Recovery

A solid recovery day today. The weekend of training was a pretty tough one this week and so today I really just needed some time to get over it. That didn't mean a day sitting on the couch though.

While sitting on the couch can be a very good recovery strategy, it isn't always the most effective one. At Front Runner we are big advocates of dynamic recovery. This is a good way of getting those tired muscles to be active without making them more fatigued. For endurance sports it can also be a way fo squeezing a bit more low intensity mileage into your week.

The idea of the recovery session is to get out and do some exercise, but keep it very light and not do too much of it. Like all our training sessions, recovery sessions have a point to them so it is important to do the session with this point in mind. In this case the point is recovery, not fitness. Generally our guidance is that a recovery session should be between about 40 minutes and 60 minutes. You want to get out and be active, however, if you are training for too long, even at low intensity, then the session becomes less about recovery and more about working.

Speaking of working, the other important aspect of a good recovery session is of course intensity. It should go without saying that a recovery session should be really light. Garmin and other training platforms define heart rate training zones and for a recovery session you want to be firmly in Zone 1. Some athletes really struggle with this idea, the premise of going out and not pushing. In fact recovery sessions done too hard is a common mistake that we see. However, once you come to terms with the idea of doing recovery sessions, there is something very enjoyable about them, relaxing even. I use them as a good chance to think about technique. Plus, if you do it right, you actually come out the other side feeling better than when you started.

I call that a win.