10 Tips For Your Recovery Day

By LifeSport Coaches Paul Regensburg & Lance Watson

Every good triathlon training program will have at least one or two rest days per week to allow you to recover.  Many triathlete's are overachievers with very active personalities and are often chronic multi-taskers.  This can often lead to a feeling of guilt when not training or being active. This is further complicated by the sheer time that is required to train for multi-sport placing a squeeze on time for other life activities including work, family, house work, etc.

When we see a triathlete that never takes a day off it is usually not too long until the athlete finds themselves over-trained, injured, sick, or just plain burned out.  So, now that you have decided to take the recovery day or two, what to do?  Maybe you should play soccer or go hiking.  No!  A recovery day is for the body to rest not to cross train!  Take it easy, relax, and remember… 

Your body only gets faster and stronger when you recover! 

Here are some suggestions on what to do on your recovery day… 

1.      Sit on the couch with your feet elevated – the couch is a good thing! Elevation assists the lymphatic system to drain inflammation. Watch movies or play video games.

2.      Spend some time with your loved ones.  When you are training they can often be left out

3.   Sleep in and/or take a nap. Sleep greatly aids recovery.

4.   There is a lot of value in taking a day completely off. Alternately, recovery sessions can facilitate recovery as well in a highly trained athlete. Delivering oxygen and nutrients with blood flow to healing muscles can help accelerate recovery. Consider a 30minute bike ride, or 1000m swim with drills. Do not let you heart rate rise much at all.

5.   Don't use this day for a deep massage.  Deep tissue massage can inhibit muscle tissue regeneration from training. The evening before your recovery day is a better time.

6.   Soak your legs in contrasting hot and cold water, or take an Epson salt bath. 3:00 hot and 1:30 cold, repeat 3-4 times. Always finish with cold.

7.   If you are not training at all, go for a short light walk.

8.   Stretch lightly and relaxed. Do light yoga (relaxation and flexibility oriented.

9.   Don't overeat but enjoy your meals. Make sure you eat some protein, as it rebuilds muscle.

10. Mental recovery is important - try not to have any scheduled appointments or tasks. A hectic day of errands can leave you feeling tired.  

The less active you can be on your rest day, the better. It is important to remember that this also includes activities that are non-training related. You may feel a bit lethargic but your body will thank you for it down the road as you feel better and get faster and stronger!