RECOVERY OF 45 SECONDS TO 1 MINUTE BETWEEN DRILLS ROUTINES IS CRUCIAL. ATP is depleted after 1 minute. Drills class is an aerobic/anaerobic, challenge format. The energy in the muscles should be completely depleted after each track and even at some points during the track, and they will need a full 45 seconds to 1 minute to recover and gather more energy.
Often you will see your students jogging, doing jumping jacks, or stepping between tracks. They have never participated in this type of class before and they don't understand how they can be working hard if they are getting a 1 minute break every 5 minutes or so. Remember - the recovery periods are one of the most important parts of class! You don't ever see football players jogging through the breaks that their coaches give them at practice. They need to take water and gather energy in preparation for the next exercise.
I like to tell participants that at the beginning of the recovery period they should feel like they couldn't possibly do any more work. They should walk, stretch, and take water during the recovery period. By the end of the recovery period they should feel ready for the next set. If some of your participants don't feel ready, encourage them to keep breaking while the rest of the class starts the next routine, joining in ONLY when they feel ready. They shouldn't start the next set until they feel ready for it.
Make sure that participants understand that running or stepping to keep the heart rate elevated during the recovery periods will cause them to burn muscle instead of fat for energy, and decrease their ability to push themselves in to the anaerobic zone during the rest of class. They should walk and stretch during the recovery - moving, but letting the heart rate come down. At the end of the recovery period the heart rate will be above resting, but way below maximum.
Insufficient recovery time will result in sub-par performance, sub-par results, and increased risk of injury. I can't say it enough - the breaks are required, period.
Written by: Kelly Coulter
