When we talk about recovery we are venturing in to the land of stress management. Literally

everything we do throughout our day causes stress on our bodies. Considering that concept we

now must look at how we will manage such stress in order to maintain a successful training

career.

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Sleep

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Sleep is by far one of the most undervalued tools we have in our arsenal. Inadequate sleep

leads to impared physical and cognitive function. If we are talking physiological processes in the

body then over longer periods of time (3 months) we see a loss of body composition as the body

tends to break down proteins in muscle over fat making weight management harder to maintain.

Reduction in immune function occurs and overall we do not feel as good on a daily basis.

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Active

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Active recovery refers to any sort of light intensity activity that keeps your heart rate under 50%.

Walking, yoga and bike rides are a good example of active recovery. The movement associated

with each will help your body to stay limber allowing blood to flow through tissues it may not

access if we stay on the couch feeling sorry for ourselves.

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Skills

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Using your off days to practice a skill is an excellent way to help your body and mind recover

from what may have been a heavy session or sessions. Giving your system a novel input will

always spark a cascade of internal events.

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Stretching/Breathing

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Streching and breathing are great ways to express expansion in the body. Basically when we

are feeling a little beaten up we need to restore expansion on some level. Using breathing in

certain positions will allow us to create a “stretch” from the inside of our bodies. Aliging our body

form inside using breathing allows us to attack tightness from the outside. We will always work

from the inside out when using either of these protocols.