Question: How do we manage rest and recovery for CrossFit athletes of all ages?
Rest is the most overlooked and undervalued aspect of CrossFit. I’d say athletes sign up for a CrossFit membership because of their burning desire to grow or a harsh realization of their current health status. These reasons typically create an urgent response of effort, intensity, and commitment. With these things considered, our members often have to be taught about rest, what it really is, why it is essential, and how to explore it. Because each member is different within our community, we must teach them to gauge their own needs and how to receive guidance about them.
There is no clear three-on-one-off or two-on-one-off formula for communities or athletes. Anyone who decides their knowledge and experience is so perfect to assume any specific format for “rest” works for all people is simply expressing how little they know. Athletic background, physical age, training age, current fitness, health factors, genetic makeup, movement quality, external stressors, sleep quality, nutrition practices (surplus or restriction), and many more factors are all important when gauging an athlete’s optimal training schedule. We haven’t even mentioned the training yet! In a methodology where variance is a cornerstone, our workouts and the soreness or fatigue they can create vary tremendously daily. This means on some Wednesdays, you may feel amazing, and on others, not so much. So, should you always rest on Thursdays if that is the case? Ahh, of the vast considerations we must make, this is a complex issue if you try to solve this for everyone as a coach, leader, or programmer.
The solution is simple: education and intervention. Educate your members on the importance of recovery. Inspire them to know they don’t improve in the gym, they physically break down tissue in the gym. They grow muscle, build stronger connective tissue, and amass more significant amounts of red blood cells when they recover from the hard training they do in the gym while they’re at rest. Help them understand that when they don’t strike a balance between high-intensity training and rest, the gains in the gym happen more slowly, and can even come to a halt, or worse, result in an injury. The next option is hard but intervene when needed. This takes observation; you must know your members, track attendance, and monitor data like their workout results periodically. This info can help you protect some members from themselves. You know how this works: people love CrossFit. Some will be in the gym every single day if you let them, and those athletes will need to be reminded and encouraged to stay away, rest, or substitute high-intensity work with low-intensity work at times. Intervening in someone’s training by forcing rest isn’t easy, but leadership comes with hard choices, and the best leaders make them well.
To summarize, everyone is different, and there is no absolute way to ensure we optimize everyone’s recovery. A soundly designed program helps, but everyone has different training schedules, so it is not the cure-all. We should teach our athletes that they should choose rest before rest chooses them. This means when they feel tired, sluggish, and sore beyond just the daily challenge of our workouts, they should take a day away from the gym or opt for a low-intensity option if your gym provides that. If you see someone’s data trending backward or at a standstill, help guide them toward rest so their intensity can pick back up, and the results will follow.
And don’t forget, it is a coach’s responsibility to teach an athlete to have the autonomy to understand their own body; when rest is needed, it is the best way to help a large diverse community.
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About the Author
Adrian Conway (CF-L3) found CrossFit in 2011 and has since managed an affiliate, been part owner of an affiliate, competed at the CrossFit Games five times as an individual, on a team, and as a masters athlete, and has coached athletes to qualify and participate in the CrossFit Games. Adrian has been a member of the CrossFit Seminar Staff since 2013. He spends most of his time now coaching clients remotely and providing programming to affiliates through TRU (Train to Rise Up). He loves being involved with the sport and the methodology through our podcast channels and commentating at the CrossFit Games.
Ask a Coach: How Do We Manage Rest and Recovery for CrossFit Athletes of All Ages?