Get out of your funk: understanding the zones of recovery
When you go through treatment, you hear the term recovery thrown around quite a bit, but it can be hard to understand exactly what that means or how to get there. In this guide on getting out of your funk and into recovery, we’ll discuss the three recovery zones and how to get out of your funk and into each one. The sooner you can learn about these recovery zones, the sooner you can start heading towards an addiction-free future and feeling good about your life! The concept of the zones Your body is a complex and wonderful machine. With in-depth training and work, you can increase your endurance to run faster, swim farther, and lift heavier weights. But there is only so much you can do before it’s time to rest. To prevent overtraining and an extended period of broken-down muscles and soreness (not fun), it’s important to stay within a set number of workouts—the zones of recovery—per week. Each zone has a different purpose. Zone 1 is short, intense efforts, where you push yourself as hard as possible for a short period of time. The next day, you’ll feel sore and stiff; it may take up to three days to recover from a workout in Zone 1. But that’s why it’s essential to stay in that zone only once or twice per week—if you do it more often than that, your body won’t have enough time to recover and rebuild itself. If you want to improve your endurance, you can move into Zone 2 after two weeks of training in Zone 1. It’s still an intense effort, but not quite as much as Zone 1. You can also do interval training here (where you alternate between high-intensity work and low-intensity work). And again, it takes about two weeks to fully recover from each workout in Zone 2 before moving on. After four weeks of training in Zone 2, you can enter Zone 3. This is a longer duration of low-intensity exercise. It’s ideal for building muscle strength and endurance without losing speed or power. After four weeks in Zone 3, you should be ready to move back into Zones 1 and 2 if you want to get faster or stronger again! The four stages—what they are and why they matter Your physiology is constantly changing throughout any given day. We tend to refer to these changes as zones because it’s easy to imagine that everyone operates at a different level during any given time frame. The three primary stages are the alarm stage, the resistance stage, and the aerobic stage. Understanding how these apply to you can help you live healthier and more efficiently. Here is an overview of each of the zones and what they mean to you for recovery. To make sure you have a basic understanding of each zone, let’s look at some definitions and guidelines. Remember, there are no hard-and-fast rules here—these are just generalizations based on averages; every person has their own unique needs when it comes to exercise and nutrition. A typical day in each zone This is a great thing to start doing if you are trying to lose weight. By eating food in certain areas of the energy cycle, you will optimize how much energy you expend on digestion versus how much energy your body gets from that food. Ideally, you want to eat enough calories at breakfast and lunch so that by mid-afternoon you’re feeling pretty good and have plenty of energy for exercise. At dinner time, eat just enough calories so that by bedtime you feel satisfied but not stuffed. Remember that it’s OK if you don’t get all your daily calories in during one sitting—this isn’t a contest; it’s about getting into healthy habits for life! Support each other. Tips for getting into another zone There’s more to it than just taking a few rest days. It may seem simple, but being aware of how you feel and being dedicated to staying in that state is important to getting you back up and running again. Here are some tips for getting into another zone quickly, safely, and efficiently. The trick is to figure out what works best for you, and get in there. I always think of people who train year-round as those stubborn mules who keep plugging away despite adversity; those people don’t want to miss any training because they know their hard work will pay off when race day comes around. Those folks aren’t scared of taking a break—they know it will help them reach their goals faster! Just remember to listen to your body, and if something doesn’t feel right, take a step back. You can always jump right back in later on down the road! If you do happen to come across an injury or physical issue that needs addressing, seek professional help. If you can afford it, physical therapy is one of my favourite ways to address issues without feeling like I’m not doing anything about them. And be never afraid to ask questions—your health and safety should be top priority! The effects of sleep on recovery Research has shown that there are three primary stages of sleep (1, 2, and 3) and that each of the zones plays a role in recovery. Stage 1 is defined as wakefulness—this is when you enter deep sleep. As you progress into stage 2, muscles start to relax, blood pressure drops slightly, and it becomes harder to awaken. In stage 3, also known as slow-wave sleep or delta wave sleep, your body produces high levels of growth hormone and other chemicals that help repair muscle tissue. A study conducted by Harvard Medical School found that people who slept for eight hours or more per night had higher levels of growth hormone than those who slept less than six hours per night. This boost in growth hormone can lead to an increase in lean muscle mass, which leads to greater strength gains during workouts. It’s
