recovery is very important

Just back from our vacation in the Dominican Republic, getting caught up on business stuff and blog posts 🙂

While away I am reminded of the importance of recovery…of stepping out of each day…and stepping off the often frantic, spinning planet of our lives…to just kick it back and relax, both the mind and body.

My son was kind enough to supply this video of Iron Dad demonstrating an afternoon recovery nap:

[flowplayer src=’http://www.irondaughterirondad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/irondad_recovery_x264.mp4′ width=320 height=240]
(full screen by clicking on the rectangle in the lower right corner)

You’ll notice the key elements to encourage recovery:

• legs raised to encourage leg recovery and reduce blood pooling and swelling…minimum 5 minutes for every hour of exercise
• sleep: this is when growth hormones are released that play a large role in recovering and building muscle

Eye cover sleeping mask, palm trees and warm breeze are all optional, but definitely encouraged for maximum recovery effectiveness 🙂