CHAPTER

RECOVERY, ADAPTATION,
LINKS TO OPTIMAL HEALTH
AND SPORTS PERFORMANCE

Reading Resources

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11
Sport, Recovery, and Performance: Interdisciplinary Insights, Edited by Kellman and Beckmann
Monitoring Training and Performance in Athletes – McGuigan
Periodization for Sports Performance – Tudor Bompa
Advanced Strength and Conditioning, Turner and Comfort
o Chapter 9 – Workload Monitoring and Athlete Management
o Chapter 11 – Strategies to Enhance Athlete Recovery
The Physiology of Training for High Performance, MacDougall and Sale
o Chapter 9 – Peaking, Tapering, and Overtraining
• Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance, Jeffreys and Moody
o Chapter 18 – Thinking Sensibly About Recovery
• Strength and Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical Applications, Cardinale, Newton,
Nosaka
o Chapter 2.10 – The Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)
• Allostasis, Homeostasis, and the Cost of Physiological Adaptation, Schulk
• Gymnast Care Podcast Episode 33 with Dr. Bill Sands on Recovery in Gymnastics

The concept of “recovery” serves as the direct counterpart to time athletes spend working hard and
burning fuel. This work can refer to time spent in the gym, time spent learning new ideas in school, long
competitions, or bouts of other stressors placed on the body. In its most basic form, recovery serves as
an absolute cornerstone of adaptation, athlete health, and high-level gymnastics performance.

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Without understanding and implementing the current body of science related to recovery, it becomes
almost impossible for gymnasts to optimize their training and see progress. Something I always teach
gymnasts or coaches I work with is that contrary to popular belief, the body isn’t actually getting
stronger while they are working hard during strength, conditioning, skill training, or routines. This
concept does have some caveats from the emerging science of recovery, and the real-time cascade of
recovery processes, but broadly speaking this is accurate.

Seeing progress in strength levels, cardiovascular fitness, increased power output, and the ability to
store memories about new skills learned mainly occurs after training work is performed, and in response to
proper recovery practices.

Tissue regeneration and adaptation occurs when the ideal recovery environment (enough sleep, proper
nutrition, proper hydration), timeline, the balance of work to rest, and mental framework is set in place.
This is because of the way our human stress response, and something called the Autonomic Nervous
System, are designed.

As Dr. William Sands, an expert on the subject of recovery, outlines,

“First and foremost, recovery is something that happens to return what is lost… In order for recovery to
fulfill athletic needs, it must be coupled with adaptation and super compensation. In other words, while
a return to former state may be enough to say someone is recovered, in sport we expect that the athlete
will go beyond the pre-recovery state and actually adapt to the training stress by becoming stronger,
faster, and more flexible, having more stamina better skill, and more consistency.”1

I do think many people in the gymnastics community understand the importance of recovery. I also think
there are many well-intentioned gymnastics professionals, support staff, parents, medical providers, and
gymnasts who are approaching recovery with their athletes in the right manner.

However, the importance of staying up to date with the most current body of science or expert coaching
opinion is key. Without the proper information and practices related to recovery, young gymnasts are
unable to adapt to their training positively, are unable to grow or develop optimally, and may suffer
health issues ranging from overuse injury to excessive mental or emotional strain.

I will offer a surplus of thoughts regarding the science and current body of research in recovery, but I
can’t emphasize enough how critical the “art of coaching” comes into play here.

If the culture or environment does not emphasize the importance of recovery, and if proper education
is not given to athletes, the science will fall short of producing change. Also, if open, transparent
communication is not in place, and regular self-awareness for the athlete’s state of readiness is not
practiced, there will be plenty of frustration on why it seems gymnasts are never performing in training
or are always injured.

Building a Cake vs Icing

To frame the global recovery process, I want to point out there are some basic aspects that need to be
in place. In my eyes, these most basic aspects make up 85% –90% of successful recovery practice. Every

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day I see another recovery tool, technology, or “hack” that emerges to help athletes. It is always being
sworn as the key to successful injury rehabilitation or optimal sports performance. I advise readers to
take all new technologies with an initial grain of salt.

I’m not saying that these tools have no value or science behind them, but more that those are “icing
on the cake” as my good friend Mike Reinold always says. We have to be extremely critical to make
sure there are sound physiological science and practical outcomes that support the use of different
technologies.

The problem is, people haven’t “built the cake” in the first place with the basic concepts of recovery
before they are putting the icing on it through new technology. They haven’t read and applied the basic
education on recovery into their daily lives as habits. This includes sleep, nutrition, hydration, stress
management, and simply the time between workouts.

As a result, they feel like people are seeing stalled progress in training and jump to the shiny new things
to help. I think if most people in gymnastics took a huge step back and nailed the basics of work and
recovery, they would see massive progress. This would include reductions in overuse injury rates,
increases in gymnastics performance, increases in happiness levels of coaches and athletes, reductions
in burnout rates, and increases in career longevity. Once the basics are in place, then you can start
adding more tools for that last 10% - 15%.

I will cover what I really feel are the essential concepts of recovery first. Then, I will offer some thoughts
on the extras that may be helpful on top of this. As always, I am very fortunate to learn from the work of
many phenomenal scientists, researchers, coaches, and mentors who preceded me. Be sure to check out
the educational material in the “Reading Resources” section to learn more.

Basics of Recovery as Priority

Optimal Dose vs More, and Time Intervals between Work Periods

I unfortunately have seen many cases in the last ten years where the topic of recovery and regeneration
was incredibly misunderstood.

In the most common example, many people in the gymnastics community may not even discuss the
concepts of recovery with their athletes. Many coaches (or parents or athletes) strictly focus on the
“work” part of the equation during gymnastics training.

They only talk about needing more; more hours in the gym, more skill repetitions, more strength, more
conditioning, more flexibility circuits, more competitions. To be quite honest, they are just burying their
athletes deeper from week to week. They mistakenly think the lack of progress seen during training is
because gymnasts aren’t doing enough. The problem with this concept of adding more is that it directly
contradicts basic science related to human adaptation and physiology.

Humans are not designed to keep taking more and more physical or psychological strain. Humans are
designed to go through cycles of work and rest, to overload the body and then give it time to recover.
This is the most basic concept of adaptation. I will outline this concept in depth in the chapter on Stress
Neuroendocrinology.

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I’m not saying that the world of gymnastics is maliciously trying to burn kids out. I think many people
are well-intentioned and just under educated. That was me five years ago, so I understand where people
are coming from. The key to solving this common problem in gymnastics is to first understand what the
science of recovery tells us.

I strongly suggest that everyone in gymnastics reframe the concepts of “rest” and “recovery” not as
negative hurdles we have to unfortunately deal with in training. Instead, I suggest readers view rest or
recovery more as the essential catalyst to progress and sports performance.

Some people have taken the view of recovery as far as to consider it “recovery – adaptation” due
to its role in enhancing human performance over time. Reframing this concept has allowed more
people to understand that proper recovery is essential if we wish to see progress in strength, power,
cardiovascular fitness, and overall sport performance in our gymnasts.2-3

I think the gymnastics culture changing how they view rest or recovery is an essential. We must
view it as an indispensable piece to optimal health and performance, not a negative passive thing we
unfortunately have to put up with.

Human adaptation, growth, and sport performance progress only occur when there is an appropriate
balance of work to rest. 5-10 First, the stressor (physical, emotional, mental, metabolic, etc.) must be
just over the athlete’s capability, so that it can be successfully handled. This is typically driven by the
sympathetic, or “fight or flight”, half of the autonomic nervous system. I want readers to know that I push
gymnasts I coach or rehabilitate for injuries quite a bit, so I understand that it’s not only about taking
time to rest.

Following the stressor conclusion, the body must then be put back into a resting recovery state if we
wish to see tissue repair, adaptation, and growth. This is typically driven by the parasympathetic, or “rest
and digest”, half of the autonomic system. 11-12

The massive body of science and expert coaching opinion clearly outlines that more is not always the
answer to continual progress.13-21 Yes, it is true that some gymnasts simply are not putting in the physical
or mental work that is required to reach their stated gymnastics goals. Alongside this, there are many
gymnasts who have been given correct information related to recovery, and simply do not take the
appropriate steps to implement better habits. But in my experience, this is a very small subset due to the
nature of our sport. With some positive encouragement from coaches and families, most athletes are
willing to do whatever they can to improve their gymnastics.

With almost all gymnasts I work with for injuries, sports performance, or burnout issues, the problems
almost always sparks from suboptimal work to recovery ratios.

Many coaches, parents, and gymnasts themselves do not realize how much they are negatively
impacting their health and performance by not optimizing their recovery before and after training
sessions.

As Dr. Sands puts it bluntly in his chapter on recovery in Strength and Conditioning for Sports Performance,

“There is nothing legal in the medical/physiological and psychological areas that is powerful
enough to overcome stupid coaching, bad planning, and no talent.

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 If it is true that recovery is linked to adaptation, and therefore enhanced preparedness, then
recovery should be planned as systematically as training. However, many coaches and athletes come
from a “more is better” idea and relegate recovery to an afterthought, at best. It is almost axiomatic that
the harder you work the better you get.

However, in recent years this idea has been tempered by noting that some athletes and
coaches appear to work too hard, too long, and at the wrong time; thus, there is a need for planning
and optimization of training demands with opportunities for effective recovery which then leads to
adaptation.” 1

In my experience, the most elite level coaches, gymnasts, or other athletes that I have been fortunate to
work with place just as much, if not more emphasis, on recovery than work.

They put in serious amounts of work during training, and then even more effort into making sure
they regenerate their bodies as much as possible to capitalize on the opportunity for adaptation. This
includes concepts like getting enough sleep, fueling their bodies with proper nutrition and hydration,
being able to “turn off” and not think about training, and respecting the time needed between training
sessions.

Obviously, this doesn’t always happen in a perfect framework. These athletes and coaches regularly face
periods of soreness, mental fatigue, declined energy levels, and other results of suboptimal recovery.
With that being said, what makes these coaches and athletes incredible is how they approach these
situations. When clear signs of under recovery and athletes being over worked present themselves, they
know when to pull back in training or modify the days planned workout.

Sometimes, the state of limited recovery is part of a bigger plan and is okay to continue training
through. This is often referred to as “functional overtraining” and is intentionally built within a larger
periodization framework to promote adaptation in athletes. 21, 23-25 As a coach and medical provider,
other great coaches as well as myself intentionally push athletes on a weekly basis. It falls under the
periodization concept knowns as “functional overreaching”. Sometimes high-level athletes require
above average stressors to promote adaptation.

Other times, however, the state of limited recovery is clear and the training plan for the day must be
adjusted to fit what’s going on. Skill or routine repetitions may have to be lowered, the impact surfaces
may need to be changed (soft mats or pit, over hard landing mats), or more time may need to be spent on
drills and technical development. Alongside this, more time may be warranted to facilitate the recovery
process, and steps to help gymnasts through education, stretching, soft tissue care, or injury pre-hab
techniques could be helpful.

It’s also worth noting here, that on the other side of the spectrum exists the concept of detraining.
Excessive or very long bouts of recovery (say months) may have a detrimental effect on sports
performance. 26-27 I am not suggesting that we take excessive amounts of off time from all training every
time an athlete is sore.

It all comes down the “U” curve theory presented within research. The right amount of recovery helps
to optimize the adaptations we are looking for and maintain an athletes mental state of mind that may
come with monotonous training of gymnastics.

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It’s in my experience that most people in gymnastics are under recovering rather than spending
excessive time resting to cause detraining effects. I have heard of coaches or gymnasts say they feel
much worse when they take more than 1-2 days off from training. This is often not because it is the
rest that is making them worse. Its more than likely just the first time they have realized the cumulative
strain they have acquired over months and months of hard training. I also hear of many coaches who say
one or more weeks off are the source of injury. Again, this is a misguided thought. It’s usually not the rest
that causes injury, it’s the aggressive return to training the first Monday back that crushes athletes. If a
slow ramp up of training was used on the first few days back, I bet this problem would largely drop in its
prevalence.

Again, this all comes down to athlete and program specificity. For the athletes that may need
encouragement to push more, as coaches we can do that. For athletes that are hitting the gas pedal
too hard and risking negative consequences, the educational talk might be better served in reducing or
balancing out their training load.

As Dr. Sands phrases it perfectly,

“Training is a ‘Goldilocks’ problem or an optimization problem. One must train, not too little, not too much, but
just right.”1

The best science and expert opinion available highlights the need to plan for varying intensities of
workouts. 10,28 This refers to having an intentional plan that rotates light, medium, hard, and completely
off training days. This helps the body optimally adapt, but also recover from, the most intense training.
This is what allows the proper time interval to be used.

In order for this to be properly implemented, it must be planned for on a daily, weekly, monthly, and
yearly basis. This ensures the appropriate workload, followed by subsequent rest and recovery timelines
are in place. As someone who actively works with gymnasts trying to accomplish this, I know it can
be hard. Regardless, the importance of proper periodization models for long term health and athletic
development in relation to recovery is key. Concepts of periodization were covered extensively in the
strength chapter, so I encourage readers to check that out if they feel overwhelmed.

Moving on from the basic concept of time, lets discuss more commonly known pieces to recovery such
as nutrition, hydration, and sleep.

Nutrition

As I mentioned earlier in the Nutrition chapter, I openly admit that this area of science is not my forte. I
have spent a great deal of time studying this information to learn more and handle basic conversations
on the matter. However, given the

1) importance of nutrition on health and recovery

2) crucial need to present nutrition information correctly in young male/female gymnasts
3) me being honest about the reality in being a male coach giving advice to female gymnasts

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I almost always outsource these conversations to formally trained professionals.

As I hope I made clear in the nutrition section, there is a very important aspect to nutrition all of
gymnastics needs to better appreciate.

Giving out any specific nutritional advice when you are not a professionally trained Sports Nutritionist or Sports
Dietician related to the amount of food athletes should eat, the types of food athletes should eat, the timing
of eating, the amount of water athletes should drink, weight management, or body image, is not only morally
wrong but dangerous.

With this said, the best starting point to emphasize is that the quality and quantity of food that gymnasts
get in their bodies every day is by far one of the most crucial factors related to recovery. I will only
mention brief overview points as it relates to recovery, but please refer to the Nutrition Chapter for
much more information.

During a period of rest, the body is in a state of regeneration as it tries to heal, regenerate, and grow
tissues in the human body. It has been outlined by multiple sources of research that proper nutrition
profiles that prioritize both the quality and quantity of food intake is essential for recovery, health, and
athletic performance. 22, 29-41

This is often because of the massive amounts of energy required to support daily human life, and in
youth athletes the cost of growth and development. Not to mention the huge amount of extra energy
consumed during athletic or intellectual challenges (practice and school daily for young athletes). The
replenishment of the body following training comes from macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) that
are broken down into small building blocks through digestion (amino acids, glucose, fatty acids). It also
comes from water intake, and various micronutrients. 34, 38-41

The ability for the body to regenerate, grow, and adapt to the previous days workloads directly depends
on having these macronutrients, micronutrients, and water available. The quality of food sources helps
supply the building blocks and energy source for day to day functions.

In the same regard, proper recovery and adaptation in young gymnasts crucially depends on the
amount of food being consumed.38-41 Food provides the calories needed to meet these basic energy
requirements. Beyond this, excessive calories are needed to support normal growth, and to help repair
tissue following hard training sessions. Without the regular intake of sufficient calories to support these
functions, physical health, mental health, and gymnastics performance rapidly decline with dangerous
consequences.

It is awful to hear the amount of incorrect or misguided information that is being given to gymnasts
surrounding calories and food intake for recovery. Remember, gymnasts burn an insane number of
calories during their daily lives and training. They need to consume the proper number of calories for
baseline safety. Then, if they wish to positively adapt to training on a regular basis, they must consume a
healthy surplus of high quality foods for energy sources. This is non-negotiable.

Any person who either directly or indirectly suggests a gymnast should restrict their calorie intake

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without proper professional consultation is directly responsible for any negative health or performance
drops a gymnast displays. Too many times I have seen people in gymnastics (not just coaches) lack the
self-awareness and education on proper recovery nutrition, but still dispense advice.

As a result, it directly negatively impacts a gymnast’s health and training. Then, when the athlete doesn’t
perform well due to a lack of energy, the same people are quick to berate and yell at the athlete for “not
trying hard enough”, “being lazy”, or “not being mentally tough”. Those aren’t hypothetical discussions,
they are direct quotes I have heard during the last ten years. This is absurd and needs to stop within our
sport.

The great part about nutrition is with a proper healthy approach and correct sources of information,
gymnasts can flourish in their daily training. A well fueled athlete, who understands the basics of quality
and quantity for foods they consume, and who has parents or environment that support healthy habits,
can sky rocket their health and performance. I have seen professional discussions on nutrition for
recovery, as well as small changes in daily habits, literally take gymnasts from not being able to compete
in a meet to doing outstanding. I have also seen gymnasts who are chronically injured, have no energy
for training, or who are stalling in their skill performance, do a complete 180 when they adopt better
overall recovery strategies including nutrition.

I think many people in gymnastics can benefit from investing time to study how the quality and quantity
of nutrition impacts the physiological science of strength training and power output, two foundations of
gymnastics. The basic fuel requirements for normal human development may be an eye opener as well.

For education on the specific science of energy sources for sports, be sure to check out the chapters
above on strength, power, and energy systems. Also check out Chapter 2 in The Physiology of High
Performance titled “Biochemical Basis for High Performance”. 43

The proper sources of carbohydrates allow for glucose to be stored in the body, which is one of the
main fuel sources for the same high intensity muscular output and energy systems gymnastics requires.
Essential fatty acids from the proper sources of fat (Omega 3 and Omega 6 mainly) are essential
to brain function, nervous system development, and hundreds of other processes in the body. 38-39
Not everything read in main stream fitness magazines or social media circles is accurate related to
carbohydrates and fats. I strongly suggest people think twice before telling gymnasts, “carbs and fats
make you fat”, and instead look to the science of human performance for more evidence-based ideas.

Lastly, keep in mind that the amount and quality of food sources does not simply refer to what gymnasts
eat before training for fuel, or what they eat after training before they sleep. It is much larger than this.
Fueling the body for performance must be viewed as an ongoing process through the day. It starts with
breakfast, continues throughout the day to before training, must occur during training, and then finally
ends with the intake of food following training to kickstart recovery. This concept was popularized in
gymnastics by Dr. Josh Eldridge, and I think people really need to take it to heart.

I’m not naïve to think that parents do not have a huge role in this idea, as do gymnasts themselves to
be educated and personally responsible to take care of themselves. If coaches, gymnasts, parents, and
medical providers are educated about the quality and quantity of food that is essential for recovery, it is
of a huge benefit to athletes.

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 Hydration

Directly in line with the concepts above in nutrition, the proper amount and regular intake of water is
essential for a gymnast’s recovery. 28-29, 40, 43-44 This refers to both optimal health and sports performance,
as even the starting phases of dehydration can be detrimental to cognitive and physical performance. 45
(Check references for an open access paper with tons of great information.)

Outside of dehydration, water is essential to many of the regeneration processes that occur within the
body. Water is utilized along with the macronutrients and micronutrients mentioned above to help
the body repair and grow. For this reason, it’s essential that gymnasts are consuming water regularly
throughout their day to aid in recovery processes.

There is a plethora of science related to the optimal volume and timing of water for young athletes.
General recommendations of eight to twelve, 12oz glasses is the starting point, but there is a lot
of variability on this depending on the age, development, training volume, and individual factors.
Specifically related to hydration, many great sources of information have been published in the last
decade. 38 – 45

From my experience, the best approach for hydration in relation to recovery is to build habits of
regularly consuming water during the entire day. Again, there is much more information on this within
the Nutrition Chapter, but athletes should aim to sip on water throughout the entire day. This prevents
the risk of dehydration, but also prevents them from consuming large amounts of water that may cause
stomach discomfort. Being able to start drinking in the morning, sip on water throughout the day, sip on
water throughout training, and end the day with water to replace what was lost as sweat, is crucial for
recovery.

Sleep

The science of sleep has grown significantly in the last few decades. Research has now come out about
how essential sleep is for both brain health and recovery of the body for adults, but especially for
youth.46-51

As mentioned related to global recovery, reframing sleep as a necessary part to the recovery–
adaptation process is important. This is opposed to the negative approach most people take, which is
that sleep is an unfortunate part of being human. Or worse, that they can survive on 5-6 hours of sleep
per night as long as they have coffee or energy drinks.

Athletes getting enough high-quality sleep on a nightly basis and having a nightly routine to help ramp
the body down to prepare for sleep, is essential to both health and optimal performance. 46-51

The recommended 8 – 10 hours of sleep has gotten much more support behind it recently. 51 From
research gathered in The Role of Sleep in Maximizing Performance by Kellman and Beckman, the authors
show scientific support for sleep having a positive effect on memory, procedural learning, and brain
stimulation. It has also been proposed as an essential part for encouraging growth and development of
the brain and nervous system. 46, 53-61

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Most importantly for athletes, sleep has been found important for restoring the brains glycogen levels
that are utilized during waking hours, as well as a possible window for anabolic function and the release
of growth hormone. 46, 52-54, 62-63 Anabolic function simply refers to the state of repair in the body. Growth
hormone is an essential piece of this anabolic process.

Even more recently, it has been theorized that sleep aids in the brains ability to clean and repair itself
from the previous day’s work load. Just as our muscles and other tissues require regeneration each day
to recover and grow, our brains too need this. 46-47, 51

There is a massive amount of energy expended by our brain to think, plan movement, learn new ideas,
and compute complex thoughts. This is why about 30% of our energy and blood flow goes towards
fueling the brain.46 The work of thinking and processing information creates waste byproduct that must
be handled appropriately. The proper length of sleep has been said to help “sweep the brain of toxins”
such as beta amyloid, that are created during waking hours.

Not to mention during these times of sleep, there is a huge amount of tissue repair, regeneration,
and growth occurring across multiple systems of our body. This is true for the muscular, metabolic,
cardiovascular, and endocrine systems. These are all essential parts of a gymnast’s growth, health,
reduction in injury, and sports performance.

The objective science available on how sleep impacts the human body in relation to sports performance
is still developing and has some conflicting results. Never the less, it is very important to consider what
the evidence outlines as negative consequences from inadequate quality or quantity of sleep in sports.
Some examples include;

- Cognitive performance declines in relation to movement accuracy, attentional capacity, focus

and memory. 56,58-59
- Physical performance declines for anaerobic measures (such as Wingate test) and strength
measures (submaximal and maximal effort deadlift, bench press, leg press). Conflicting results
related to anaerobic and maximal power output tasks in low repetitions. 46, 60, 62-63
- Disruption in immunological and inflammatory function following sleep loss, with reductions
under 7 hours possibly lowering resistance to the common cold or rhinovirus. 55,57
- Some studies suggesting injury risk (1.7x in one study) may be elevated in athletes who have
less than 8 hours per night. 46, 61-63 It is worth nothing other scientific studies have conflicting
results on this concept, so be sure to check out the literature for yourself.

Regardless of the mixed reviews on some aspects of sleep impacting performance, there are many
strong suggestions from the research that sleep deprivation can be a factor in declining performance.

Negative effects in cognition, attention, illness resistance, and injury risk are incredibly important
to consider. Along with this, there exist negative effects of sleep deprivation on sports performance
aspects like power, strength, and metabolic systems.

The research does outline some helpful strategies to enhance the quantity and quality of sleep (see
Kellman and Beckerman page 162 for more). These include; 61-63
- Practicing nightly pre-sleeping routines that involve shutting down electronic devices like
iPads or iPhones, or other blue light sources such as TV.
- Having consistent wake up and bedtime patterns
- Maintaining a cool, dark, and quiet bedroom with no electronics
- Limiting caffeine intake in the afternoon and at night before bed

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 - Avoiding large amounts of water intake before bed, to prevent needing to wake and use the
bathroom
- Practicing relaxation techniques, or other calming practices like reading or journaling in the
hour prior to bed

I know this can be really challenging for gymnasts, as many are on a constant time crunch and have other
homework, social life, and family demands. Many practices run late into the night, people often drive
long distances to their gym, and school seems to require waking up earlier than ever before.

Even with all of this, there are many ways to ensure that gymnasts are sleeping enough. We regularly
talk to our gymnasts about the need to carefully plan their days by a calendar, not procrastinate their
homework until late at night or the day before it’s due, and the need to talk to teachers in advance about
assignments. Most importantly, we talk to our gymnast about how they need to have their priorities
set and be disciplined to not spend countless hours on social media. I highly encourage gymnasts I work
with to build in time for themselves and to do the things they like. That said, they must understand how
important setting boundaries around how much time is spent on complete leisure activities

It’s very hard to focus on sleeping more in our society that always seems to be stacking on more things
to do, and more distractions. I still struggle with this myself. We must realize that things like commuting
or traffic to the gym, and school starting early are out of our control. Instead we must focus on things
within our control and do our best to build the proper habits that support getting 8 hours of quality
sleep per night.

Now moving on from sleep, lets touch on how to wrap all of these more basic concepts into another
important aspect to recovery: athlete monitoring.

Basic Objective and Subjective Monitoring

We must remember that we cannot change what we do not measure. Some form of basic athlete
monitoring must occur daily if we wish to know how well athletes are/aren’t recovering. Without this
regular insight into certain aspects of recovery, it’s impossible to know how gymnasts are responding
to training or other stressors in their daily life. This helps us gain reference points on how effective
periodization, sleep, nutrition, hydration, and mental health strategies are working.

The two main categories for athlete monitoring are objective and subjective reports. Objective
monitoring refers to actual data points being taken daily. Examples include perceived fatigue on a 1–10
scale, perceived soreness on a 1–10 scale, the numbers of hours slept the night before, or resting heart
rate. There are more complex objective markers of recovery, but these are usually only measured in
professional athletes. These include blood lactate levels, stress hormone levels, heart rate variability,
or brain wave measures. For the practicality and simplicity of most people in gymnastics, the basic
measures mentioned first can be easily tracked in a daily journal.

Regularly measuring growth and development is another critical objective point to monitor in
gymnastics. Tracking growth is important since the majority of athletes in gymnastics are children
who are still going through rapid development spurts. They have open growth plates that are very
susceptible to injury, nervous systems that are not fully formed, and under developed cardiovascular
systems. Monitoring for growth spurts can be a huge indicator for increases in injury risk or dips in
performance as the body is changing.

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Indirectly, both daily subjective reports and tracking growth can help as two methods for understanding
the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of our athletes.

In conjunction with more concrete, objective reports, subjective reports from athletes are equally
as important to consider. In the most basic form, open and transparent communication about how
gymnasts are feeling each day is a priority.

A collection of information can be gathered about how a gymnast is feeling, their perception of
soreness or fatigue, and their mental wellness, simply by having an open conversation that is based on
professional trust. This is important for positive relationships between coaches and athletes. But it also
provides valuable insight into how athletes are handling their daily or weekly training load, as well as the
cumulative amount of training.

Along with open communication, training logs and training journals are a fantastic way to subjectively
log feelings of global fatigue or state of recovery. I regularly recommend that athletes keep a daily
journal for how they are feeling, both good and bad. This helps them tune in with reflecting on training.
I have personally designed a daily training template for our athletes to use. It has the 4 basic objective
measures above, along with a space to make notes about mood or how they are feeling. It has been
extremely beneficial for the athletes to become more self-aware, but also for our coaching staff to keep
tabs about training and foster communication. People can feel free to download this template and use it
by clicking the link here,

URL Link to Download Gymnast Tracking Sheets - (https://www.dropbox.com/

s/5xx4hl5ihbxjd58/2017%20Tracking%20Sheets%20Wildcats%20.xlsx?dl=0 )

If things are going really well and athletes feel great, it’s good for athletes and coaches to know why. In
the same regard, if things aren’t going as well and they feel drained all the time, this can help significantly
to dial in on the start of issues early.

It’s very easy to just assume all is going well with athletes or contribute negative performance to things
outside the gym. We must accept accountability to the fact that often this is not the case, and things we
are doing (or not doing) in the gym may be a factor in ongoing sub optimal training. For this reason, we
must keep regular tabs on how our athletes are doing by monitoring reports.

Just as with the objective monitoring tools, there are more involved subjective monitoring tools that
exist. A few examples include the “REST – Q” questionnaire (Recovery – Stress Questionnaire for
Athletes) and the “POMQ” questionnaires (Profile of Mood Quality). Again, these may be tough for day
to day use in most of gymnastics but are certainly great tools for those who wish to dive a little deeper.

Another more popular emerging marker for training load is “session RPE”.
(click here to find much more in great research article review - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
articles/PMC5673663/)
This involves an athlete giving the training session and overall rating of intensity from 1-10, and
multiplying it by the total minutes of training performed. So, a gymnast saying a 3 hour practice had an
average 7/10 intensity would be 180 minutes x 7 = 1,260 units. 25

To better understand recovery status, the global training session RPEs can be mapped through days
or weeks, compared to other subjective or objective reports, and then compared to the prescribed
gymnastics/strength/cardio training prescription. For me personally, I am looking to start integrating

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this into our upcoming training year. I think it strikes a great balance between objective and subjective
reports and methods that are easy to implement.

These monitoring practices, combined with other techniques to look at prescribed workloads, can be
enormously beneficial for the overall health, safety, and performance of gymnasts. For more information
on this, check out the awesome books Monitoring Training and Performance in Athletes and Sport, Recovery,
and Performance.

Extra Recovery Tools

Moving on from the basics or recovery (the “cake” in our analogy) lets now move on to some extra
recovery tools (the “icing”). As Dr. Sands outlines on page 457 of Strength Training for Sports
Performance, most recovery tools available aim to help;

- Enhance blood flow within the body

- Help clear the tissue damage or metabolic byproducts of intense exercise
- Enhance the transportation of nutrients or water athletes consume to tissues in need of
repair, or
- Effect the perceived soreness/recovery state of the athlete.

Here are some of the ideas I think are important to consider, along with some of the tools available to
assist recovery.

Alignment of Priorities

Despite this not being a common consideration, I have found both personally and with gymnasts, that
this concept is essential to recovery. In our current age, it’s insane how much is on our calendars and
to do lists outside of gymnastics. Not to mention, smart phones and other technology now allows us
the opportunity to be constantly flooded with distractions. I think being able to really maintain a few
priorities, and align daily habits with those priorities, serves as one of the most important factors in
successful recovery between training sessions.

All too often I see gymnasts who are spread thin between school requirements, training, family life,
wanting to maintain a healthy social life, other hobbies or sports, and other inevitable challenges life
throws at them. For all athletes, I strongly encourage balance between training and personal life, with
a priority on personal health and education superseding. Remember that for all athletes, someday
gymnastics will stop, and their health as well as their education will be what they depend on for the next
50+ years.

Learning to discover priorities is an important concept for athletes to be taught. If their mindset is not
aligned with these few important tasks, they inevitably feel overwhelmed and frustrated. When this
occurs, I find that instead of athletes doing 3-4 things really well, they tend to do 9-10 things poorly.
Keep in mind this concept applies to coaches, parents, and medical providers just as much as gymnasts.

I encourage everyone to take a big step back and really think about their top few priorities. Missing
this foundational step often leads to excessive mental strain, not enough time for sleep or rest, and
inevitable drops in health and performance.

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 Time Management and Single Tasking Skills

Building off the concept above, gymnasts must be taught how to build daily habits that support progress
in their stated goals.

Taken from someone I follow closely, Gary Vaynerchuck, I refer to these as “Macro” and “Micro” goals.
The Macro approach would be the end goal (New skill, Top 10 at Nationals, make high school team)
where the Micro approach would be the smaller daily goals (5 turns of new skill per day, do well at
states/regionals, have skills needed for high school level) that support the Macro picture. Being able to
build these micro habits is one of the hallmarks of successful gymnasts and coaches.

Similarly, the concept of “multi-tasking” has really come to show its negative effects on productivity
through psychological research. Many scientists and highly successful people have moved away from
trying to do multiple things at once, and instead have developed the habit of tunnel vision on a single
task for a certain amount of time.

This comes from neuroscience research related to brain function supporting that our brain does not
really multitask, but more rapidly switch between individual tasks. I regularly teach athletes skills
related to time management and single tasking, in an effort to help boost their recovery and global
stress levels outside training.

Mindfulness/Stillness Practice

As you will learn much more about in the chapter on stress neuroendocrinology, it’s incredibly
important that periods of mental rest are deliberately planned in conjunction with physical rest. There is
huge value in allowing time for mental stillness, reflection, or mindfulness practice.

I was very skeptical about the usefulness of this practice (both for myself and with athletes I work with)
but then had a shift in perspective during the last year. I read some amazing books and research on the
impact of stillness or mindfulness practice on the human brain, mental health, and performance.

It’s beyond the scope of this chapter to really dive into the specifics, but I would suggest people check
out two fantastic books, Altered Traits and Change Your Brain, Change Your Life for more on this subject.

Heat or Cold Modalities 1

The use of heat and cold modalities in athletes has been around for centuries. Many people regularly use
heating packs, warm baths, or hot tubs in attempt to reduce perceived discomfort from sore muscles, to
enhance blood flow, and to regulate body temperature around training. In the same light, ice packs and
cold-water soaks aim for similar perceived pain-relieving or temperature effects.

Although there is conflicting evidence for the tissue level effects of cold and heat for recovery, there has
been support in research due to athletes perceiving these tools as beneficial. For this reason, heat or
cold use may have benefits based on the situation with athletes. Being able to time the proper recovery

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modality around training (heat may be best prior to training whereas cold therapy after) is important.

As opposed to more current beliefs, I view these tools as small additives to the recovery–adaptation
process, and not as a core pillar of importance like nutrition, sleep, hydration, work to rest ratios. See
Dr. Bill Sands chapter, “Thinking Sensibly About Recovery” 1 in Strength and Conditioning for Sports
Performance by Jeffreys and Moody for more.

Soft Tissue Care and Stretching (Self or Professionally)

Soft tissue care is another area that has become wildly popular in the field of gymnastics through the
use of foam rollers, sticks, and various massage tools. In conjunction with this, many athletes use other
forms of soft tissue care to assist in recovery. The science of soft tissue care, massage, and stretching in
relation to recovery is conflicting but does have some support related to increasing blood flow, helping
clear waste byproducts following exercise, encouraging circulation of specific hormones, and reducing
perceived soreness. I covered this extensively in the flexibility chapter, but here are some resources for
those interested.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26744335
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26592233

I try to encourage gymnasts to carve 10-15 minutes out for a “cool down” that can help build in foam
rolling, other self-soft tissue techniques, and light passive or active stretching. It may also be beneficial
between very intense training sessions or competitions to enhance lymphatic drainage of muscular
damage. I think when factored into the bigger picture and properly used, soft tissue care may help to
enhance the recovery process.

Compression

Forms of static and dynamic compression (through clothing or mechanical machines for example) are
thought to be some of the most supported in terms of enhancing muscular and global recovery. Static
compression does not seem to have as much support in the literature, whereas intermittent dynamic
compression has more support to help assist lymphatic drainage, increase blood flow, and accelerate
healing through the clearance of exercise induced tissue byproducts. 1

Much of the waste from muscular or neural tissue in the body needs to be shunted back and cleared
through the lymphatic system. This is mostly done through active movement, and pressure gradients
within the vascular and lymphatic system. This is because the lymphatic vessels do not actively have a
method for pumping fluid themselves.

For these reasons, regular movement such as active recovery, light stretching, compression in the
form of mechanical devices or clothing, may assist in this process. For more science and best methods
associated with this check out this research study, as well as the resources mentioned at the end of this
chapter.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1440244008002028

A Note on the Nerdier Side of Tissue Recovery: Mechanisms of Cellular Edema

I know most people probably do not have the greatest interest for in depth biochemical or tissue level

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effects of exercise and recovery. However, for those that do want to learn more, I wanted to make sure
I included a passage from Dr. Sands within his chapter on recovery in Strength and Conditioning for Sports
Performance.

This paragraph offered me one of the most clear and understandable proposed mechanism for why
various methods or tools outlined above can be helpful to aid recovery.

“Edema is caused by protein leakage from capillaries that become hyper permeable as a result of
the action of inflammatory mediators on endothelial cells. Edema causes tissue congestion that reduces
the availability of oxygen to the mitochondria, thus decreasing the availability of energy for operation of
the sodium–potassium pump.

The osmotic effect produced by the failure of the sodium – potassium pump causes the fluid
volume of the cell to increase, which damages its cytoskeleton and produces fragmentation of DNA
within the cell nucleus. Reliance on anaerobic glycolysis for energy production decreases the pH of the
intracellular environment, ultimately creating clumping of nuclear chromatic. Restoration of normal
lymphatic flow is essential for the healing process to progress from the acute state to the repair stage. If
lymphatic flow is optimized in injured tissues, normal metabolic processes can be restored sooner.” 1

So, this concludes my current thoughts related to recovery as well as some practical ways to build in
these concepts in relation to daily gymnastics training. I think the important concepts in recovery really
ties back to nailing the basics first, before we add in flashy technology or advanced methods. Proper
periodization planning, nutrition, hydration, sleep, stress management and smart coaching and athlete
decisions always will outpace the many recovery tools offered on the market.

There is significant potential gain gymnasts could see, both for their health and performance, if they
simply focused on doing the basics well. I encourage everyone to spend some time reading the resources
and have the conversation with athletes about 1–2 small daily habit changes they could start with to
help better themselves. From here, we will move on to another big chapter that is one of my biggest
areas of study: factors in gymnastics injuries and prevention strategies.

Key Take Away Points

• Recovery serves as the essential counterpart to hard training, workloads, and other forms of
stressors.

• Recovery and time for regeneration should be reframed away from a hurdle to overcome when
not training, to viewed as a key part of the growth and adaptation process.

• Work and recovery should follow a natural pattern, moving from states of appropriate stressors
to stages of regeneration.

• Everyone in gymnastics may see better health, performance, and mental happiness levels if
they approach training in an “optimal dose” work to recovery mindset as opposed to the current
cultural trend of “more is better”.

• The main components of recovery include;

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 o Periodization Planning and Work to Rest Ratios – being educated and encouraging
appropriate lengths of recovery between bouts, based on the objective and subjective
intensity of the previous trainings session
o Nutrition – quality, quantity, timing, and healthy relationship of food to fuel performance
o Hydration – quantity and timing or regular water intake
o Sleep – Ensuring the time length and environment for adequate sleep is met on a nightly
basis
o Objective and Subjective Monitoring of Athletes

• The secondary components of recovery that can be of assistance following implementing the
basics well include;
o Alignment and Priorities
o Time Management Skills and Single Tasking
o Mindfulness/Stillness Practice
o Heat or Cold Modalities
o Soft Tissue Care and Stretching
o Compression

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