Whether you’re a team sport athlete, a recreational runner, or everyday gym-goer, getting one training session in can be difficult enough at times.
Training consistently can be another challenge entirely.
And while motivation is often what gets in the way of that, inadequate recovery can also play a big role.
Recovery from training can be defined as returning to a state where one is able to repeat a previous training session to the same standard.
Many factors affect the speed at which this can occur and the more you optimise those factors, the faster you recover, allowing you to accumulate more training, and/or to improve the quality of your training.
With that said, I’ll aim to highlight a few of those factors here.
Managing Training Load
When hoping to optimise recovery, we often forget about the other variable in this equation, which is the training that we are recovering from.
As simple as it sounds, the more training (and the higher the intensity of that training), the more recovery will be required.
Let’s say we optimise every element of recovery.
At that point, our body would be able to handle a certain amount of training - Let’s call it 100% of our maximum recoverable training load.
If we train more than that, no level of focus on recovery will allow us to recover, training will suffer, and ultimately, injury or overtraining will likely come our way.
But if we stay within that maximum recoverable training load, we can continue to train consistently over time, whilst also accumulating the adaptation needed to increase the level of load we can tolerate - Win-win.
For that reason, the first focus when it comes to recovery ought to be assessing our current training program, and ensuring it is appropriate for our current level of fitness, and that it is progressing in an appropriate manner.
This sets up a balancing act between training enough to elicit the adaptations we want, but not so much that we can’t recover.
And whilst it’s easy to get fixated on this, the way for most people to think about this is to simply avoid the extremes.
For example, avoiding going from not having done any running in months to starting to run 40 miles per week, or avoiding going from 3 sets of 6 barbell squats one week to German Volume Training (10 sets of 10) the next, or avoiding missing out on training all off-season and going straight into 6 sessions a week between team sessions and solo sessions.
In short, start with a level of training you know you can recover from, and build it up over time.
Sleep
It’s likely obvious to say that recovery happens in the time when we’re not training.
There’s no time this is more true than when we’re at our most rested - That is, during restful sleep.
The mix of hormones increased and decreased during sleep means that our body is set-up for repairing tissues in the body, including muscle and joint tissue that have potentially been damaged during training.
It’s also a vital time for the distribution of nutrients and the removal of waste products of exercise.
Crucial cognitive adaptations from training, including skill development, motor learning, and decision making can also be improved or worsened based on our sleep.
For these reasons and others, focussing on getting adequate quantities and quality of sleep is essential in promoting recovery.
Relaxation
Outside of the sleep period, we can allow similar recovery-related processes to occur, albeit to a lesser extent, by including extra periods of relaxation into our day.
This might be as simple as having an enjoyable chat with friends, watching tv, reading, or moving towards more active approaches to relaxation like getting a massage, meditating, or even taking a short nap.
These relaxation-focussed activities allow not only for the physiological benefits mentioned, but particularly for high-level ambitious athletes, can serve as an all-important psychological reset.
Nutrition
So we’ve got a training program in place that we can actually recover from, we’ve got our sleep and rest dialled in, but without feeding the body what it needs, its not going to have the necessary ingredients to repair itself.
Maintaining an overall “healthy” diet is going to be the first place to start. That will mean different things for different people, but I think most will agree that having a wide range of whole foods, plenty of fruit and veg, minimising processed foods, and eating enough so that we maintain a healthy body fat level is a good place to start.
Eating 3-5 protein-containing meals will further optimise recovery by supplying the amino acids needed to repair bodily tissues and cells.
Beyond that, an overlooked aspect of recovery is fuelling our training in the first place.
This is important because training under-fuelled tends to lead to greater muscle damage and a greater recovery demand on the other end.
For that reason, most athletes will be best served with a diet that is relatively high in carbohydrates compared to fat, whilst prioritising these further in the pre-training period.
Then, ensuring we’re paying some focus to post-training nutrition will involve getting in a protein source in the hour afterwards, and for most, starting the refuelling process ahead of the next session through increased carbohydrate intake.
Hydration, perhaps because of its perceived simplicity, is often overlooked in the discussion of recovery.
However, we overlook it at our peril.
Dehydration can mean decreased nutrient transport to, and waste product removal from, the areas of the body that needs these processes to occur, whilst also leading to other potential downsides associated with recovery including increased inflammation, decreased joint lubrication, etc.
Supplementation can be a final element of recovery nutrition, if needed, where supplements like protein powder (in the same way as any protein source), essential aminos acids, tart cherry extract, omega-3s, and others have shown to improve recovery.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to discuss the specifics of each of these, but it’s suffice to say that more reading is advised when considering implementing any supplement.
Active Recovery
Active recovery offers another avenue for potential recovery enhancement, but it’s important to proceed with caution here.
Remember the advice around managing training load, and note that if adding in what you planned to be active recovery leads to increasing the training load on the body, it’s having the opposite effect than what is intended.
That means that for most people, heading out for a 60-minute “recovery” run where you’re tired and out of breath by the end, isn’t active recovery.
Simply put, active recovery can be seen as activities that increase blood flow and movement of the muscles and joints, without incurring a significant additional recovery need.
That might look like a light, short jog, a short relaxing swim, getting out for a walk, light stretching, or foam rolling.
You might include things like compression boots and massage guns in here too, since they aim to serve similar functions, but they could also be placed in the relaxation section, given that they are more passive than active.
Cold Water Immersion (Ice Baths)
Cold water immersion or ice bathing is a go-to for athletes in a variety of sports and athletics when it comes to recovery.
And for good reason in some ways.
They can reduce muscle soreness and inflammation when used post-training, allowing you to get back to a fully-recovered state more quickly.
However, this might come at a cost.
For example, there have been studies showing decreases in muscle growth in those who used ice baths after working out compared to those who didn’t.
Whilst this may not be a big concern if your goals aren’t based around building muscle, it may indicate a potential mechanism to decrease your gains in other areas.
However, this has yet to be studied sufficiently to say if that’s the case for sure.
My advice would generally be to save the use of ice baths for when quick recovery matters most.
That might be when you have multiple matches, important training sessions, big runs, or races within the space of a few days, where performance in those events is more important from the adaptations you're hoping to get from them.
Final Note: The Psychological Side
Beyond physical recovery, the mental demands of sport and athletic pursuits cannot be ignored.
The constant pressure to perform, the repetitive nature of training, and the psychological stress associated with competition can take a toll.
Prioritizing mental well-being through techniques like mindfulness, stress management, and cultivating a healthy work-life balance is crucial for long-term success and sustainable performance.
Article Written By Conor O’Neill
You can find out more about The Everyday Athlete Program by going to everydayathleteprogram.com/coaching.