‘NO!!!’, I have picked up an injury. This week has been all about rest and recovery and trying to get fit and well. I will talk about today how vital rest is and why it is so important in our training and the consequences of not having it.
The injury occurred in a football game I played last week, I got shoved in the back and my whole spine and right leg flared up making the last ten minutes of the game torture, as I was unable to run and I was hobbling everywhere. I thought with a day off tomorrow it should come right 2 days later it was hurting so badly that I couldn’t go to school and work. On Tuesday I saw a physio and they told me I had pulled some skeletal muscles in my back and they told me I would probably need a week off. The pain wasn’t getting any better and by then I gave up and had to go see a doctor at hospital. The doctor did blood tests and an x-ray. The x-ray then showed up I had a Ruptured disk (L5), as well as pulling two muscles in my back.
Really disappointed with the news, I had to take all last week off and some of this week as well. So my body could heal and regenerate and come back strong.
The reason rest and recovery is so important and showed be an important aspect of an exercise program, because it allows the body time to repair and strengthen itself in between workouts/sessions. It also allows the athlete to recover, both physically and psychologically, so they are ready for the next session.
What happens during the recovery period? The body is allowed to adapt to the stress associated with exercise, replenishes muscle glycogen (energy stores) and provides time for the body tissue to repair. This means when you are ready to train the next day your body is fit and well and ready to go.
Fueling is also an important part when you are injured. If you are well nourished and get lots of nutrients from fruit and vegetables this will give you generally a faster recovery time as the body has what it needs to recover.
Time for my stretches now, hopefully I will bounce back from this fast and be able to train for National Cross Country once again!
Luke Clatworthy (Clatters Chatter)
Check out my article from last week below:
All Luke’s previous articles can be found here:
https://www.coachray.nz/category/client-stories/clatters-chatter/