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Recovery is crucial for training results, provided it is performed in the right frequency and intensity. Too much and too little recovery time can kill your progress.
Recovery is crucial for results. Recovery is also often underestimated and sometimes totally overestimated.
Recovery is overestimated when...
You do not workout at least 3 times per week consistently. In this case investing much time in recovery is overestimated. For health and longevity, it is advised to invest your time in meeting the international movement standards: This means working out at least 150 minutes per week at moderate to high intensity, and do strength training at least twice per week and do balance exercises at least twice per week. Also known as: CrossFit at least 3x per week.
Good to know: These are the movement standards to maintain your current health and fitness, not even to improve it.
Recovery is underestimated when...
You workout at least four to five times per week at high intensity, combine different types of sports, always feel you need to go harder, do not plan your training days, do not take into account interferences of the different types of sports you play, just randomly do stuff at the gym, and do not plan recovery days.
Results:decline in performance, increased risk of injuries, physical and mental overtraining, decline in motivation and fun, and many more negative effects. Yuk!
How and how long to recover
Recovery cannot be based just on how you feel. Feeling ok again, or not having major muscle soreness anymore, are not the best indicators for recovery.
Recovery refers to the body’s muscles, tendons, bone mass, cartilage, energy systems and nervous systems. For example, it refers to the brain’s ability to effectively process training stimuli to control the muscles in order to perform movements with proper technique.
Workout out at high intensity without being fully recovered not only makes you feel like crap and maybe even disappointed because of your lack of performance. It also hinders your training process. It is like driving your car with an empty tank and low oil level. Think about the damage you would do to your car…
To give you an indication of a recovery time frame: Sprinting, heavy weightlifting at high speed, but also the CrossFit workout Murph at high intensity, all take at least 72 hours to recover.
Your recover also depend on your choices after the effort: Drinking beer and eating a happy meals versus staying active at low intensity, doing mobility exercises and breath work, spending time in nature, meditating, eating healthy minimally processed foods, drinking lots of water, and trying to get a solid amount of sleep.
Especially when you’re over 30, this stuff becomes more and more important and the hours you spend on recovery should be at least the hours you spend at the gym. Not easy, but definitely necessary if you enjoy going hard and fast and want to be able to keep doing that for the rest of your life!
Embrace the chill! Stay active, stay healthy, train smarter! (Read more: high intensity sports require high maintenance)
Create your own health!©
