Recovery Time

At the start of this project, I set a couple of goals, in increasing difficulty. I knew that just to go out and say, "I'm going to make this team!" was not going to be sufficient. So, I worked out a couple of steps on the ladder, so to speak.

One of the main goals was to get my body and my joints in good enough shape to be able to work out every day. Not necessarily a brutal, leg-shaking workout every day, but to get my recovery time down so that I could do at least something every day. I was really worried about this, because of my history of being broken and the ease that I come down with overuse injuries (tendinitis, shin splints, wrist pain, etc.). It's so easy, if you don't ice, take anti-inflammatories, get enough sleep, to let your recovery time creep over 24 hours. If that happens, well, you're screwed, because you can't take days off to rest up. Amazingly, this seems to be working out well for me; the workouts are tough, but I'm not waking up sore and stiff and tight every morning.

This is what amazes me the most about professional baseball players; not necessarily the effort and skill that they put out in any individual game, but the fact that they do it EVERY SINGLE DAY for MONTHS. I'm sure there are fantastic players, hitters, pitchers, fielders, who had the talent to be all-stars in the big leagues, but their bodies simply couldn't handle playing every day. Their natural recovery time was more than one day. And people wonder why players take human growth hormone? Seriously, if it was still legal and I could afford it, that would be a no-brainer.

The fun part is when one of my buddies joins me for a workout because they say "oh come on, it's can't be that hard." Well, sometimes, it's not. I've had friends who work out and are in good shape join me for lifting, and when we're done, say, "Wow, that was hard, but hey, I finished." (To be fair, I've also had friends quit halfway through because they needed to go vomit. So there's a scale, certainly.) And then I say, "Actually, that's pretty good. By the way, in ten hours, do you want to come work out on the field? I'm going to hit, throw, and catch fly balls for two hours."

They often look at me like I'm kidding. "But I can't move my legs," they say. "I know," I respond, "but don't worry. If you come with me tomorrow at this time, we'll run sprints for an hour and a half and it'll shake that tightness right out."

Them: When do you get a rest day?
Me: Next Sunday.
Them: But it's Monday.
Me: Yes. That's when I get to do active rest.
Them: What the hell is active rest?
Me: The principle that on an off day, if you can get your blood moving and heart pumping a little bit without straining your joints, that will aid your body's recovery more than if you just sat around for a day.
Them:...So when's the next day that you do nothing?
Me:...When I retire.
Them: Damn.

Again, to reiterate: I'm not complaining; I'm educating. I'm not a scholarship athlete (well, not really...see the next post), so nobody makes me do this. Nothing but free will brings me to do this. This is my choice. I'm simply explaining myself, because I'm tired of going out after work for drinks with a group of friends, ordering only water, and getting heaps of shit for it. NOTHING sucks away the bounce in your step like alcohol. Well...I can think of some things that are probably worse. But alcohol is not a performance-enhancer by any means.