Rehab.Prevent.PerformREHAB.PREVENT.PERFORMAre you sabotaging your best efforts to become fitter, more athletic and in better shape this January?Want to still be motivated and performing when we get to February and March 2017?Focusing on the PREVENT phase of our SP Injury and Rehab Clinic's motto to help you become a better athlete, turns our heads toward the 3 R's of Recovery.What are the 3 R's? Namely, REST RESTORE and REBUILD.There is nothing worse than working hard and the development and progressions you were hoping for, just aren't happening! Enough for you the scream WTF!But, if you are constantly tired, not achieving your performance goals, have poor sleep, have got that nagging little injury............Sound familiar? Well, it's down to you. Yep, it really is YOUR fault!Your body is desperately trying to tell you it needs recovery and it needs it now and every single day.You really are only every going to be as good as your recovery processes. Why, well this is where the magic of growth and adaptation occurs, not on the gym floor but at home. If your body is trying to fight inflammation, overuse, not enough sleep, poor nutrition, and rising cortisol levels, then it will focus on trying to repair. It will not be looking to help you grow and adapt to the training stimulus.So, we focus on three key areas of Prevention: REST, RESTORE and REBUILD.RESTFocus on improving sleeping patterns and reducing stress in your lifeMethod: Sleep Goal: Consistency and Quality of SleepWhy: Your brain and body require prolonged and sufficient deep sleep to recover efficientlyHow to achieve:· Get to bed before midnight and try to aim for 7-8 hours of quality, deep sleep· Try and reduce the amount of TV, laptop, smartphone, and tablet prior to bed. Ideally, 1 hr before heading to bed· Have a consistent wake up time, even at the weekends, sleeping to lunchtime on Sunday isn't the answer· Try to reduce the amount of "stuff" going on in your head by writing things down before bed. This simple act changes the processes in your sub-conscious and will help.Method: De-stress Goal: How I will manage to control stress Why: Identifying what we can and cannot control helps make decisions on how we react to stressful situations.How to achieve:· Decide what you can and cannot control· Once you know what you can control, establish which item(s) is most important for you· Focus on these areas to control and prioritise them· Establish a plan to tackle those areas of stress and take action to reduce them as a stressorRESTOREAim to get a couple of recovery training sessions in during the week. This allows for quicker restoration of the body before your next focused strength or speed session.Method: Recovery Workouts Goal: Ideally 1 per week, even better would be 2 if possible between hard training sessions. Why: We need to reduce the central nervous system (CNS) fatigue, promote parasympathetic nervous system activity and restore equilibrium to our bodies. If we can do this, then we will be in a better place to have a far more effect hard training session, either the next day or scheduled strength session.How to achieve:1. A sweat session· Undertake 1-2 low-level energy system exercises to get a sweat going, e.g. 15-20 min 20 metre stride-out sprints or a gentle 15-20 min Concept 2 row· This will increase blood flow, promote oxygen delivery and enzyme/hormone activity which will promote healing and subsequent growth.· Complete a couple of torso-stability exercises, e.g. overhead rotational ball slams which can focus on areas needing attention at a lower level of exertion2. Mobilise· Mobility exercises will help you address issues away from the gym, e.g. sitting at a desk for work or soreness felt following a prior tough training session.· Ideally, mobilising the hips, thoracic and lumbar spine will help to reduce delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) type issues, improve muscle fatigue, increase circulation and promote activation of fresh nutrients to sore areas.· Focusing on compound exercises, such as spider-man mobility stretches or quadruped thoracic rotations REBUILDExercise will reduce nutrient stores during active sweat-induced exercise and through structural tissue damage to muscles and other soft-tissues. This is one of the most important parts of recovery; getting enough nutrients to allow for physiological repair and growth.Get this wrong and all the effort in the gym or on the track does go out the window!Method: Effective quality and quantity of nutrient-dense macro-nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Goal: Ideally 1 per week, even better would be 2 if possible between hard training sessions. Why: Protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins, and water ALL play a part in nutritional recoveryHow to achieve this:· Choose good quality non-processed food sources, which are high in vitamins and minerals· This needs to include all macro- and micro-nutrients, don't be fooled into restricting or eliminating specific food groups. E.g. not carbs!!· Consume sufficient protein within 1 hour of finishing your training session. Ideally aiming for approximately 30 grams of protein, depending on bodyweight and body type (somatotype)· Ensure magnesium rich foods are incorporated into your diet, especially post training . These are vital for cardiac health, muscular activity and cell repair, oxygen delivery, nervous system efficiency. This can be found in magnesium rich foods such as almonds, bananas, avocado's, and green leafy vegetables such as kale.· Watch your alcohol consumption, as it has a toxic-effect on the liver, any attempt to repair and grow the body will become secondary to the liver removing the toxins in alcohol from your body.· Use supplements effectively and carefully, they are exactly that, a supplement to your regular diet, which should, as you know, be as nutrient dense as possible. Supplements can help the rest, restore and rebuild phases of recovery. But, supplements cannot do this on their own.Try and incorporate these aspects of recovery into your training and you will see the gains and progressions you are after. Ignore them and wait for your body to bite back! Alan Dean MSc, CSCS, PN1Smarter Performance Ltd.www.smarterperformance.co.uk
