Best Posture for Recovery

 

During H.I.I.T Training – High Intensity Interval Training – it is important to recovery between high intensity efforts.      After a hard effort the cardiovascular system kicks into overdrive attempting to get rid of Carbon Dioxide and oxygenate the working muscle cells.    

We have all experienced that post sprint panting as our body breathes out carbon dioxide created during the anaerobic effort of the sprint.    Most of us have been taught to “stand-up straight and put your palms on the back of year head” and told to “stop bending over”.    The message is that it is better to stand up and keep your hands on your head during recovery from hard intervals.

However – is this really true?  The answer is a resounding NO!  A research study focused on this question and examined the effects of two different recovery postures – hands on head (HH) and hands on knees (HK) during high-intensity interval training (HIIT).  

The researches look at college varsity soccer players who did four 4-minute running intervals at 90-95% of maximum heart rate, with 3 minutes of passive recovery between intervals.  Key findings of the study include:

1.     Improved heart rate recovery with the HK (hands on knees) posture compared to HH (hands on heads) posture.

2.     Great tidal volume (amount of air moved in and out of the lungs) with HK compared to HH.

3.     Increased volume of carbon dioxide elimination with HK compared to HH.

The researchers concluded that hands on knees posture allow for more efficient recovery.   The take home message is that your natural instinct to bend over and put hands on your knees IS better!    It allows your lungs to function much better by expanding the ribcage.