The dog days of summer are here. The temperature and humidity is rising, the baseball races are starting to mean something, and football training camps are just around the corner. What does it all mean, fall sports are coming soon. Hopefully all of those who participated in summer sports and speed and agility camps will be able to showcase their new found skills. Our summer camps come to a close on Tuesday. This will give our athletes just enough time to recover from the strenuous rigors of their training. Just a few thoughts on recovery. It is an important phase of any workout program and should be part of any training program. Highly driven athletes often overlook the recovery phase of their workouts. Constant increases in workloads without any type of recovery can lead to overtraining syndrome. The symptoms are hard to recognize at first. People first feel they are out of shape and end up working harder only to find they are getting slower and weaker. Things to look out for: tired legs, difficulty sleeping, increased resting heart rate, irritability and anxiety. The cure is rest. Overtraining can be reversed quickly if caught early. It can take 6 months or greater to reverse if proper steps are not followed early. The lesson here is listen to your body and rest it when indicated. The end result, your performance will benefit from the proper work rest ratio. Rest is part of working out. Have a good week.