Tips for Training and Recovery to help prevent Injury

During Lockdown Some of Us May have Increased Training.

Now that Lockdown has eased and the days are longer, many of us may have kept up this good habit. For some of us however, injury/pain may have crept up on us.

While increasing training load is never a bad thing, you do need to be careful not to increase by too much. This can come back to haunt us.

In this email, we will discuss how to train SMART and the importance of Recovery.

SMART Goals

This is a great way of setting achievable goals in a realistic time.

Specific- a goal that is clear and easy to understand: lose weight, run/cycle a specific distance

Measurable- set yourself a number for a clear number i.e. losing a certain amount of weight, walking/running/cycling a certain distance within a certain time

Attainable- keep your number realistic. You do not want to aim for an unachievable weight goal or running time. This can cause disappointment and lower motivation.

Relevant- keep your goals relevant to you. Don’t let other influence you with your or their goals

Time Bound- set yourself an end goal or a date to focus on (remember with weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week and 10-20% distance increases are what are recommended, depending on your sport)

Try be sensible when setting SMART goals.

Recovery

Recovery is key to training. If you do not allow time recovery, you are not allowing your body the opportunity to perform at its best, and put yourself at risk of overtraining, which not only could affect your performance but also affect your health.

Here are some tips on key parts of recovery:

Sleep- this is a basic but key part of recovery. When we sleep our cells get the chance to regenerate, so if we are not getting enough, this can be a problem. Try get 6-8 hours sleep/night. This will vary from person to person.

Food- eating a healthy balanced diet is key to recovery. From getting the right balance of fats/proteins/carbohydrate and to getting enough vitamins and minerals.

Rehydration- Drinking around 2L of water is recommended with an extra glass advised on days where we exercise

Active Recovery- for those of us that struggle on rest days, going for a walk can help occupy us while still assisting in recovery.

If you would like to hear more about recovery or if you have any queries, please call Lorraine on 087 2101 281