Recovery: the "Secret" Workout for Success

Recovery is so important to improving athletic performance that it warrants an additional training tip. Coach Casey clearly listed the benefits you can experience when you include carefully planned periods of recovery in your training. There is no dispute that, without recovery, there is no performance increase. The ‘athlete’s mindset’ that compels competitors to push themselves beyond their perceived limits does get in the way of well-planned recovery. Don’t be that person. Make recovery the most important part of your training plan and your workouts.

Recovery is a critical part of your training plan. It should not be an afterthought. You need to include adequate recovery at key points in your training in order for your body to rebuild so that you can do the next hard phase of training, and so that your rebuilding takes your performance to a new level. There is another key recovery opportunity, however, that should not be ignored. This is the recovery cycles within workouts. Naturally, athletes focus on the intensity part of workouts because, in part, that demonstrates athletic performance and because most athletes are very prone to competition, even in the context of training. There isn’t anything flashy about solid recovery between intervals. In fact, some folks might even be reluctant to embrace recovery cycles thinking that they represent weakness, or lack of form. This thinking is not helpful. Your focus should be on taking necessary steps to insure that the intervals you do are performed at the prescribed level, with perfect form. In order to consistently do this, you must recover adequately. Recovery, you see, is not a sign of weakness or lack of strength. Successful athletes always understand the value of doing high quality recovery, both between intervals, and between workouts. The successful athlete is disciplined about both areas of training, intensity, and recovery.

So, the next time your planned workout has a series of intervals separated by recovery periods, take charge of what happens during the recovery phase. Focus on physical and mental steps that will aid and speed recovery. Begin controlling your breathing and settle it down with deep breaths. Relax stressed muscles, and create a mental image of your heart rate going down like a thermometer. As you get better at controlling your recovery, you will discover that you are able to do more intervals, at a higher level of performance.

Gordy Paulson, USAC Level 1 Coach.

This training tip also to be featured on: www.CenturionCycling.com/training