Improvement is What Happens Inbetween

We all like to train hard and probably in large amounts. In the past we used to say that there were no prizes for those that could train the hardest but now apps like Strava encourage this masochistic trend. Still, there are very few of us who live only to train. We want to improve and we want to compete at events and this improvement only happens if we give our bodies time to adapt to the work that we have done.

When we train we are placing our bodies under stress. Damage is done as a result but, as long as we are applying that stress correctly, the damage is not catastrophic. Seriously damaging or not, we still need to allow our bodies to repair it and adapt to it.

Think of our training sessions as a series of storms that are hammering a coastline. The storm is severe enough to damage our little house with the scenic view but not so bad that it completely destroys it and causes us to abandon it for pastures greener. Once the storm has passed (after the training session is over, in case you are not following my metaphor), we start work on repairing our little house. Hopefully the next storm doesn’t arrive before we have at least rebuilt to the condition that our house was in before the last one but, preferably, we want to have enough time to make some improvements so that our little house will be in better shape to not incur the same level of damage during the next storm. That is improvement.

Our bodies are the same. We cause damage, and stress our bodies to their limits during hard training sessions (the storms… for those that are more jock than scholar). So, at the end of the session our bodies are in a worse state than they were before we started the session. As soon as we stop, our bodies get to work repairing, refuelling and preparing for the next onslaught. If we don’t give our bodies enough time to make the repairs before our next hard session we will not make progress. Our bodies will literally only have enough time to get us back to the state that we were before the last session before we start causing damage again. This is called stagnating and it is a state that many amateur athletes find themselves in.

An even worse state is over-trained. This is what happens when our training load exceeds our bodies capacity to make the repairs between each hard session and it only gets enough time and resources to recover to a lower level and then the same training load will result in an even more battered body (little house after the storm… I’m sure you’ve got it now) which, if the cycle is continued with another hard session results in the body gradually recovering to a lower and lower level until it is no longer to perform the next session.

After each storm we identify weaknesses in our little house and make improvements given enough time. These improvements allow our little house to withstand every increasingly damaging storms. Our house becomes stronger and stronger. So, in our training, we need to give our bodies enough time between hard sessions in order to not only return to the level we were at before that session but, to improve so that we can better withstand the demands of the same session and potentially, handle harder or longer sessions in the future.

Recovery is not only about rest. We need to refuel. This is like providing our little builders with the materials that they need to repair and improve our little house. We will need carbohydrates to refill our depleted fuel reserves and protein to make the structural repairs to muscles and connective tissue. We will also need minerals and vitamins that initiate and control all the processes at cellular level. This is all taken care of with a good diet and, if we need it, good supplementation. We also need to think about when we consume our meals as this is as important as what these meals constitute.

Complete rest is hardly ever the best requirement for recovery and improvement. Movement heals and light sessions in between harder ones keep the muscles working without causing more damage. We increase circulation of nutrients through the working muscles and we will not only speed up our recovery but keep our bodies in a better state of preparedness for the next hard session.

Sleep is probably the most underutilised recovery technique by amateur athletes. Life is busy and even sedentary people have trouble finding the time for everything they want to do. We are adding in hours and hours of training to our weekly schedule and something has to compensate for that. Don’t let it be sleep though. This is when our bodies do their best work. There is less distraction and less for the body to deal with when we are sleeping and the work gets done faster and better. It is not only the number of hours that we get that counts but also how good the quality of those hours are. Think about the things that help us to sleep well and wake up refreshed and make them a habit as much as our training is.

Keep working on your little house and you’ll enjoy the scenic view for years to come, no matter how big the storms become.