Athletic Performance and Recovery Neutral Bay, Sydney NSW

After you exercise, your body experiences small tears in the muscle tissue. If you give yourself an adequate amount of time to recover, these tissue tears will heal and over time, your muscle mass should increase (if you have eaten enough protein for muscle growth). This muscle growth may enhance your athletic performance depending on what you are aiming to progress in.

However, a lack of recovery does not mean purely no muscle growth. You have a much higher chance of experiencing an injury if you do not give your body time to recovery properly. Like with many things in life, exercise and recovery is all about finding the right balance.

Athletic performance is measured in physical performance metrics such as:

• Time
• Length
• Speed
• Weight
• Height
• Distance
• Recovery
• And others

These metrics are important in determining how an athlete can improve their performance and which areas should be targeted.

There are a few different elements of athleticism that affect your overall athletic performance. Some of these are:

• Strength
• Skill based training
• Body proportions
• Flexibility
• Endurance
• Recovery

These factors will influence which type of sport, exercise or activity you may perform better at.

Overall, your athletic performance tends to start to decline around the age of 30. This is due to a multitude of physiological factors. One major reason is to do with your body’s ability to use oxygen.

As we age, our VO₂ max starts to decrease by about 10% per decade. Our VO₂ max is defined as the maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during exercise of increased intensity. Top performing athletes may be able to cut this in half to 5% per decade.

Your body’s ability to use oxygen effectively is just one example of how your athletic ability starts to decline as you age. This is all the more reason to work on your athletic performance and recovery presently, in order to preserve your body’s ability to function effectively.