Rest & Recovery with Kaela Little, MA, CMPC, LPCC

Hello! Welcome to the Monkey Mind Newsletter where we provide you with the tools to be a more successful and resilient athlete and human. 

CONTRIBUTOR
Kaela Little, MA, CMPC, LPCC

Kaela is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. As a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC) in the State of Colorado she also provides therapeutic services. She earned her Master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Denver and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame.

She competed as a Division I student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame and played professional soccer in France before retiring from the sport. Kaela has experience working in both athletic, high-risk occupation, and clinical settings ranging from collegiate athletic teams, fire and rescue departments, and a variety of club and high school level elite sport programs. She strives to foster a space promoting inclusivity and curiosity, while using evidence-based techniques to help clients consistently achieve performance excellence and feel empowered to live and speak their truth.

Website: https://walkerwps.com/ 
Email: [email protected]

TOPIC
Rest & Recovery

Have you ever had a thought along the lines of, “I have to get in extra training sessions this week to keep up with the competition!”? If you have, you are not alone! For many athletes, increased training volume, whether practice or strength and conditioning, equates to better performance. However, for quality training to be as effective as it can be, you need as much focus on your quality rest and recovery.

The Science

In order for athletes to become fitter, they impose a training overload on their bodies. This principle of overload means that athletes’ training should be sufficiently stressful to elicit a positive adaptation physiologically. However, because an overload is stressful, athletes’ performance is enhanced only following recovery and not from the training overload itself.

A training overload reduces athletes’ capabilities to perform; it is in following the training principle of rest and recovery that we see performance subsequently improve.

Different areas of rest and recovery you can focus on:

• Sleep

• Nutrition

• Hydration

• Stretching and warm-down

• Nutritional supplements

• Mental and physical relaxation

• Impact of alcohol/substance use

MENTAL PERFORMANCE TOOL
Under-recovery Mindset & “Switching Off”

Shift your mindset around rest and recovery by utilizing the phrase under-recovery. This helps to emphasize the importance and high value of quality rest and recovery.

Reflect on and write-down three ways you can “switch off” from your sport and engage in deliberate rest or non-sport activities.

1. ___________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________

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