“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OVER-TRAINING, THERE IS ONLY UNDER-RECOVERING”
Your recovery from your training and racing is just as important as your actual training!!
There are 2 types of recovery that you need to be using in order to get the most out of your training.
Your post training recovery work should be the easiest to get sorted and be constsent with, as I program it for you each and every training session. This is important to be doing, as it kickstarts your bodies recovery process.
Your daily recovery techniques and methods are also very important to be utilising to ensure we are not only aiding in our recovery processes, but also managing our fatigue levels.
Below is a good descriptions of the best and most reccomended ways to aid in your recovery.
This is basically the use of very low intensity movement in order to get blood flowing around your body in order to remove some of the negative byproducts from your hard training.
Some great ways of doing this is light cycling, swimming and walking. All done at a pace that you could easily have a conversation with someone whilst doing it. Do this 1, maybe 2 times per week. It isn’t necessary to do more than that.
In simple terms, this is basically a sports massage. Loosening the muscles, removing knots and tight spots.
This is massive and probably one of the most beneficial forms of recovery. If tight muscles and knots are left they can not only hinder your performance but they can actually cause further injury! So sorting these before they escalate is extremely important.
This can also be done by yourself by foam rolling and using a lacrosse ball ect. Working on those areas you just trained and areas that might be a little bit tight
Static stretching, loosening up stiff muscles and improving your flexibility is also another great way to aid in your recovery and should be something you do every single day, at least once a day and even up to 3 or 4 times a day. Doing some static stretching after your workouts focusing on the areas you just trained is the very least you should be doing.
Attending yoga classes are also very beneficial, or you can do my favourite and sign up for RomWOD and follow their daily mobility program videos in your own time.
Improving your mobility and flexibility will not only help you to move better, it will also help with injury prevention in the event of a crash. More on that in the next section.
This is the pathways between your brain and the spinal cord and throughout your whole body. Your CNS gets pretty beaten up when you train hard and put a lot of stresses on your body.
This can be very deceiving as you may feel 100% but your CNS can be very fatigued. Going out riding in this state, your reaction times will be slower, you won’t be able to perform optimally and you are putting yourself at high risk of injury, the same goes for
in the gym.
Pretty much the best way to recover your CNS is by Rest and Relaxation. Taking time out of your day to just chill, otherwise you will be just running yourself into the ground. This also ties in with our next point, Sleep.
The time you spend sleeping is when most of your adaptations take place. This is the time that the body uses to repair the damage done to your muscles throughout the day and also to ‘recharge your batteries’.
As an Athlete, you need more sleep than the average person. With the recommendation for an average person at 7 hours minimum. You need to be getting 8-9 hours each night minimum in order to recover from your training stresses.
To try and make your time asleep even more beneficial, try to make your room as dark as possible, remove or switch off as much technology as possible, and make it as quiet as possible also. This will help you to have deeper sleeps which will be more beneficial for you.
Nutrition also plays a huge role in your bodies ability to recover.
Food is energy, and your body needs energy to perform it’s recovery process. But food is also the building blocks that your body uses to repair damage, recover, and make adaptations. So ensuring you are not only eating enough food to give yourself the energy to recover, but also the right foods to facilitate this repair and recovery.
In short, Protein is the main nutrient required by the body to repair and recovery your muscles and systems.
Your Mobility is extremely important for your overall performance!
Not only does it allow you to move better on the bike, and get into better positions. It also helps you to be far more efficient on the bike, as well as reducing your chances of injury.
Below is an awesome video with my resident Sports Physiotherapist & moto rider, Sarah Higgs from Sarah’s Moto Physio.
Note: You also get full access to Sarah and recieve a 50% discount on any of her services.
Warmups are another extremely important aspect of your performance and ensuring that you are primed and ready to go for your training, riding & racing.
