what recovery actually is, why it matters, and why “just pushing through” might be the thing holding you back.

Recovery is starting to create a lot of buzz in the online space these days. What is it that actually improves recovery and why is it important?

Think about it this way: the workouts were the paycheck, recovery is the bank account.

Most people keep depositing and never check the balance. Sometimes they develop overuse injuries, injury-injuries, or just plain do not feel good most of the time (they won’t tell you that tho).

Let’s bust some myths right off the bat. What is recovery?

Recovery IS:

• A physiological process

• Nervous system regulation

• Tissue repair and energy restoration

Recovery is NOT:

• Skipping workouts because you’re exhausted

• Lying on the couch doom-scrolling

• Crushing another workout “to feel productive”

Now, we all know that a workout breaks down muscle and increases blood flow, which often leads to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The intensity of those DOMS is associated with how well your body is able to recover from previous workouts and the last workout.

Sleep and nutrition also play into how well the body recovers as our cells function on ATP (AKA energy; AKA glucose); therefore, if sleep is reduced and the body is not properly fueled for the activity it just completed that soreness is worse & it lasts longer.

Sleep: The Unsexy Performance Enhancer

Sleep is when the body is able to repair tissue at an accelerated pace. Faster repair leads to less time feeling sore and struggling with sitting/standing from the toilet (been there, done that😅).

The hormones and nervous system are also able to regulate during sleep. If chronically under-sleeping, this can build up into a whole hoist of problems but for the purpose of this blog we’ll focus on physical recovery and workouts/activities. Chronic under-sleeping leads to slower healing and thus higher injury risk.

The recommended sleep duration for adults is between 7-9 hours. There is some speculation that the more sedentary the lifestyle the poorer sleep quality and higher rates of short sleep or insomnia symptoms.

Now, as a more active or athletic adult there is no clear recommendation differentiating from “average” adults; although, with a higher training load it can be reasonably deducted that more sleep is needed for recovery.

8-10+ hours of sleep total per 24hr cycle can increase healing/recovery from training. Give it a try, I promise when I started to throw in occasional naps my training improved and felt good 👀

Fueling & Hydration: Set the Stage for Repair

Recovery is cellular—you can’t repair what you don’t supply

• Under-fueling shows up as:

  • Persistent soreness

  • Plateaued performance

  • Hormonal and nervous system stress

Hydration basics:

It may sound redundant, but 2% dehydration impacts recovery and performance. The recommended hydration each day is half your body weight in ounces. MORE if you are expending energy and sweating, which is also where electrolytes matter.

If you have more concerns about fueling and hydration I highly recommend you reach out to a registered dietitian, such as Alyssa with Peak to Peak Nutrition.

Recovery is important to me, and that’s the reason I specialize in it. Book a free consultation with me to find out what working together could look like!