Recovery Techniques – Part Two

In part one we looked at what recovery was and types of passive recovery, and introduced the pyramid of recovery.  To remind you the pyramid look liked

Active Recovery

The definition of active recovery is as said, loosely defined, as exercise at low intensity level. 

As the pyramid shows active recovery is the second tier, and has an important element to play.

Forms of Active Recovery

Cool Down

According to ausport: Warmup-Cooldown a cool down consists of low intensity body movement such as jogging or walking (if running training) immediately after training and should last for 5 to 10 minutes.  Flexibility training after activity also helps.

The cool down should be viewed as bringing the body from a heighten, albeit tired, state to down to a more normal state by reducing the intensity the exercise.

A cool down I use after our a main track sessions,  is as follows;

·         Run an easy 300m (at 80%)

·         400-800 metres (5 to 10 minutes) done,

o   start with a jog, and

o   introduce skipping with jogging,

o   move to skipping and walking, and

o   finish with just walking

·         10 minutes of easy stretching

·         Contrast Therapy

The stretching and contrast therapy, which will be discussed in part three, are performed at the athletes’ house as the athlete’s live ten minutes away from the training venue.

Easy day of training

As this implies it is an easier training than normal.  What is an easy day?

An easy day is, generally considered as being, a training session that is 50-75% of regular training load. 

Examples of an easy day of training

A long distance runner, who normally runs 15km in 60 minutes a day, might do a 30-45 minutes as an easy day.  I caution that this only works if the intensity is equal to or less than the intensity of the normal day.

Hard Day        60 minute run at 4 minute per km (15 km)

Easy Day         45 minute run at 4 minute per km (11 km) anything faster is not an easy day

A sprinter would use the same approach and a sample hard session and easy session for a sprinter might be

Hard Day        3 x 4 x 60m @ 95%

Easy Day         2 x 3 x 60m @ 90%

For sprinters, I tend to use the above approach in periodisation planning for an easy week, in the mesocycle/block.  Whereas easy days, during the microcycle, I tend to use extensive tempo training as an active recovery session.  The volume is higher but the intensity is lower.  A sample session maybe 5 x 4 x 100 @ 70% max, with 30 seconds to 2 minutes rest.

Stretching/Mobility

A basic definition of stretching and mobility is follows, supplied by Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman.

Mobility – Range of motion under specific circumstances (specific)

Flexibility – Range of motion about a joint (non-specific)

Stretching and flexibility is interchangeable, but an easy way of looking at it is stretching is an act that helps to improve flexibility (see definition of flexibility above)

Technically there is no difference, but the specificity is important.  The term flexibility is generally interchangeable with stretching.

Eric Cressey in his article the_joint_health_checklist outlines a minimum, acceptable and optimum amount of mobility, static stretching and soft tissue work per week.  The table below outlines these for an athlete under the age of 32.  Soft tissue work will be discussed in part three

Under 32 Athlete	Minimum	Acceptable	Optimum
Mobility	2	3	5
Static Stretching	1	2	3
Soft-Tissue	2	3	4

Cressey: 2006

There is a wide range of ways to stretch, but in essence they are broken up into static or active.  A lot of people use the word dynamic instead of active.  I use active, because it implies movement whereas dynamic implies a quicker and snapper movement.  Definition of static, active, and dynamic are as follows;

·         Static – pertaining to or characterized by a fixed or stationary condition.

·         Active – in a state of action

·         Dynamic – pertaining to or characterized by energy or effective action

Even then this is delineation is simplified as stretches are always either active or passive (muscle working or not), and dynamic or static (muscle moving or being held still). Read here for more details.  Due to this there are four types of stretching, which are

·         Passive-Static stretching.

·         Active-Static stretching:

·         Passive-Dynamic stretching:

·         Active-Dynamic stretching:

For this article, we will use the static and active definition.

Types of Stretching and how they are performed

Static

·                Static Stretching:

This is the most common form of stretching and is considered safe and effective for improving overall flexibility with limited threat of injury.  It is a good choice for beginners and sedentary individuals.

Static stretching is performed by placing the body into a position whereby the muscle to be stretched is under tension.  Then slowly, and cautiously, the body is moved to increase the tension of the muscle being stretched. At this point, the position is held or maintained to allow the muscles to lengthen.

·                Passive (or Assisted) Stretching:

This form of stretching is very similar to static stretching.  This type of stretching involves an external assistance, such as bodyweight, a strap, gravity, or another person.

Passive stretching is performed by relaxing the muscle and rely on the external assistance to hold you in place.

Passive stretching is useful in helping to attain a greater range of movement, but carries with it a slightly higher risk of injury. It can also be used effectively as part of a rehabilitation program or as part of a cool down.

·         PNF Stretching:

PNF stretching, or Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, is a more advanced form of flexibility training that involves both the stretching and contracting of the muscle group being targeted.  There are many different variations of the PNF stretching principle and sometimes it is referred to as,

o   Contract-Relax stretching or

o   Hold-Relax stretching, or

o   Muscle Energy Technique

The area to be stretched is positioned so that the muscle (or muscle group) is under tension. The individual then contracts the stretched muscle group while a partner (or immoveable object) applies sufficient resistance to inhibit movement. The effort of contraction should be relevant to the level of conditioning. The contracted muscle group is then relaxed and a controlled stretch is applied for a period of time.

·              Isometric Stretching:

Isometric stretching is a form of passive stretching similar to PNF stretching, but the contractions are held for a longer period of time.

Isometric stretching places high demands on the stretched muscles and is not recommended for children or adolescents who are still growing.  Other recommendations include allowing at least 48 hours rest between isometric stretching sessions and performing only one isometric stretching exercise per muscle group in a session.

To perform an isometric stretch; assume the position of the passive stretch and then contract the stretched muscle.  Be sure that all movement of the limb is restricted. Then relax the muscle. This procedure should be repeated.

Active

·              Active Stretching:

Active stretching is performed without any aid or assistance from an external force. This form of stretching involves using only the strength of the opposing muscles (antagonist) to generate a stretch within the targeted muscle group (agonist). The contraction of the opposing muscles helps to relax the stretched muscles.

This type of stretching exercise an active movement to an end of movement, there can be a hold at this position, and reverse of the movement to the start of the position.

A form of active stretching is AIS developed by Aaron Mattes

·                Dynamic Stretching:

Dynamic stretching uses a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to move a particular body part to the limit of its range of movement.  The force of the bounce or swing is gradually increased but should never become radical or uncontrolled.

Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching.  At no time during dynamic stretching should a body part be forced past the joints normal range of movement.

·              Ballistic Stretching

Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is different from dynamic stretching, which is describe above.

Ballistic stretching is generally not considered useful and can lead to injury as it does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. Conversely, it may cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex. However, if your sporting event requires a ballistic movement, then it may be appropriate and perhaps necessary to conduct ballistic stretching exercises as part of your preparation.

It is beyond the scope of this article to prescribe which method should be used, but generally most people would benefit from a static and active type of stretching, as well as mobility exercises.

There are a many sources for mobility and stretching sessions available and, a blatant plug, Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey are good starting points.  Their websites are as follows; http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/ and http://www.ericcressey.com/

Take Home Points

Active recovery is an inaugural part of your training regimen, and starts at the very end of the work part of training with your cool down.

During a training week most coaches and athletes have an easy day, or more, of training.

Working on these two elements and ensuring that they are providing the necessary benefit will provide an increased ability to recovery from hard sessions.

Stretching and mobility work, generally irrespective of the type, performed regularly and consistently will improve the range of motion and general health of the body.