The Balance Between Training and Recovery

Everyone loves to talk about that amazing workout - the one that left you dripping with sweat, totally exhausted, or the time you lifted the most weight ever. Heck, we all love a workout that burns over 500 calories and look down on the ones where we don't. But going "all-out," all the time is usually a recipe for injury, plateaued results, or set-backs.

The cold, hard fact is that in order achieve your goals you have to recover fully and listen to your body.

In June of 2010, Eminem released an album called, "Recovery." I love this album, and one of the songs is called, 'Going Through Changes.' (can you find the other song titles I hid in the article below?)

And with that, Eminem has summed up what your recovery from training is doing for your body - you are going through changes.

A couple months ago, I was finding myself sore going into every training session and thinking…”hmmm I should go a little light here because my ______(enter in any muscle group) is still a little tight from last session.

I kept repeating this until I finally sat 'Talkin' 2 Myself' with the question, “does this mean I have shitty recovery?”

It was almost as if not having great recovery between sessions was impacting my very next session putting me further away from the reason I was training anyways - to be stronger and feel friggin great.

YOU NEED TO PUT AS MUCH DISCIPLINE INTO YOUR RECOVERY AS YOU DO YOUR WORKOUTS

When you aren’t recovering adequately between training sessions it’s like 'A Cold Wind Blowing.' Put more simply, when you workout you damage muscle fiber and stimulate a response to repair and build back stronger and bigger. But this growth and repair happens during your recovery (the time between workouts). If you don't recover fully, you could be taking two steps back and only one step forward! But when your recovery is optimized you take two steps back and three forward.

To find out if you are recovering fully, check out the list below.

Ways to check in with yourself to see if you are recovering well 

1. Sleeping over 8 hours a night - uninterrupted. To learn tips on how to get great sleep read: The Importance of Sleep on Your Health
2. Strength is going up - progressive overloading feeling ‘On Fire’
3. Resting heart rate isn’t up a couple beats higher and 'Won’t Back Down’
4. Muscles aren’t sore for over 48 hours
5. You aren’t training back to back to back same muscle groups
6. Having ‘No Love’ for water by being dehydrated
7. Feeling more anxious or triggered than usual
8. Picking up relatively “lightweight” for you and it feels extra heavy
9. Grip strength weakened
10. Supporting recovery from training with a pre- or post-workout meal?
11. Proper protein intake for muscle protein synthesis? To learn more about proper protein intake read: 4 Benefits of a High Protein Diet
12. Do you currently rock the no days off of intense training?
13. When was the last deload week you had in your training programming in which you pulled back on volume and/or frequency?
14. Are you able to count more than 5 areas of discomfort in muscles or joints? (try adding Propello Life Collagen+ Sweet Vanilla Creamer to your morning cup of coffee to support recovery for muscles and joints!)
15. Pain or discomfort at rest or during movement?
16. Are you missing out on nutrients and vitamins and minerals needed to support recovery?

If you're an athlete, you are ‘Not Afraid’ to push your body past it's limits to seek performance wins. That means, using your will power, or mental toughness to push through pain and ignore your body telling you that you are tired, right? 

As the saying goes...“When your legs can’t run anymore, run with your heart” - Anonymous.

We’ve all been there, or maybe you currently are and have lost the ability to truly listen to your body.

Maybe you've been blocking out the voice to slow down for so long that you’ve stopped being able to hear your body when it is telling you to pay attention.

This may serve you in a competition. But it doesn't serve you in your routine training - competitive athlete or adult athlete all the same. During your training, you don't want to over train and push past your limits.

If you want to make the biggest gains towards your goals, you have to train at the appropriate level and get very disciplined with your recovery.

So, here’s your reminder to always listen to your body - know when it’s justified to push for PRs, and when it’s time to mark a Rest Day into your calendar.

OR suffice being ‘25 To Life’ unable to train, workout, or have your body move in a way that it was designed to do.

You can only progress as great as you recover.

To learn even more about the science of recovery check out this blog: What Is Recovery and Why Is It Important?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catarina Orr

CEO/Head Coach of Catty Lee Fitness