Recovery Day Nutrition

Recovery day = Growth day.

Every athlete will have intentional rest or active recovery days built into the training plan.

Recovery is crucial because it gives the body time to adapt to the previous stressors of training and heal the mind. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues.

On a recovery day, it’s common for athletes to dramatically cut calories or avoid carbohydrates for fear of gaining weight when energy expenditure is low. And for some, the opposite occurs - a rest day is synonymous with “cheat day” and there is permission to eat foods normally off-limit.

Improper nutrition on a recovery day may hinder your development or set you up for a setback due to sickness or illness.

Your recovery day is a day to fuel and nourish your body to become a stronger, more fit and healthy athlete. Remember, high volume/intensity training will cause excessive inflammation, deplete glycogen storage, increase the risk for dehydration and damage tissues and muscles. A light or off day from training may be the only opportunity in the week to strategically consume the right type of foods to maximize recovery before another week of training.

Rest day nutrition - to eat or not to eat?

After a strong weekend of training, I looked forward to my recovery day on Monday. I take my recovery days really seriously so if I am not up to purposeful movement, I don't. But on this past Monday, I felt like an EZ swim would be good to loosen out so after a good night of sleep, I went for a 40-minute, ~2400 meter swim. The meal picture posted above is the delicious dinner that I had at the end of my recovery day. A meatless burger topped with cheddar cheese and guac, roasted salty potatoes, salad w/ yogurt ranch dressing and chips. 

On Tuesday, I was excited and recharged. I met my good friend Kristen at the aquatic center for a swim workout. She was able to join me for half of the workout before she left for work. I finished with 5000 meters and the main set was 3 x (7 x 100's on 1:45 tempo, holding 1:28-1:29 followed by a 300 smooth pull). It was one of those swim workouts where I never ran out of energy and just kept wanting to swim. I finally made myself get out at 5000 meters because it was time for a treadmill run at home. 

I choose the treadmill instead of outside just to lighten the load after a big weekend of training. The main set was 10 x 2 min up-tempo at 8mph w/ 1 min EZ between (65 minute total workout). 

Wednesday was my "long" ride since we are traveling this week (more on that soon) and I had a beautiful day to enjoy a ride up Caesar's Head (42 minutes to get up the 6.32 mile climb) and rewarded myself with an incredible view at the top before descending back down. It was a windy day but I felt strong. I finished the workout with a ~4.3 mile run off the bike around our hilly hood. 

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Your 'athlete' diet includes what you eat on training days and on easy/off/active recovery days.

If you are like most athletes, what to eat on a rest/off day can be tricky. It's not uncommon for athletes to dramatically restrict calories, skip meals or avoid carbohydrates for fear of gaining weight when energy expenditure is low. And sometimes the opposite occurs - a rest day is a "cheat day." In other words, a rest day is treated as the only day to eat foods that are normally "off-limit."

Recovery is crucial because it gives the body time to adapt to the stressors of training and to rest the mind. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores, rehydrate and repair damaged tissues. Improper recovery nutrition may hinder progress and set you up for a physical setback.

Simply said, what you eat on an off-day from exercise should be somewhat similar to what you normally eat on a training day. Because your workouts require you to strategically consume more energy from carbohydrates, the major change to your rest day dietary intake is the removal of foods that normally support your training sessions – the before, during and after workout foods and sport nutrition products.

If you struggle to eat enough on a day off from training for fear of weight gain, remind yourself that a rest day may be your only opportunity during the week to strategically consume the right types and amounts of foods to maximize recovery between two training sessions. The training sessions that typically precede a rest day will often induce excessive inflammation, deplete liver and muscle glycogen stores, damage tissues and exhaust the mind and body.

Consider a day off from exercise as a great opportunity to get the body back into a state of optimal health status.

Knowing what and when to eat on a day with reduced energy expenditure starts with smart planning.

The basis of a training-supportive diet starts with a healthy foundation of eating. Simply said, what you eat on an off-day from exercise should slightly mirror what you normally eat on a training day. Your meals and snacks outside of training sessions should be nutrient dense and composed primarily of real food. Because your workouts require you to strategically consume slightly more energy from carbohydrates , the major change to your rest day diet is the removal or reduction of foods that normally support your training sessions – before, during and after workout foods and drinks. There’s no need to eliminate carbs or drastically cut back on calories. Use your rest day as an opportunity to increase your fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and healthy fat consumption. Go ahead and spend a little extra time in the kitchen preparing meals. Be mindful about grazing and mindlessly eating with your extra time.

Recovery days - why you need them and what you should be doing

The countdown continues. 27 days until IMWI!

Although you should always value recovery in a smart training plan, it's the 4 weeks out from your race that are the most important in terms of arriving to the start line healthy, injury free and hungry to race. 

1 month out, your goal is to recover as much as possible from every workout. It's very easy to put in random "confidence building" long or intense workouts but often times, more damage can be done if you are trying to "prove" something with your body in the last few weeks before a race. Fitness is gained over time and to race strong, you have to periodize your training so that you can build, peak and taper appropriately. 

To race strong, this doesn't mean just taking a planned or unintentional day off from working every now and then but being smart with what you do on your recovery days, when you plan them. 

Many athletes are great workout followers. They have a planned workout and at any cost, they will find a way to check it off. However, sometimes this comes at a cost. A tired, worn-down, malnourished, sore, fatigued and unmotivated body does not get stronger by just going through the motions, especially in a haphazard training plan. 

With the right yearly-plan structure, fueling strategy, workouts and focus on individual needs, you will find yourself reaching performance goals and peaking appropriately on race day.
Physiologically and psychologically, athletes need rest days!

Many athletes use Monday as a recovery or off day due to higher weekly volume occurring on the weekend. However, I am also a big fan of having a day off mid-week (ex. Wed/Thurs) for the time-crunched age group athlete who is balancing family, kids, work may find him/herself feeling more like a zombie by the end of the week as oppose to fresh and energetic at the beginning of the week. This type of athlete can greatly benefit from a 2 or 3 day workout routine followed by 1 day off (or active recovery) routine as oppose to 6 days working out and 1 day off (or even worse for the busy age group athlete, 10 days working out and 1 day off).
Bottom line, you can train as hard as you want during a workout but resting your body creates better balance between your life, family, work and fitness goals. 

It's important to consider the best days  to rejuvinate, refuel and rest your body and mind. (it's ok if there is more than one, I often plan two recovery days into my weekly routine in the few weeks leading up to my IM taper)

Keep in mind that a recovery day is not used to only help you recover from previous workouts but to better prepare for future workouts. 

You can be the toughest, strongest and most hard working athlete but continuous working out without rest is a recipe for an eventual weak body and mind. 

If you put too much stress on the body for too many days, it is nearly impossible for the body/mind to recover in just 24 hours. By training smart, you can train harder by including more recovery into your training plan and find yourself making more consistent performance gains. 

So what should you be doing on your off/recovery day? 

-Sleeping in

-Moving your body with light activity throughout the day

-Movement focused stretching (ex. yoga)

-Eating balanced carb/protein-rich meals throughout the day (emphasizing easy to digest foods)

-Staying hydrated

-Catching up on to-do's and not spending any energy on the fact that you aren't training today (enjoy it - no guilt!) 

-Reflecting on last week to see if any modifications are needed 

-Early bed time

-Making sure all your gear/gadgets are ready for another week of quality training

Could you be overtrained? 
Here are some subjective measures (in addition to blood work) measures that may tell you that you need to take action now and rest your body. If you tend to find yourself injured, burnt out or overtrained throughout or at the end of a training cycle, it's recommended to work with a professional who can help you create a plan that puts the appropriate amount of training stress on the body so that you can recover and train harder the next day:
Keep in mind that it requires a long term relationship with a coach and good communication between coach/athlete to develop the right plan to help you reach your season goals.

-tired, drained and little energy
-greater RPE for a given effort, inability to hit previous paces/efforts
-decreased appetite

-unintentional weight loss or gain
-amennorhea (females)
-unable to perform consistently
-decreased motivation
-chronic aches in muscles/joints

-inability to fall asleep (insomnia or get restful sleep) at night but feeling extremely tired during the day
-depression/mood swings
-loss of enthusiasm for the sport ("I don't want to do this anymore, I don't care about my goals")
-injuries popping up (or ones that won't heal)
-decrease immunity (increased colds, sickness, headaches, etc.)