Active Recovery

June 7, 2012

Ahhhh, Thursdays… I get a little extra sleep in the morning and usually wind up running like a mad woman out of the house because I am out of my typical routine!! Wednesday nights are my “late nights” so if I make plans with friends, have an appointment for something or want to stay up late to watch tv or read, that’s the night that I do it! Its nice to have one day that’s a little different from the rest. I try to keep my food intake as “normal” as possible and since I cant kick my healthy crossfit addiction, I make my daily trip to CFW for some good old fashioned “active recovery” work.

What, you ask, is “active recovery?” Its pretty important in any training regimen and athletes of all kinds should have some days like this in their training schedule, they are almost as important as total rest days and working days! There have been plenty of studies done on this and some different findings… but over all here is what I have learned. Active recovery is either done right after you have a major competition (similar to a cool down) or it is performed the days following the competition, or it can be worked into the normal weekly training routine as an “off” day from intense training.  According to one thing I read by Bryan Chung who is a MD and PhD researcher and methodologist in musculo-skeletal health, “Active recovery can be loosely defined as a low-intensity activity (such as submaximal cycling or low-intensity weight training) used to enhance the recovery process between training sessions or competitions. The theory is that by increasing blood flow (your heart rate increases, therefore your blood is making more 'rounds' as it were), lactate and other 'waste products' are cleared faster, thereby minimizing their detrimental effects in tissues. This should translate practically to a faster recovery than if your blood were moving at its normal velocity. This would mean that you could train more frequently at sustained or higher intensity levels without exposing yourself to the risks of inadequate recovery. Sounds like a great idea, eh?” Phew… does that make sense… it does to me! 

Be smart, if your an addict (like me) dont over train and listen to and trust your coaches... they know what they are doing! 

WARMUP:

Row 500m

Foam Roll and LAX Shoulder Mobility

ACTIVE RECOVERY:

4 X 500m Row ( @ 80% with 2min rest between sets)

5 X 3 Kipping Pullups

Double Under Practice (strung together 35, they are coming along great!)

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