Rest & Recovery: 
It sounds easy and it is easy, but often neglected. As crazy as it may sound, rest is just as important as exercise and I am going to tell you why. In order to get fitter or improve in sport, the body needs to be exposed to stresses (i.e. training or exercise), once this happens the body then needs time to adapt to the stresses and for this there must be a period of recovery. Rest and recovery are also important in prevention of injuries.
New To Exercise
If you are just starting out in exercise, it’s important that you build into it slowly to allow you’re body to adapt to the demands of sport. Maybe try exercising on two consecutive days, but have a rest on the third day. If you just keep going, without any rest, your body will soon start to fatigue and you will find it difficult to complete any exercise sessions. In you have just started physical activity or performed a new exercise for the first time, you might be feeling a little sore or stiff but don’t start doubting all those promises of feeling better for exercising just yet. In most cases this is a reaction from your body as it tries to adapt to the new experience. Starting exercise or performing a new movement pattern can result in:
Severe muscle soreness
Muscle stiffness
Decreases in strength
Decreases in skill levels
The feeling you may be experiencing are referred to as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS for short. Although DOMS is not fully understood, it is thought that the feeling generally materialize sometime after the exercise is performed (hence the ‘Delayed’), this can be as long as 12 hours after. Feelings may last a couple of days or even reports of up to a week or longer. It is suggested that some recovery strategies may help prevent or at least reduce some of the associated feeling. (See below – Recovery Strategies). The more an activity is repeated, you are less likely to feel the effects of DOMS, or at least to a lesser extent.
More Experienced Athletes
For those who are more experienced exercisers and are maybe training for an event. Rest and recovery is also vitally important. Work alone is not enough to produce the best results; you need time to adapt to training stress. To encourage adaptation to training, it is important to plan recovery activities that reduce residual fatigue. The sooner you recover from fatigue, and the fresher you are when you undertake a training session, the better chances of improving. Plan your training carefully, include rest days where you let you’re body recover from the stress and begin to adapt to the the training. Try thinking ahead to the race/event date, plan different sessions for each week. Maybe do a couple of weeks or more intensive and hard sessions, but follow that with an ‘easy week’ where you’re body can adapt to all the hard training you have been doing.
Recovery Strategies
It’s all very well being encourages to exercise, but if your body is not used to doing it, or you have started a new sport or even increased the amount of training you are doing then you need to consider some recovery strategies to help your body to adjust.
1. Rest
Sleep is one of the most important forms of rest and provides time for the body to adapt to the physical and mental demands of training. Make sure you are getting enough sleep and ensure you are getting good quality sleep, make sure the room is dark, quiet and peaceful. Taking a full day of from scheduled workouts is also important in adaptation to training.
2. Nutrition & Hydration
Ensuring the body is fully nourished and hydrated is vital for good recovery. It is most important to replace fluids after exercise and to replenish energy stores by eating the right foods at the right time. If you are unsure of what to eat and when feel free to contact me for help.
3. Cool Down and Stretch
The cool down in a group of exercise performed immediately after training to provide an adjustment between exercise and rest. Its purpose is to decrease muscular soreness and bring the cardiovascular system back to rest.
4. Cold Baths
If your body is plunges into a bath of icy cold water, the blood vessels constrict and the blood will be drained away from the muscles that have been working (removing lactic acid). Once you get out of the bath, the capillaries dilate and ‘new’ blood flows back into the muscles, bringing with it oxygen which helps the functioning of the cells.
5. Massage/Acupuncture/Chiropractic
The physical benefits of a massage, acupuncture or chiropractic adjustments following exercise include:
Increased blood flow, enhanced oxygen and nutrient delivery to fatigued muscles, increased removal of lactic acid. Warming and stretching of soft tissues, increased flexibility, removal of micro-trauma, knots and adhesions.
In addition to the physical benefits, these therapies have been reported to help improve mood state and help increase relaxation and reduce feelings of fatigue.
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