ABOUT THE BOOK

What’s the secret to successfully training for an Ironman, running a marathon, or even playing in the local basketball league? 

Surprisingly, it’s rest. 

In her new book, The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, endurance and recovery coach Sage Rountree, PhD, explains exactly how to get the most out of training by optimizing recovery time. It’s a down-to-earth guide to what is worth an athlete’s time and money—and what isn’t. Emphasizing evidence-based and free ways to enhance recovery, it encourages athletes to focus on the fundamentals to find the right balance between stress and rest. Rountree gives athletes the tools for learning about their bodies and its optimal conditions for recovery, so that they can reach peak performance while feeling balanced and content with their sport and their lives. 

Dividing the guide into three parts, Rountree first examines the psychological and physiological processes involved in recovery to help athletes better understand its vital importance in training, and shares what can go wrong when recovery is insufficient and an athlete moves into overtraining. Athletes learn ways to measure their own state of recovery, both qualitatively and quantitatively, as well as some general guidelines for returning to training after injury or illness.

In the second part, athletes learn concrete, proven techniques to enhance recovery and improve performance. Rountree covers everything from stress-reduction tips to nutrition and supplements to technological aids and massage. She teaches simple yoga poses, breathing exercises, and meditation techniques to enhance recovery and overall health.

Finally, Rountree brings it all together in part three, demonstrating various plans for recovery from training for and competing in events of all types, from short-distance bike races to ultramarathons. These chapters give athletes a starting point from which to develop their own routines, based on how their body responds to the various techniques. Using the modalities described in the guide, athletes will improve the speed and quality of their recovery, hit peak performance, and grow more balanced, happy, and successful in their sport and their lives. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Endurance and recovery coach Sage Rountree, PhD, is an internationally recognized authority in yoga for athletes and master yoga teacher trainer. Author of 10 books including The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, Everyday Yoga, Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, and The Art of Yoga Sequencing, she has long been a contributor to Runner’s World and Yoga Journal.

Sage’s work helps people relax so they can achieve peak performance in sports and in life. Sage speaks, teaches workshops, and leads trainings internationally and online at sagerountree.com. She lives in central North Carolina, where she co-owns the Carrboro Yoga Company and Hillsborough Spa and Day Retreat.

TALKING POINTS

• How athletes can measure their own state of recovery
• What can go wrong when recovery is insufficient
• Proven techniques to enhance recovery and improve performance
• Evaluations of current tech devices to help with recovery
• Sample recovery plans for all types of training and competition

TIMELY TIE-INS

February

• National Get Up Day – 1
• American Heart Month

March

• Athletic Training Month (bi-weekly)
• National Nutrition Month

April

• National Occupational Therapy Month
• Stress Awareness Month
• National Student-Athlete Day – 6

May

• Mental Health Awareness Month

June

• Family Health & Fitness Day – 8
• Men’s Health Week – 12-18

July

• Paris 2024 Olympics – 26-31

August

• Paris 2024 Olympics – 1-11
• National Health Center Week – 13-19

September

• National Women’s Health and Fitness Day – 30 

October

• Health Literacy Month
• National Health Education Week – 15-19
• World Mental Health Day – 10