Thanks for your thoughts on handling injury and sickness.
Being from central Texas, any suggestions on where to get a quality foam roller (locally or online)?

Dutch – a very timely post! I caught the bug from the kids on Friday and today is when I feel sorta human. Yet, there’s a little voice in my head that is telling me to go and try a pull-up on the bar and I’ve been ignoring that voice (not that I didn’t contemplate it an hour ago!). But I will not be stupid!

James,
Best bet is to wrap a PVC pipe with yoga mat. You can also use Tennis, lacrosse, or a cue ball.
All are alternatives to a foam roller, and probably better.
Enjoy.

Dutch good thoughts and comments. Most athletes and trainers alike don’t understand that the rest/recovery phase is “actually” part of the training process. Without rest the human cellular structure cannot adapt to applied demands. Tissue healing time frames for most connective tissues range from 7 days to 6-8 weeks. This is obviously based upon the type of connective tissue, skin, muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia and bone, in that order. Learning how these tissue adapt to demands is key. This constant battle between loading the tissue and then allowing healing, rest and recovery time takes a keen eye. I like to think about it in terms of signs and symptoms. When we train, we should expect certain sign/symptoms to occur during and after. It is our active cognition and response that determines how effective each training session is at moving us to that next level of performance. Also, the age of the athlete plays a significant role in this process. Plain and simple, the older the athlete the greater the disparity should be between the training and recovery time. I was training on the CrossFit 3-1 schedule, and found myself waking up in the morning not feeling refreshed and energized for the day but aching, tired, weak and symptomatic for overuse type syndromes. I then went to the MEBB 3-1, 2-1 and things are looking better. I am still playing with the cycle of rest and training mode, but it is much better. The reality is that for most athletes rest means “regression.” This can be true if not performed correctly. I agree with you Dutch that using those rest days for relaxation, meditation, stretching both dynamic/static, reading to develop a higher knowledge on a training topic and considering stepping into another exercise modality, provides much needed active rest. Then there are those days when you need to do nothing but relax!

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