Insights About Rest and Recovery From Elite Athlete Turned Clinical Psychologist
Written by Dr Ashleigh Powell, Chartered Clinical Psychologist, BABCP accredited CBT Therapist and Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Regal Private Therapy Practice.
Prior to my career as a Clinical Psychologist, a large part of my life was training as a national swimmer. For years, I was in the pool around 23 hours a week, alongside regular gym sessions.
It was intense, but it was never chaotic. Each year was carefully structured into training seasons designed by my coaches.
Winter focused on heavy distance work, long, physically demanding sessions designed to build significant endurance. I would crawl out of the pool with exhaustion but feeling pleased with my efforts.
As the season progressed, training shifted towards lighter, faster sprint work, shorter sessions, gradually tapering in the summer.
This was in preparation for key race events, whether it would be nationals, commonwealth games trials or going for new British records in open water.
The crucial part? Training was never full pelt all year round.
Weekly training was designed to support recovery (not fight it)
Even within each week, nothing was accidental. Training intensity was balanced intentionally, harder sessions paired with lighter technical or aerobic work, muscle groups rotated and one full day of complete rest every week was essential, not optional.
But recovery went far beyond ‘having a day off’. Fuel, sleep, and physical restoration were precisely managed.
Specific grams of carbohydrates and protein were required within strict time windows before and after training to support muscle repair and energy restoration.
Sleep was non-negotiable. 10pm latest was bedtime because early morning training demanded it. Under-sleeping wasn’t framed as dedication, it was a performance risk.
Before every pool session, I would spend 15 minutes using my stretch cords to activate my muscles safely, then after sessions, pool-based cool-downs were standard.
After that was stretching on the mat and foam rolling (often with some reluctance) but key to support muscle recovery and prevent injury.
That rest day, and all these recovery practices weren’t ‘extras’. They were what allowed adaptation, consistency and peak performance when it mattered most.
From elite sport, the lesson was clear that training breaks the body down and recovery is where it rebuilds the body back stronger.
Without it performance plateaus, injury risk increases and motivation drops.
And that principle doesn’t stop being true once you leave competitive sports or for every day life, it simply changes context.
What we can learn from elite sports and recovery for every day life
From a clinical psychology perspective, the mind and nervous system work in exactly the same way.
In general life, we need activation (focus, effort, challenge) AND restoration (slowing down, safety, recovery).
If we stay in ‘go mode’ constantly, no seasons, no taper, no rest days, the nervous system never fully resets.
Over time, that shows up as:
exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix
irritability
brain fog
burnout, low mood or anxiety
Just like muscles, a resilient mindset doesn’t grow during constant strain. It grows during the pause.
What is seen in the therapy room
In adult life outside of sport, we do not usually have coaches monitoring our rest and recovery for us, which means we have to do it ourselves.
At the start of psychological therapy, particularly those seeking support for burn out, many clients tell me they do not regularly check in with how they are actually feeling.
When I ask simple questions like “How do you know when you’re getting tired?” or “What tells you you are reaching your capacity?” there’s often a long pause.
For many, those signals have been ignored for so long they’ve become almost invisible.
Clients often describe how easy it has become to overwork, to always push through, or to let rest and recovery slide “just this once.”
Over time, this becomes the norm. The body copes until it can’t, and people find themselves stuck in a vicious cycle of exhaustion, guilt for needing rest, and even more pressure to keep going.
By the time they reach therapy, many are functioning on sheer momentum rather than genuine capacity.
One of the most helpful shifts in therapy is slowing this process right down. Rebuilding awareness, noticing early signs of stress, fatigue, irritability, or shutdown, and learning to respond to them rather than override them.
For many clients, this is the first time rest has been framed not as weakness, avoidance, or failure, but as an essential part of staying well.
What micro-recovery looks like in everyday life
Recovery doesn’t need to be time-consuming spa weekends (though this does sound appealing). It may simply be:
stepping away from your desk to eat lunch properly
a short walk without problem-solving
stretching between meeting
slowing your breathing for a minute before moving to the next task
finishing work slightly earlier after an especially demanding day
a slow Saturday morning, staying in bed a little longer, reading a new book, no agenda
protecting one evening where nothing productive is required
alternating busy days with lighter ones
choosing gentle movement instead of always training hard
These often regulate the nervous system more effectively than big breaks, because they interrupt constant mental vigilance, which is what exhausts most people.
In summary, when I look back at how essential rest and recovery were in my swimming career, the lesson is unmistakable.
Recovery was never laziness or a sign of weakness, and it was never something to earn after pushing through for long enough
It was a deliberate performance strategy. The same principle applies beyond sport.
Whether you are training, working, parenting, or healing, sustained performance and psychological wellbeing depend on cycles of effort and restoration.
Rest is not separate from the work, it is what allows the work to be done well, consistently, and without breaking down.
About Dr Ashleigh Powell
Dr Ashleigh Powell is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and BABCP-accredited CBT therapist and co-founder at Regal Private Therapy Practice based in London’s Harley Street Medical District. She works with both adults and young people (in person and online) and leads the Child and Adolescent (CAMHS) pathway.
Dr Ashleigh has extensive experience providing therapy and was formally a senior Clinical Psychologist and team manager within an NHS team. Dr Ashleigh works with a wide range of mental health difficulties as well as working with individuals accustomed to high levels of pressure, responsibility, and performance.
Before training in clinical psychology, she competed as an elite athlete at Loughborough University, an experience that continues to shape her clinical approach and understanding of high performance, identity, and rest and recovery.
Dr Ashleigh enjoys supporting current or retired athletes presenting with burnout, perfectionism, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and the psychological challenges that can arise during major life transitions, including retirement from elite sport.
Dr Ashleigh’s work bridges evidence-based CBT and third wave therapies with real-world insight into competitive environments, where self-worth can unintentionally become tied to results and relentless standards. Clients frequently describe her approach as thoughtful, grounded, and collaborative, helping them develop resilience without losing ambition.
With the right support, change is possible and performance does not have to come at the expense of mental health.
Click here to book a complimentary consultation with Dr Ashleigh Powell.
