For youth athletes, training hard is often stressed. Without putting in the hard work, success won’t come. It’s important to train and work on sports skill sets, but recovery is key for optimal performance. Incorporating proper rest into your training can prevent injuries, and promote long-term athletic development.
The idea is to rest smart, meaning planning rest and recovery days into training schedules.
The Importance Of Recovery For Training
Rebuilding Muscles
During intense workouts, your muscles undergo stress and minor damage. Rest allows your muscles to repair, rebuild, and grow stronger. Without rest, the body doesn’t have time to recover. This means muscle fatigue and then a decrease in performance.
Rest Prevents Injury
Continuous training without rest increases the risk of overuse injuries such as tendonitis, stress fractures, and muscle strains. Rest days give your body time to heal and reduce the likelihood of chronic injuries.
Perform Better
Rest days improve overall performance. Well-rested athletes have better reaction times, improved agility, and enhanced cognitive functions, all of which contribute to better performance in their respective sports.
Manage Stress
Being an athlete means having a full plate of training, school, volunteer work, and a job. Scheduling rest days into a training plan is a great way to manage stress. Getting enough sleep helps regulate hormones, especially the stress hormone cortisol. Managing stress has a positive effect on overall health.
Active vs Passive Rest
Recovery in a training plan may include active and passive rest days. Active rest means the athlete is still moving. It involves low-intensity activities that promote blood flow and aid in recovery without putting additional stress on the body. Activities like walking, swimming, and light cycling are examples of active rest.
Passive rest refers to complete rest where you do no physical activity. In short, the best passive rest is sleep.
Recovery In Training
It’s important to have full rest days in a training plan to allow time for the body to recover. Make sure to foam roll and stretch and seek massages for recovery.
It’s also a great idea to lessen the workout load every four to six weeks. Decrease workout load and intensity to allow the body to recover without de-conditioning.