Athlete's Guide to Recovery

by Sage Rountree

If you've hit a wall in your training, maybe it’s because you aren't giving the gains enough time to take hold. Hard workouts tear down the body, but rest allows the body to repair and come back stronger than before.

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is the first comprehensive, practical exploration of the art and science of athletic rest. Certified cycling, triathlon, and running coach and yoga instructor Sage Rountree guides you to full recovery and improved performance, exploring how much rest athletes need, how to measure fatigue, and how to make the best use of recovery tools.

Drawing on her own experience along with interviews with coaches, trainers, and elite athletes, Rountree details daily recovery techniques, demystifying common aids like ice baths, compression apparel, and supplements. She explains in detail how to employ restorative practices such as massage, meditation, and yoga. You will learn which methods work best and how and when they are most effective.

Recovery is critical to performance gains. The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery offers recovery plans that target various training and race distances, in events from short distance bike races to ultramarathons, as well as examining recovery between seasons.

This invaluable resource will enable you to maintain that hard-to-find balance between rigorous training and rest so that you can feel great and compete at your highest capability.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Fitness, Health

248 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Sage Rountree is an internationally recognized authority in yoga for athletes, an endurance sports coach specializing in athletic recovery, and the co-owner of several wellness businesses. Sage is the author of thirteen books, including The Athlete's Guide to Yoga, Racing Wisely, Everyday Yoga, and, Lifelong Yoga and Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, cowritten with Alexandra DeSiato. Her latest are The Professional Yoga Teacher's Handbook and The Art of Yoga Sequencing.

Sage moved from a career track in academia to one teaching yoga and training others to do the same, and to do it with clear standards and boundaries to the benefit of their students. She directs the Carrboro Yoga Company's advanced studies teacher trainings, which draw students from around the world. She also co-owns Hillsborough Spa and Day Retreat. Sage served as a faculty member at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health for over a decade, and she has offered workshops and taught at festivals both internationally and around the United States.

Sage’s in-person trainings and online courses include lessons in sequencing yoga classes, developing workshops, managing the yoga classroom, and being a professional movement teacher—the subject of her most recent book. A pioneer in yoga for athletes, she has worked with athletes at every level, from youth and amateur athletes to NBA and NFL teams, players, and coaches. In addition to writing and cowriting ten books, her work has appeared in several publications, and she has been a regular contributor to Yoga Journal and Runner’s World.

Reviews

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned quite a bit from this book. Pretty science-y but lots of good information!

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery is a book by Sage Rountree. Rountree provides advice on how to recover after a workout. She discusses stretching, yoga, applying heat or cold to the afflicted area, and nutritional information to consider.

Though the book is on the short side, Rountree packed it with information.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review and see you next time.

[Stephanie Farmwald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tons of great info about recovery. A paper copy for reference later would be the best choice if you really want to focus on your recovery.

[Jüri-Mikk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well structured and easily readable, I think it’s a great place to start if you want to think through your recovery routine. Mainly written for endurance athletes, but the same techniques apply to most sports.

[Nine Provinces · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phoneomenal book. I was skeptical buying a book on recovery. Isn't recovery obvious? Duh, rest when you're tired.

I also have read that Sage Roundtree is seriously into yoga. I dreaded reading some preachy ass book telling me to spend time sitting still that I'd rather spend on the trails. So why did I buy this book? I don't know. But it is my most-loaned-out book ever. Everyone can benefit from Sage's advice on recovery.

Sage makes her recovery info completely relatable. No woo-woo here. In fact, I was surprised to learn that some of what I was doing , in fact, counted as recovery and self care. Woop! Points for me! Sage doesn't say that you have to go pay up and sit in a swank yoga class in designer lyrca. She has methods that you can do at home.

It's not complicated. Sage stresses that it's better to do something simple, and understandable and stick with it, rather than a complicated regime you can't repeat. And although Sage probably wants you to spend some time quietly reflecting while doing some of her very simple poses, but I didn't get the feeling she'd judge me for listening to an audio book while spending 10- 20 minutes with my "legs on a wall", which is kind of her must-do pose for people who use their legs a lot.

She even talks about how laying on a bed can be your recovery. Hey, I can do that!

There are 20 chapters which explore different modalities of recovery, from the high tech (this will probably become dated and revised to the lowest tech which I described above). If you love recovery, this book is for you. If you hate recovery, this book is even more for you. Happy trails and thank you Sage.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for any athlete (not just professionals) looking for recovery strategies. I hike, many miles for many days, and found the first edition of Sage Rountree’s “The Athlete's Guide to Recovery “incredibly useful — this updated edition adds even more of her practical tips, backed by more recent research. It is an accessible resource for athletes of all sorts, and makes the case that recovery should be planned into training and activities. She covers yoga, foam rolling, stretching, sleep and other strategies that I’ve incorporated into my hiking prep and days on the trail.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

[Michael Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book constists of 3 main parta:
- Defining and measuring recovery
- Recovery techniques
- Recovery protocols
Part I is most interesting and most theoretical. It covers the topic why recovery is so important, how to avoid overtraning etc
Part II describes the topic of recovery techniques, types like active recovery, reduction of stress, sleep, proper food and supplementation, massages, Rolling etc
Part III puts together Part II and explains best protocols for accelerating recovery.
All in all book was good but it is written mostly for runners and triathlon athletes.

[Quentin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an amateur triathlete, I consider this book to be a very useful introduction to a wide range of recovery techniques. Easy and quick to read, have already found myself coming back to it for various techniques. It's nothing extremely comprehensive, so don't expect a "bible"-like book about recovery. Instead it touches upon the different aspects of recovery, and if you wish to, allows you to do more thorough research.

[EmReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and good for fast reading. Contains useful tips for recovery.