Parenting a competitive or high-performance athlete is a unique journey filled with challenges and rewards. Your athlete’s dedication and passion for their sport can be both inspiring and demanding. In the pursuit of performance excellence, it’s easy to focus on the things that are in front of us, practices, training, games and competition. What often happens is forgetting about (and even neglecting) a critical component of an athlete’s success: rest and recovery.

In this article, we will explore the significance of rest and recovery for competitive and high-performance athletes and provide practical insights for parents to support their athlete’s overall wellbeing through rest and recovery.

Understanding Rest and Recovery

Rest and recovery encompass more than just sleep (see previous article on sleep). It involves a comprehensive approach to allow the body and mind to recuperate from the physical and mental stresses of training and competition.

High-intensity training, no matter how progressive or well-planned, puts significant stress on an athlete’s body. Even the most gruelling workouts can have diminishing returns if not combined with an effective recovery period. Rest and recovery are critical for muscle growth, reducing injury risk, and maintaining mental toughness or agility, all of which directly affect an athlete’s performance.

Sport culture and society often laud the “no pain, no gain” ethos, but overtraining can lead to detrimental effects, including decreased performance, increased injury risk, hormonal imbalances, and mental or physical burnout (see last weeks article for more on overtraining and burnout). The importance of rest and not overtraining in an athlete’s schedule cannot be understated.

In order to fully understand rest and recovery it is also important to know the difference between physical and mental rest.

• Physical rest refers to the state wherein the body is allowed to relax, recuperate, and regenerate.
• Mental rest pertains to the state when the mind can relax and disengage from stressors and cognitively demanding tasks.

In other words physical rest focusses on the body, whereas mental rest focusses targets the wellbeing of the mind and having the right combination of both is key for overall athlete wellbeing.

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Practical Tips for Parents

As parents, you play a vital role in ensuring your competitive or high-performance athlete gets the rest and recovery they need. Here are some practical tips to support your athlete get the rest/recovery they need and thrive in sport and life:

1. Establish a Routine: Support having a consistent sleep schedule. Encourage your athlete to go to bed and wake up at the same times every day. This routine enhances the quality of their sleep.
2. Quality Sleep Environment: Ensure your athlete’s sleep environment is comfortable and conducive to rest. A dark, quiet, and cool room can significantly improve sleep quality.
3. Manage Stress: Help your athlete manage stress and anxiety. A reduction in stress will help with mental rest and avoid mental burnout. Techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, and time away from their sport (having a balanced athletic identity) are key. The key is to not eliminate stress, but rather help them have a healthy relationship with it and ensuring they have the right coping skills.
4. Active Recovery: Support the incorporation of active recovery into your athlete’s routine. Light activities like yoga, swimming, or leisurely walks can help reduce muscle soreness, stiffness, and maintain flexibility. This will help to reduce inflammation and soreness. One of the biggest complaints from athletes these days is they do not like being sore. Active recovery is the key!
5. Limit Screen Time: Limiting screen time, especially before bedtime can disrupt sleep patterns. Remember, sleep is the number one recovery tool and ensuring quality sleep is a difference maker. In our digital society, a reminder once in a while will go a long way!
6. Respect Individual Needs: Every athlete is unique and different. Respect your athlete’s individual sleep and recovery needs. Some may require more rest than others.
7. Support and Encouragement: Always be a source of support and encouragement. Competitive and high-performance athletes can experience tremendous pressure; your understanding and encouragement go a long way to helping them reduce mental fatigue and assist with rest and recovery.

What Does the Research Say to Help Us?

​Eccles et al, (2022) conducted a study about the “psychology of rest”. Checkout their findings in the infographic below. The results are good practical guide to help support your competitive or high performance athlete.

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Infographic Key Take Aways

1. Have a “switching off plan”
2. Create a “quiet zone” for yourself
3. Schedule “me time”
4. Think about how to do life “differently”

Summary

In the journey of parenting a competitive or high-performance athlete, rest and recovery are often overlooked but vital components of success. As parents, your role is not only to support your athlete’s physical and mental abilities and what their coaches are teaching them, but also to ensure they have the rest they need to excel. By implementing these practical tips, you can support your young athlete’s overall well-being and help them reach their full potential in their chosen sport. Remember that a well-rested athlete is a high-performing athlete.

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Action Plan

This week’s action plan includes evaluating your athlete’s rest and recovery plan.

1. Encourage a Sleep Schedule / Routine – Support an environment that is conducive to rest (dark bedroom, no technology, consistent bed and awake times, and a minimum of 8 hours of sleep.
2. Schedule Rest Days – This may mean physical rest days, mental rest days, or even mental rest periods throughout a day.
3. Have a Nutrition Plan – Develop a nutrition plan that ensures high quality whole foods and snacks.
4. Encourage Recovery Techniques – Encourage recovery techniques such as cool-downs, stretching, foam rolling, yoga, and even have a prehabilitation plan!
5. Monitor Signs of Overtraining – Regularly check in with your athlete about how they feel mentally and physically (do they have constant fatigue, difficulty sleeping, declining performance, etc.).

** Remember every athlete is going to be slightly different with their rest and recovery needs based upon the sport they play, their schedule, rigors of travel, and even the interaction of education.

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Resource of the Week

This week’s resource of the week is the short version of our Post Competition & Training Recovery Tips Checklist. Click the button below to download a copy of the top 6 recovery tips.

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