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3rd January 2025
A personal movement manifesto for all Humans have evolved through adaptation to moving in their environments. I aim to help people learn to enjoy movement and make it part of their physical and mental selves. Physical activity is often reduced to a number: “10,000 steps”, “walk a mile a day,” or ’100 reps’. By focussing […]
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Juking the stats 3- recovery
Not all that can be measured is important, and not all that is important can be measured.
I keep mentioning this, but it must be borne in mind when we consider what we are doing.
Recovery is an example of this. Everyone recognises the fact that if we train we must recover in order for adaptation to take place. But is recovery an active process that we can accelerate, or is it just the absence of training, in which case should we call it rest?
If we train harder or faster or longer, then the recovery should be proportional, but no good indicator of the recovery process has been found. For all the talk of sleep, ice baths, massages, vibration platforms and the like, it still comes down to personal management.
Is it possible to quantify the recovery process?
Some ideas might include:- hours of sleep
- a subjective scale of sleep quality
- non sporting enjoyable activities taken part in
- number of times you have laughed today?
- amount and timing of food and fluid
- urination- amount and colour
- bowel movements- changes to normal.
None of these could be scientifically measured, some amount to common sense, but that doesn’t mean that they are not important.
I put the number of laughs in there because again this could be an indication of fatigue and general state of mood. Also, if we fail to have time to laugh or smile, then what is the point?
There is a pretty good review of the recovery literature (this is the abstract- the full article goes into detail) and the summary is that no single indicator has still been found that identifies the current state of recovery.
I never get athletes to report on this stuff to me, instead I make them aware of the things that may be affecting them, and how to measure their own feelings. Trying to quantify it on a spreadsheet is just making work for all concerned.
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Working with James has been a pleasure and education for all of the fencers and coaches, from beginner fencers and trainee fencers, up to international fencers and coaches with decades of experience. We really appreciate James' desire to challenge assumptions but simultaneously his ability to listen to both fencers and coaches on technical and tactical points. He manages to keep his sessions fresh and innovative without losing sight of our central goals. His sessions are challenging and fun and his attention detail is a tribute to his professionalism. Thank you.
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