Why you should give your body enough time for recovery

Why is that?

Very simple. Your real performance enhancement happens NOT while you are on the track collecting miles (or kilometers). It happens when you recover from those exertions. Sport Scientists call it the "Supercompensation Effect". During the time when you strain your body with an endurance exercise the performance of your muscles decreases over time. When you break up your exercise your body tries to adapt to those new conditions while making tiny changes in your physiology that you won't notice in the beginning (improving blood circulation, building up new muscle fibers, enhancing the capacities of your lungs and improving your intake of oxygen and so on).

You literally develop your body while you are sleeping!

When you time your next exercising unit exactly at the right moment then you can induce more adaptions inside of your body that will make you either faster, stronger, more persistent or all in conjunction. If you continue the process then you are on the right way to new heights in your Triathlon Training career. I hope you start getting excited because it's really that simple.

We will into more detail later on because you need to understand this concept clearly. For the moment it is enough to know that recovery is as important as the exercise itself.

So don't make the same mistake as one of my dear training friends is consistently doing: She never gives her body time for the recovery thus shooting herself into the knee and wondering all the time why she doesn't get any better results from year to year. Maybe it's an ego thing but I suggest you get over it. You're not a wimp if you do not exercise every single day like a machine. Plan your training schedule accordingly smart and not hard. Block enough time out for your regeneration.

Return from Recovery to Triathlon Adventures