Summer and autumn, the dry-land training seasons, are very important periods for cross-country skiers to build their aerobic base and engage in effective training for the winter, when the competition season begins. Naturally, they must focus on endurance, interval, speed, and strength training, but as important as individual workouts are, recovery might be the greatest resource an athlete can have. When training hard, it’s also crucial to remember to rest.

Rest is one of the cornerstones of training. In the sports world, the so-called recovery principle is often discussed, which suggests that athletes need sufficient time to recover from training and competition. This principle applies both to immediate rest between workouts and longer rest periods. And as Juha Mieto once said, ‘Skiers are made during rest.’

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During these rest periods, our bodies adapt to the stress caused by intense training and competitions. Rest also allows time for mental recovery and self-reflection. The term ‘metabolic recovery’ describes what happens after exercise when the body returns to homeostasis, its normal stable resting state.

Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise or other physical activity causes changes in the body, such as muscle tissue breakdown and depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen), as well as dehydration. Recovery enables the replenishment of these stores and allows tissues to repair. Without sufficient time for repair and replenishment, the body continues to deteriorate from intense exercise.

Swimming after a run serves as good recovery. In the picture, Team Ragde Charge is swimming in the sea during their training camp in Mallorca. Photo: Magnus Östh

The effectiveness of the workout impacts recovery more profoundly than the duration of the exercise itself, and metabolism or oxygen consumption can remain elevated for hours after the workout ends. Active recovery, which consists of light or moderate exercise, significantly reduces blood lactate levels more quickly than complete rest or passive recovery.

Thus, it’s a good habit to engage in active recovery, where lactate levels are maintained at about 30-60% of the threshold. This recovery activity after the main workout keeps blood flowing to the heart, liver, and inactive muscles, which can use lactate to synthesize glycogen—keeping the metabolism running and speeding up recovery.

Active recovery often works much better than a full rest day for the reasons described above. Some top athletes have no rest days during their intensive training programs, while others have regular rest days. Those who have rest days in their training routine often feel that a full recovery day helps take their mind off the constant training routine, thereby reducing stress and providing a mental break from physically demanding training.

Naturally, sleep, proper nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle after intense training periods are also critical for proper recovery. This is often referred to as long-term recovery, referencing the aforementioned factors incorporated into the seasonal training program. An athlete must also be able to balance their training with daily life so that activities outside of training don’t overload them.

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So, whenever you’re training, keep in mind that rest afterward truly brings the desired results. Of course, this is easier said than done, and even so many professional athletes forget this golden principle and train themselves into so-called overtraining. To avoid this physical overtraining and lack of rest, it’s a good idea to have regular recovery days, which can also be light workouts as described above, and to monitor the overall daily load. When overwhelming fatigue or mental exhaustion hits, it’s wise to hit the brakes and skip a planned workout or even several workouts to give the body time to recover.

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