A Champion’s Recovery Posture

“3, 2, 1… TIME!” The scene is very familiar. There are bodies strewn out all over the floor, gasping for air. Sweaty breathless students who just gave their all are recovering after a job well done. It turns out that the details of your posture may have real implications; psychological and otherwise. In other words, it might pay real dividends to stand up tall, amongst the pain of that breathless recovery period.

Psychologically speaking, we’ve seen for years now that posture has a direct influence on our understanding of ourselves. With upright posture we evaluate ourselves more positively, have improved mood, and this can carry over into tangible confidence. A 2009 study by Ohio State University, corroborates this.

In fact, now that I think of it, one of the greatest strength and conditioning coaches I had in my career implemented a uniform “recovery position” as a rule to impart more resilient psychology. This position, of course, was standing tall with hands on hips. Just writing about it gives me the chills, because we were put through some torturous conditioning sessions and despite our strong desire to bend at the waist, put hands on knees, or even take a knee, we stood tall as if to say, “Is that all?” As a result, all thirty teammates stood tall, hands on hips experiencing this shared suffering differently. You could forget about lying down after a workout.

In some ways, you may wonder, “Do I really need to make my training harder than it already is?” Nonetheless, I challenge you to increase your awareness about how you recover. Are you flat on your back, rolling on the ground? Do you stand with victimized posture between sets? Or, do you stand tall regardless?

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach

6/9/17 WOD

Complete 4 rounds for quality of:
1 Front Squat (85%)
25’ Handstand Walk
50’ Standing Sled Rope Pull (AHAP)
100’ Farmer’s Carry (100/70)