Date: 06/02/2012
What is so important about the recovery stage of exercising?
Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss. Recovery time allows these stores to be replenished and allows tissue repair to occur. Without sufficient time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to breakdown from intensive exercise. Symptoms of overtraining often occur from a lack of recovery time. Signs of overtraining include a feeling of general fatigue, depression, and decreased sports performance, increased risk of injury and lack of motivation just to name a few.
One or two nights of poor or little sleep won't have much impact on performance, but consistently getting inadequate sleep can result in subtle changes in hormone levels, particularly those related to stress, muscle recovery and mood. Some research indicates that sleep deprivation can lead to increased levels of cortisol (stress hormone), decreased activity of human growth hormone (which is active and crucial during tissue repair), and decreased insulin sensitivity. A good rule of thumb is aiming for 8 hours per night.
Adding appropriate recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues.
Always paying attention to how your body feels and how motivated you are will help in determining your recovery needs and modifying your training program accordingly and always keeping your trainer up to date with how you are feeling will help keeping your results continue and not come to a plateau stage.
Another major focus of recovery immediately following exercise has to do with replenishing amino acids (protein), energy stores and fluids lost during exercise and prevent muscle breakdown by eating the right foods at your post workout meal which should a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats (amounts depending on what your training goals are).
5 good examples are:
- A good high quality whey protein shake
- A piece of salmon, sweet potato and vegetable
- Tuna and brown/basmati rice
- Omelette with spinach, tomato and mushroom
- Chicken with a large garden salad and avocado
To sum it all up always remember that you should be feeding your body with quality ingredients after an intense workout and throughout the day to ensure your getting the fuel you need to recover and make the effort to get a good night’s sleep.
