- Health, Fitness & Weight Loss
- Sport Specific Performance
- Getting Down and Dirty at Tough Guy!
- Fitness Training for Skiing and Snowboarding
- How to Prepare for your First Marathon
- How Posture Affects Running Performance
- Medicine Ball Training
- Recovery and Regeneration
- Stretching for Optimal Performance
- The Changing Face of Endurance Running
- Tips for New Runners
- Training in your Target Heart Rate Zone
- Why I Fell for my Foam Roller
- Nutrition
- Training with Specific Conditions
- References
Recovery and Regeneration
Recovery and Regeneration – Why it’s ok to put your Feet Up After a Good Training Session
You simply can’t expect your body to go all out all the time in training and expect to see continued improvement. Taking the time to allow your body and mind to recover and regenerate from the stress of training is often the limiting factor when it comes to achieving optimal performance, particularly for endurance athletes.
With a devoted focus to recovery and regeneration in your training schedule, your body can sustain the mental focus and physical intensity necessary for healthy adaptation to training, ultimately leading to performance gains. Neglecting this component would be like continuing to run your car without regular servicing and refuelling. Eventually something is going to give and your body is no different!
How to Promote Recovery and Regeneration – The P.R.E.P Principles
By adopting the following P.R.E.P. Principles of Regeneration and Recovery, you will significantly improve your ability to consistently enjoy training, overcome fatigue, prevent injury and perform at a high level.
Plan – scheduling specific recovery and regeneration sessions into each day, week and training period leads to better quality tissue and the mental edge to achieve performance excellence. These sessions must incorporate both passive (Stretching, Foam Rolling and Massage) and active (low impact and intensity aerobic activity) practices1. - Rest – it is essential to address signs of fatigue and sleepiness. Sleeping for at least 8-10 hours a night and taking power-naps allows your body to repair and rebuild damaged tissue as well as remove waste products produced by high–intensity or high-volume training1.
- Eat – well timed and planned nutrition will replenish depleted energy stores and promote adaptation by providing the macro and micro nutrients the body requires to repair and rebuild tissue.
- Persistence – in your application of the P.R.E.P. principles will prevent common overtraining issues such as injury, lack of concentration, de-motivation, mental and physical fatigue.
Following the “Pulse P.R.E.P. Principles” means adopting a mindset where you are constantly working to perform better, even when you are not working out. It is a planned process where your ultimate aim is to facilitate your return to optimal physical, physiological and mental condition, in order to get the most out of every work out and every performance. If you need a recovery and regeneration programme to suit your training schedule contact us today.
By Hamish Abbie BPhEd, BComm, CHEK L1, XLR8 Coach, REPs - 10/01/2010