is considered as important as training time. This is true in business and life as well. How many business executives are burning themselves out in their quest to become captains of industry? And who hasn’t gone overboard with a diet and exercise programme to work out and lose as much weight as possible, only to give up after a few weeks?

Recovery is as important as training if people want to build on fitness and strength. Likewise, having downtime after a cycle of action towards business and life goals is key to rebuilding strength, motivation and resilience to keep moving forwards.

Sometimes this can be hard to understand – and do. Most people feel that if they are not always giving their absolute most to a goal, then they are not progressing. But without recovery sessions and blocks of time away from the sport, or goal, it can become difficult for the body and mind to grow stronger and develop.

Take a closer look at Active Recovery

Think about engaging in Active Recovery. Programming our thinking to include recovery as part of the process of goal-oriented action sometimes allows us to let go better. People tend to adopt the mentality of relaxing when they see recovery as part of an energy cycle. It is not realistic to think we can operate at full-speed all the time. Recovery and planned downtime is critical to restoring energy and improving our overall productivity.

Chrissie Wellington has learned the merits of recovery after her coach told her that she needed to chop off her head if she wanted to be a world champion. He told her: “You don’t know how to relax. You are like a bull in a china shop, living at 100mph. You don’t know how to rest your body and mind. Unless you can learn to do this you will never become a successful athlete.”

Given Chrissie’s domination of Ironman events in recent years, it’s clear she listened to this advice and acted upon it.

Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong underscores the point like this: “Whoever recovers fastest does best.”

So what form should recovery take?

Obviously this will depend on what is trying to be achieved. For athletes, here is a guide to some types of vital recovery concepts. Many of the principles here can be adapted to life situations as well.

Active recovery: In sporting terminology, this refers to “easy” training sessions. Hard days and sessions will normally be followed by an easy/recovery session. Properly planned training programmes will reflect individual recovery sessions as well as the occasional block of several weeks where recovery or off-loading is the goal.

Rest days: These are the days where you actively do nothing. No sport. No activity like DIY, vigorous housework or going mad in the garden. Most coaches will advocate a rest day every week or so. This is a day for watching TV, catching up with friends for a coffee or simply chilling.

Sleep: Many sports people take their sleep extremely seriously. And they should because this is the time when the body repairs itself. For non-sports people, it should be noted that hormonal imbalances linked to high blood pressure and weight gain are often turned around with the correct amount of rested sleep. Contrary to popular belief, sleep is not aided by alcohol. It interferes with natural sleep cycles, keeping the body from getting into restorative deep REM sleep.

Sports massage: This type of recovery should be carried out on a regular basis, not simply when you’re in agony or injured. Deep tissue massage helps muscle recovery, the loosening of muscles and joints, as well as better flexibility. For the rest of us, try a Swedish or aromatherapy massage…it’s a really nice way to take care of your body!

Recovery clothes: Compression tights and tops have become de rigueur for athletes and most who try them, claim they work. They might not look so flattering but products such as Skins or 2XU make a faster business of helping muscles to recover. The theory is that these products increase the velocity of blood flow in – and to – the muscles, helping to remove waste toxins and reduce the damage to muscles.

Rest your mind: Activities such as yoga, meditation or the simple act of switching off and getting lost in a good film are great for helping the mind to relax. For everybody, not just athletes!

Try building Active Recovery into your sport programme, career and daily life. The day that we start seeing more compression tights in the office, it the day that we’ll know that people are getting the active recovery message!