It’s as Important to Rest as it is to Ride

Nine Things to Know About Taking a Break

Do you ever feel uneasy about taking a break? Reasons for time-off could be anything from a holiday, to an injury, a scheduled vacation, or an unforeseen event.

But I’m here to ease your mind regarding any kind of trepidation about time off. There is a high performance training principle that can change your entire thought process about relaxation. It did for me.

Here’s the concept: Rarely does excess stress defeat us; far more often, the culprit is insufficient rest. However hard you work, you must recover adequately to be your best.

The problem most riders have with taking time off is not knowing exactly how to do it. Here are nine recovery recommendations … good for you and good for your horse:

  1. Rest more when you’re working harder. Stress is like writing checks, and recovery is like making deposits. And we all know how much easier it is to spend than to deposit.
  2. Learn to interpret your recovery needs. Our bodies are always telling us something. Look for signs of over doing it: fatigue, low motivation, anger, choking, staleness, or poor concentration.
  3. Understand how recovery feels. The language of recovery is very distinct. The most common feelings are relief and comfort. Outside of the riding world, these feelings can occur when you’re active (playing golf, fishing) or passive (listen to music, napping).
  4. Train for recovery just as you train for the demands of riding. For example, when professional athletes think of training, they immediately think of fitness training. Rest rarely enters their minds. But just as you prepare your body for a show or major ride, you need to prepare for rest. Make time for relaxation periods just as you plan your practices.
  5. Think of recovery as healing time. If stress tears you down, recovery rebuilds and replenished. Rest is the mind and body’s time to grow. We all need healing time mentally, physically, and emotionally.
  6. Develop daily recovery rituals and follow them. Determine what works best for you: deep breathing, a good nights sleep, eating well.
  7. Balance stress and recovery. Either too much stress without recovery or too much recovery without stress is not a balance. You’re out of balance if you’re riding too much, taking too much time off, or thinking about riding too much. To capture balance, when you work hard, rest just as hard.
  8. Stay fit. The fitter you are, the faster you recover. The best measure of fitness is the speed of recovery.
  9. It’s important to know how to return from a break. When you come back from a break, you won’t immediately be ready to ride at your optimum level. In general, your return to peak riding will take some time. If your break was three weeks, plan on one or two weeks before you’re back full force again.


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Comments

One Comment on It’s as Important to Rest as it is to Ride

  1. alen on Sat, 2nd Jan 2010 4:06 am

    2. I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Alena

    http://grantsforeducation.info

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