The Importance of Recovery in the Training Plan

Richard C. Lansky, CSCS, ACSM HFI,
USA Weightlifting U.S. International Coach
Director of Athletic Development
OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE TRAINING, INC. (OPTI)

WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING?

We have all heard this saying before...but have you ever thought of it in the context of your training?

We all know that scientifically based programming and hard work and effort during our training sessions are necessary to achieve progress in terms of improving our strength, speed, power and other biomotor qualities.

However, how many of us put the same effort into planning and executing Recovery Sessions?

In my opinion, not enough of us.

At OPTI, our coaches stress the process of recovery and give it equal importance to every other aspect of the training process.

It can be very satisfying to an athlete to come off the field after running gut-busting sprints or to leave the training hall after achieving a new max triple in the front squat.

However, if that same athlete doesn’t follow proper rehydration/refueling procedures (i.e. post workout nutrition), gets only 5 hours of sleep that night, and then hits the field again the next morning to run another set of all out max effort sprints or to do heavy pulls in the training hall...then, we may have a problem.

A MAJOR PROBLEM

The same athlete might even be able to complete his or her training session the next day. However, he or she has not set themselves up for a great performance. Based on what we know about recovery from training activities characterized by a high central nervous system (CNS) demand, that athlete will have a rough time trying performing at his or her maximum potential.

A series of training sessions that have a high stress on the CNS or involve heavy mechanical loading are stressful enough to an athlete’s body. If you combine this with a pattern of chronic neglect for proper rest and recuperation activities, the athlete’s body will be hard pressed to adapt, much less function at optimal levels of health or well being. The entire process will start to lead to a state of overtraining, or as we like to term it, UNDER-RECUPERATION.

JUST TAKE THE DAY OFF AND RELAX

Unfortunately, it is not that simple.

In my experience, the most successful athletes all possess a certain drive. This inner drive spurs them on to achieve success on the platform, on the field, or even in life itself. It is an inner motivation that drives them to get in the gym everyday, to do that extra set of squats, to run that extra series of 10 yard sprints.

However, it also can make them loathe to take a day off. This can be detrimental to the success of the training process. Rest and Recovery are part of the training process.

In fact, if you don’t combine alternating bouts of hard work with planned sessions of recovery, you are not really participating in a training process, you are simply doing work.

And doing work for nothing more than the sake of doing work is not always the most rewarding thing.

Work must be balanced with rest in order that more work can be performed at an equally high level later in the training process.

At OPTI, our coaches stress the importance of incorporating recovery sessions into the training plan of each and every one of our athletes, from the novice beginner to the national champion.

Teaching our athletes about the necessity of integrating periods of recovery alongside periods of work in order to achieve our long term performance goals is just the first step.

A DAY OFF IS NOT JUST ON SUNDAYS

The next step in the education of our athletes about the importance of recovery is that recovery and rest are not the same animal.

If you are scratching your head in confusion, you are probably not alone. Let me explain.

For a hard training athlete who is participating in a well-planned, scientifically based program, it is not enough to simply take a day off and lounge around on the couch watching television.

At OPTI, our coaching staff firmly believes that recovery sessions should, like training sessions, be planned with a specific purpose and placed within the training blocks at specific times to maximize the athlete’s ability to perform during high stress sessions.

In other words, before you try to climb up the tallest mountain, take a deep breath and ready yourself for the task. The mountain represents the high stress training session and the deep breath represents the recovery session prior to the climb.

High stress CNS sessions that involve maximum strength efforts and/or dynamic speed-strength activities like plyometrics, explosive lifts and throws should not be followed by subsequent training units that have a similar effect on the organism.

Lower intensity days or rest days should precede and/or follow such sessions to ensure maximum performance on the high stress days while also allowing the athlete’s system enough time to recover before the next such ‘high-stress’ session.

WHEN REST BECOMES WORK

At OPTI, our coaching staff instructs our athletes in a variety of recovery modalities. Some of these modes may surprise you and appear to be more like training than your preconceived notions of rest.

Recuperation sessions are actually structured units within the training plan and process. For instance, an athlete might do a light dynamic warmup on the turf ,go through 10-12 minutes of mobilization work with a trainer or with foam rollers or a massage stick.

Another variation involves pool work. Our athletes will hit the pool once a week and perform a variation of our phase 2 dynamic warm up mixed with some low level plyometric type activities (only these are performed in chest deep water, so the stress to the body and CNS is markedly reduced) and some light swimming. This is often followed by a light stretch out.

A third type of recovery session involves the use of alternating hot-cold contrast modes for the enhancement of recovery. This can be done in a variety of ways, from using hot tubs and cold plunges/cold swimming pools or more simply accomplished with contrast showers.

OPTI coaches actually encourage our athletes to utilize the shower version of contrast therapy the evening following a high stress CNS or Mechanical Load training session. Localized work can also be used for sore muscles in specific areas (as with the low back) via hot packs and cold packs, if necessary.

One of the favorites we use for our combine prep guys is the ‘spa treatment’. This does not include facials or pedicures. Instead we utilize the steam or sauna or a combination of both in rotating fashion to help flush out toxins and the accumulated ‘goop’ that makes tired muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones feel like they have been in a meat grinder.

Some of our athletes love the sauna/steam program while others despise it, but all seem to feel more ‘alive; and have more ‘pop’ in their legs the day after one of our ‘spa days’.

Massage and therapeutic body work are huge in the spectrum of helping hard working athletes to recover between taxing training sessions. Whether you like relaxation type work like Swedish massage or more intensive work like Rolfing, Skin Rolling or ART, they all have one thing in common.

When performed properly by a skilled therapist and at the appropriate times in the training week, they are very effective means of enhancing recovery and thus promoting long-term progress.

For athletes who are battling nagging bumps, bruises and bunions, we utilize the services of a Certified Athletic Trainer (A.T.C.), Licensed Physical Therapist (P.T.) or Chiropractic Physician (D.C.) to take the lead in providing therapeutic recovery modalities.

Depending on the caregiver’s specialization and treatment philosophy, an athlete might receive manipulation of the spine and/or associated joints, therapeutic stretching, mysofascial release treatment, ultrasound, and/or electric stimulation in the recovery session.

In addition, we utilize the services of a Registered Deitician (R.D.) to educate our athletes on the importance of pre and post training nutrition. This is perhaps one of the most neglected practices in athletic performance training. After a hard training session, your body is in a severe state of energy flux and your muscles are starved for glycogen. By immediately providing his body with a mix of carbohydrate and protein (we usually recommend a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein), an athlete has already helped to jumpstart the recovery process.

As you can see, recovery can take many forms and it is up to the coach and athlete to work together to learn which form helps at which time in the training process. This is an ongoing process, that shifts and changes in response to the fluidity of the training process itself.

One thing is clear.

Recovery and Recuperation is more than just a day off from training. Once you realize this and adopt it with your own training, you will have made a huge step forward in your quest to experience long-term progress and improvement with your training.

Train Smart. Train Hard. Recover Harder.

If you have further questions concerning this information, please feel free to contact us via e-mail at: rclopti@aol.com