While every performance journey requires commitment and hard work, the thing that sets enduringly good athletes apart from the rest is the dedication and time they put into establishing great fundamental habits around recovery.

Postseason recovery doesn’t just mean it is time to lay on the couch, jump in an ice bath, or strap on recovery boots. Getting recovery right is key to avoiding underperformance or injury and instead achieving a sustainable performance in both sport and life.

As the holidays loom and you settle into the postseason, it is important to engage in the preparatory phase of training that is so critical to facilitate future success, yet so many people fail to execute correctly.

In this episode of the purple patch podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon revisits the subject of recovery and frames it as a bridge between the end of the race season and improved performance in the coming year.

Matt breaks down your recovery toolkit to see what works, what’s important, and what to avoid to ensure you fully recharge your battery, emotionally, physically, and socially to pave the way for enduring results and growth next season and beyond.

In today's show we will go through:

Recovery in the Context of Your Performance Journey

(08:11) "On one side, you've got to work darn hard, consistently. On the other side, you need rejuvenation, to create acceleration in adaptations in growth in all of the outcomes that you're looking for."

The Components of Proper Recovery

(13:01) "This is about recharging your social connectivity to family, friends, the society that you live in, having an emotional and mental recharge so that we can gain full motivation, clarity, and purpose looking ahead, and physical rejuvenation, both from a systemic or hormonal standpoint as well as a musculoskeletal standpoint. "

A Case Study of Post-Race Assessment - Recovery and Transition Into the Postseason

(24:01) "Our first goal is recharge our batteries. The second goal is to have some really honest and objective reflection, and assessment of what happened over the course of this last season"

(42:51) "So the process of reflection, and some smart structured months, is, I believe, a non negotiable for performance. But unfortunately, most athletes miss out on this, they take one of the two most common paths. And I promise you when you do that, completely disengage, or just have a quick break and obsessively dive back in problems nearly always lay ahead."

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - 03:26 - Welcome and Episode Introduction

03:34 - 44:18 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 242: Deep Recovery – Post-Race Assessment and Recharging for a Magical Year of Performance

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