Monday, January 21, 2008

Recovery, 2

What is recovery? Recovery is the process of rest and repair that tissues need after a workout. Muscles and tendons strengthen and develop between training sessions. The stress you put on your muscles, for example, during a session prompts them to come back stronger after recovery.

The amount of time you need to recover is directly proportional to the intensity of your workout. Adequate sleep and good nutrition are also integral to tissue recovery. Gentle stretching helps increase blood flow which is necessary to carry off toxic wastes, oxygenate and nourish stressed tissues.

Some of my own injuries developed because I didn't allow adequate recovery time between exercise periods. When recovery time is too short, you go into your next session with tissues that have not had sufficient time to repair themselves.

Most recently, I have cut out (for now) the isometric exercises I added to my routine. Even at two or three times a week, my knees were constantly sore, and my old shoulder injury started to act up. I had a choice to make. I could tough it out and risk the probability of eventually being unable to continue my program at all, or I could give my joints a rest and continue at a lower level of intensity.

2 comments:

Steven said...

Sheepdog:

Great blog! I just finished reading all of your posts from day 1--it's all consistently good stuff. I'll try to spread your site around to some friends who are also interested in this type of thing. Hopefully, we can stir up a bit more discussion and input.

I'm 54, so I also experience the challenges you mention in terms of getting in shape and staying in shape. Right now, I'm nursing a sore shoulder and a sore knee: old injuries that act up when my regimen becomes too radical or, as is often the case, when my regimen becomes too light. I find I have as many (or more) problems when I get too lax as when I try to go too hard and fast.

Steven

Craig Mutton said...

Steven:

Welcome to Warskyl. I'm glad you like the blog.

I've also had shoulder & knee problems, but a major irritant is kinks in my neck & back, just as you indicated with your injuries -- they bother when I overtrain, but they're worse when I don't train at all.