Seb Coe stresses the need to be “both consistent and resilient in one’s training”. But, advises “you need to know when to back off.”
We have, already, addressed the obsession, that, people have with and the trap that sports club fall into with over-training. We exercise and train to breaking-point and wonder why we are not improving or enjoying the process: doing too many miles running, or cycling, or swimming
We can't even resist the temptation to turn simple Vorsprung embedding or Vorsprung embodying sessions into full-on intensive work-outs! Not to mention how people abuse the term 'recovery' sessions.
For Vorsprung, we regard recovery sessions as important as rest days and high intensity sessions. They are not 'add-ons', or 'additional sessions', that we can take-or-leave. We frame our whole programmes around rest days and recovery sessions.
Without rest days and recovery sessions, we are not able to build, improve, learn, embed, embrace or enjoy. Without recovery sessions, we would push the body to the point of exhaustion or breaking-point and increase injury risks: which is, actually, what happens at clubs far too much.
A valid question asked by a physiologist, with whom Vorsprung, works with is: "why do we want to speed-up recovery?" A modern desire, that over-uses gadgets and creams et al.
At Vorsprung, we take our time. We listen carefully to our bodies and we listen again.
Often, even when we think we are not in need of a recovery session, we have to be disciplined and keep it in place.
For Vorsprung, though, a recovery session is not as simple as a slow run if you're a runner, or slow cycle if you're a cyclist, or slow swim if you're a swimmer. Recovery sessions would be just that: 'recovery from' running, or cycling, or swimming. Otherwise, you are just pounding and stressing the same parts of the body, albeit, in a less intense manner. Even if your exercise is gym work, you need to plan recovery sessions, which might mean resting the upper-body work while you concentrate on the lower body or vice-versa.
For runners, having a cycling on your recovery session helps to rest the muscles and joints. Similarly, opting for a different discipline if you are a swimmer, or cyclist the aim is to rest the legs from the same repetitive motion.
To truly benefit from any exercise or training programme you must discover the value of a proper recovery.
.JPG)