Recovery: adapt to and prepare for training

Recovery Exercise is an essential part of any athlete's training. Recovery is where your body adapts to the training you've completed and prepares for future training. In the REAL Training diagram, Recovery Sessions are depicted by the green outer ring. If you are in a recovered state, you are ready to improve!

There are two types of recovery: active and passive.

Active recovery sessions are short and of low intensity. They provide both physical and mental health benefits. In addition, they help athletes maintain an exercise routine, increase overall volume, and allow time for working on technique and skills.

Passive recovery involves complete rest, such as taking a rest day or a morning or afternoon off training for those who routinely train twice a day. In the REAL training framework, rest days are considered an integral part of training and are recognised as a Training Session that should be incorporated into one's training plan at least once a week. 

Passive recovery also encompasses multiple weeks of complete rest at the end of a season. This is also considered an essential part of training.

In the REAL training framework Recovery Sessions and recovery days have two crucial roles: to prepare for training and to adapt to training. Before undertaking Endurance, Accumulation, or Limitless training sessions, an athlete needs to be in a recovered state. Attempting these sessions when your body and mind are not sufficiently fresh to perform them well will only result in sub-par performance or a failed session and potentially lead to over-training.

After conducting Endurance, Accumulation, or Limitless training sessions, it is important to undertake Recovery as it is here where adaptations to training take place. Adaptations do not take place whilst you are training. If an athlete never takes the time to recover, they will never gain all the possible adaptations. Eventually, their fitness level will stagnate, and in the worst situations, it will deteriorate.

So think of Recovery in the traditional sense of rejuvenation post-exercise but also as preparation for future exercise.

Duration

Recovery Sessions can be 30 to 90 minutes in duration, depending on the athlete's fitness & exercise modality. In general, the fitter you are, the longer a recovery session can be. High-impact sports like running tend to favour shorter sessions, whereas a non-weight-bearing exercise like swimming could have a longer duration.

Effort

Recovery Sessions should be physically and mentally easy to perform. The intensity should be below one’s aerobic threshold. Athletes often complete Recovery sessions at too high an intensity. Athletes need to be strict and make sure "Recovery is easy" so that subsequent Endurance, Accumulation and limitless Sessions can be performed "hard".

Frequency

Recovery sessions should be completed whenever an athlete is significantly fatigued such as following Acculumation, Limitless, or substantial Endurance Sessions.

Recovery should also be planned when future training demands will be high. This would be appropriate before Endurance, Accumulation, Limited Sessions. This will facilitate optimal performance of these sessions.

As an example, let's say you plan to have two Accumulation sessions in a week, knowing these are best performed following Recovery and will also require subsequent Recovery, you can start to see a training plan forming.

Of course, consecutive days of hard training/racing are possible, and essential in certain training or competition phases. However, every athlete eventually has to balance such efforts with recovery. Balancing Endurance/Accumulation and Limitless training sessions with Recovery Sessions is extremely important. Training and the following adaptation takes place over weeks, months, and years. Pushing training without adequate Recovery Sessions is counterproductive to long-term goals.

If you train two sessions a day, many of the sessions should be Recovery sessions. You may do an Endurance/Accumulation session in the morning and follow up in the afternoon with a Recovery session. You could even do 2 recovery sessions in a day. Sticking to one type of REAL training session per day is a great strategy

A planned active Recovery Training session can always be replaced by complete rest. This should especially be the case when exercising at what is normally an easy pace becomes struggle. There is no shame in having an unscheduled day of complete rest. There is also no shame in cutting training short.

It is however a big mistake for an athlete to opt for complete rest too often, rather than heading out on a Recovery Session. Recovery sessions do contribute to an athlete's overall training volume and durability. If planned Recovery Sessions start to become too demanding this is an indicator that one's other training sessions, Endurance, Accumulation, and Limitless are being performed at too high of an intensity, too long in duration or too frequently.

Additionally

A recovery session can be used to add volume to a training plan, especially for runners. One could complete an Endurance session in the morning and then add a recovery session in the evening. This increases volume and develops the durability of the athlete. In this case it should be remembered it does not mean the athlete will be 100% recovered the next day.

A recovery session is a great opportunity to work on drills, cadence, strength, and technique. Just ensure that intensity does not rise beyond one’s aerobic threshold.

Recovery sessions can also take the form of different training modalities, for example, a runner could go for an easy bike ride, and a cyclist could go for a swim. Even going for a walk or completing a stretching session can be considered an active recovery session.

Summary

Recovery training sessions usually take the following form:

• 30 to 90 minutes long {dependant on athlete fitness & exercise modality},

• below the aerobic threshold,

• generally a minimum of 2 Sessions per week, with 1 Session representing a complete day of rest

• can be followed by all REAL training sessions

The Recovery Session is the most important of the Four REAL Training Sessions. Nonetheless, it is often the session that most athletes neglect. It is essential to recover after completing Endurance, Accumulation, and Limitless sessions to ensure optimal adaptation. It is equally essential to be in a recovered state before attempting these sessions. Otherwise, they will not be performed optimally.

In short, recovery is where you adapt to training and prepare for training.