The Athlete's Recovery Handbook

Every training session is a stress. It depletes energy stores, creates small amounts of muscle damage, fatigues the nervous system and triggers hormonal and inflammatory responses. In the hours and days afterwards, the body repairs and adapts — becoming slightly stronger, fitter and more resilient. That adaptation is the whole point of training, and it happens during recovery.

Fitness and fatigue

A useful model separates the effects of training into two components:

• Fitness: the positive adaptation — more strength, muscle and endurance — which builds slowly and lasts.

• Fatigue: the temporary negative effect — tiredness, soreness, reduced performance — which builds quickly and fades.

Your performance on any given day is roughly fitness minus fatigue. Hard training raises both; recovery removes fatigue so the fitness can show. This is why people often perform their best after a lighter week.

You don't get stronger from training. You get stronger from recovering from training.