Elite Rest & Recovery Hack

Have you ever taken a physical break to rest and wondered why you’re still exhausted? This recently happened to one of my clients.

She was physically resting but not recovering. Her body was fatigued, and she couldn’t figure out why. I told her to get off her phone and rest. She called me for clarification.

“Misty, I have a question for you,” she said, sounding both confused and drained. Her usual peppy voice was drawn out, low and slow. “What do you mean by rest? I have been taking breaks and taking naps, so I have been resting. What am I missing?”

I explained to her that even though she wasn’t as physically active, mentally she was still in overdrive trying to keep up with social media, emails, deadlines, and commitments. As we spoke, she realized that by doing this, she was still stressed and not relaxed at all.

“Disconnect” sounds like a luxury in today’s world where we are expected to be connected, responsive, and productive at all hours seven days a week.

This is the thing: Your brain and body work closely together in many, many ways. They are not separate when it comes to how you function so when you’re thinking about rest, you have to take both into consideration.

Think about a time when you felt like you couldn’t keep going, but you shifted your mindset to keep pushing forward past your limits. By doing this, your athletic abilities strengthen.

See how the brain and body work together? This is why holistic rest is critical for recovery.

I wrote a whole article about this on my website, which you can read here, but if you’re short on time, here is a quick summary:

Using stress as an example, let’s look at what happens to the body. When you feel stress, a part of your brain called the amygdala–responsible for detecting danger and processing emotions like fear and anxiety–releases a hormone called cortisol, which results in adrenaline and stress. These hormones flood your body, and you go into fight, flight, or freeze. You might also experience symptoms like a headache, racing heart, or stomachache. To get out of this, you have to activate your parasympathetic nervous system so that your mind and body can chill out and get back to working together for growth rather than survival.

When it comes to rest, it’s clear that athletes need a holistic approach that creates a clear path to optimal recovery by incorporating the brain and body into the game plan.

There are widely acknowledged types of rest. They are:

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Emotional
4. Sensory
5. Creative
6. Social
7. Spiritual

A good rule of thumb is when you feel disconnected from yourself, or like life is so busy that it no longer feels like your own or it’s all a blur, you probably need to take time out to rest and recharge.

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