There are things we are taught especially in sports where we have to go hard every single day in order to become successful in what we want to do. The truth is, only a fraction of athletes ever truly become successful if you looked at things from a perspective. We were taught to give 110% and to not show weakness, be a robot that doesn't show emotions; in a nutshell you're not meant to act human. I'm all for giving it the best you can, but doing too much that your body can't handle it could kill you.
What about the average person just trying to better themselves and develop things little by little? Most of us are not some world-class athlete who have trainers at our beckon call and we certainly don't have the luxury of having a nutritionist telling us what we can or can't eat to make our performance better. For the most part, we must learn to rely on ourselves to make the most of what we can. We have to be our own nutritionist, coach, trainer or what have you. There are people in our lives that can guide us but it's up to us as individuals to put in the work.
Ever since I got into Physical Culture and studying different methods, being taught by various people and reading up on some of the best conditioning and strength programs on the planet, I end up really being my own guide. I have been given advice which I still use to this day from people I admire and have learned from but at the same time, when you're on your own, you learn things about yourself.
That's when I get into things like Sprint Training or better yet; Hill Sprints, I rely on my own instincts and take in things from various sources. For instance: The act of recovery as you perform Sprints 3x a week at max. In the past, I would do my sprint days near my home and do the typical lollygagging down the hill after a hard sprint and give myself an opportunity to catch my breath and than repeat for however many sprints. On my off days, there were times where I felt I had to be just as hardcore or slightly less than my sprint training and would do hammer workouts, circuit training, animal movements, deck of cards workouts or whatever and within a few weeks to a month or more I quit cold turkey and don't do it again until almost a year. I became my own worst enemy when it came to recovery.
Recovery is not an enemy, it's an ally and the older we get, the more recovery becomes our biggest asset. When you're in your teens and 20's, there are things you can get away with and believe me, I got away with stuff in my own training in my 20's but now since I'll be a couple years shy of 40, training will be different and although I love doing crazy stuff, still need to be wise enough to find the right tools to perform at my best. When I need a recovery day or just something to get my energy levels going, doing little things seem to be easier than just going balls out in one shot. Isometric Exercises here and there, some reps of bodyweight or cable work and maybe some weight vest walking or hiking. The most important thing to take care of on recovery days is definitely your joints, next to that is rest. Anything else will fall into place with the right mindset.
Most people can drive to a hill (if there's one in their area) but mine is a 20 min walk, that's my warm up. I get to the hill, do some Joint Loosening and than go for it doing as many bursts that I want to do that day and than walk 20 minutes back home. Overall takes about an hour door to door and it knocks my ass out cold at times. Maybe that's a good thing because I listen to my body and recover as much as I need to and than go about my day. Your body is the only one you have, get the most out of it but also have the wisdom and knowledge to keep it maintained and keeping things in gear.
There are people who don't always have the luxury of sleeping it off after a hard sprint day and it is understandable. The point is, is if you're doing any sort of hard training whether it be Sprints, Weight Training, Sports Conditioning or whatever and it doesn't matter if you're average joe or freaking Lebron James, if you can find some sort of time to recover, take it for as long as you can and it may be 5 minutes or when the kids are taking a nap or out playing, make the time for you when you can.
Recovery is letting the body take care of itself and it varies from different people how well they can recover. Too much of it however, can hinder your progress but too little can get you hurt and you'd be useless to people who may need you. Just like the Three Bears, there is something there that is just right; you just need to discover it and take advantage of it.
Train hard, recover as best as you can and be your own success. You got this and you are amazingly awesome.
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