by Megan Cooke Carcagno, Tudor Collegiate Strategies
It’s Saturday evening and you’ve finally finished off another grueling week in season. Time to do some work on the house, get a start on the piling laundry and spend some time with the kids before they head to bed. You’re tired but excited to have your remaining few hours of the weekend all to yourself. Before you know it, it’s Sunday night and you’re mentally preparing to exhaust yourself all over again. The cycle repeats and repeats. You’re tired and feeling run down.
Sound familiar? As coaches, we’re very good at staying busy, looking busy, being busy. As parents and coaches, those feelings multiple and quickly overwhelm. We take on way too much, are unsuccessful delegators, and usually brimming with stress and fatigue.
We push athleticism yet we are rarely models of health.
Can you imagine if we asked our athletes to do all of their icing, stretching, sleeping and hydrating between Saturday to Sunday night? No way, you’re thinking. That’s unhealthy, stressful and unsafe. There can be no good outcomes to that type of procrastination, right?
So why are we putting our own recovery last?
We are always asking our athletes to do daily recovery. Go stretch. Have an ice bath. Practice mindfulness. Warm up. Cool down. Sleep! But where does our daily “active” recovery rank our personal to do list? Where did it rank today for you?
Active recovery is exactly how it sounds, doing that thing that promotes healing, ability, and recovery. It’s more than rest (although it can be as simple as rest) and it fosters a mindset that believes intentional action can redirect passive outcomes. It’s doing something to promote well being and self love.
Active recovery takes planning and practice. Perhaps a daily yoga class, a midday run with colleagues, or an hour of uninterrupted reading before bed. Doing this six to seven days a week can vastly shift mindset, stress, and help avoid burnout. It’s more than taking a few minutes for yourself when you reach a boiling point. Rather, it’s investing in yourself to avoid a crisis. Most importantly, it’s allowing yourself to be relaxed enough to enjoy every other thing in the day.
Can you think of a better way to lead as a coach?
Megan Cooke Carcagno is a former Divison 1 Rowing Coach who now works with college coaches in all different sports and division levels to help them improve their recruiting. If you have any questions for Megan, you can email her at megan@dantudor.com.