If you're like me and you love to work, the biggest obstacle you face is just waiting for your body to recover.
What if I told you there are safe and effective steps you can take to help your body do just that?
In this blog, I'm gonna share with you my 11 practices that help me expedite my recovery so you too can get back in the gym as soon as possible.
Call it… your Recovery Checklist.
-Did you hit your protein quota?
If you don’t know your protein quota, it’s your ideal body weight x .7. Over time this number may change but stick with this as a general rule.Protein breaks down into amino acids and amino acids are the building blocks of new muscle growth.
In the same way, you can’t build a house without sufficient concrete, you can’t grow stronger without giving your body the materials it needs to do so.
-Did you hit your carb quota?
Carbs are your best friend IF you lift weights regularly and are happy with your current body weight. Think of carbs as your rocket fuel for lifting heavy things. If you check off the two requirements, carbs will power you through your weight training and also spare your lean muscle tissue on your rest days.
For more on this, check out the Carbohydrate Mastery PDF on the FREE resources page.
-Did you hit your water quota?
Keeping hydrated daily essentially helps with moving nutrients faster and excreting toxins within the body. All leading to a faster recovery. According to Harvard Health, the water intake for men and women is as follows…
Men: 104 oz
Women: 73 oz
Your water quota might be a little more or less than this, my water number is at least 1 gallon. The key point I’m making here is that you need more water than you think.
It’s important to consider also that muscles are anywhere from 70-80 percent water and Synovial fluid, the substance in your joints consists of 95 percent water. Better-hydrated muscles and joints are better-performing muscles and joints.
-Did you get in bed by 10:00pm?
Personally, 10:00PM is the absolute latest. Getting in bed and falling asleep early is a hack to waking up early with boatloads of energy. Mark Wahlberg supposedly goes to bed at 8:00pm and wakes up at 2:00AM to start his day.
The secret, and I can attest to this…the hours before midnight are the ones that count. If you rest the best during this time, and rest is essential to your recovery, I’ll do everything in my power to get to bed as early as humanly possible.
-Did you warm up before the workout?
A quick 5-minute warm-up before training can help reduce the risk of muscle soreness afterward. Therefore leading to a faster recovery.
-Did you stretch after a workout?
Similar to the warm-up, stretching after workouts prevents injuries, improves flexibility, and reduces soreness post-work. All precursors to faster recovery.
-Did you get your walks this week?
Walking is man’s best medicine. Similar to ideal hydration, it helps with circulation and moving things around within the body. 20 minutes or more daily is recommended, preferably outside.
-Did you take your creatine every day?
I’m a big fan of creatine. But if you’ve tried it and hated it, don’t bother taking it. Creatine supplementation and water go hand in hand with one another. If you wanna try taking creatine, you must drink plenty of water to avoid unwanted side effects.
Not only is creatine linked to faster recovery from weight training, but it’s also been linked to cognitive benefits such as better memory and improved mood.
-Did you get your sixty minutes of sauna?
Sauna’s, as you learned in the last email, have lots of health benefits. 57 minutes a week appears to be the tipping point for receiving the waterfall of health benefits.
It doesn’t have to be all at once though, you can break that hour up throughout the week. From 10 minutes/6 days a week to 30 minutes/2 days a week.
-Did you get your twelve minutes of cold plunge?
Okay, I know this is a big ask for many of you. For anyone up for the challenge, research has shown that cold plunges can help in reducing the degree of muscle damage caused by workouts. Meaning less inflammation, less soreness, and less time spent recovering.
More than 12 minutes a week seems to be the point of diminishing returns, but even a quick 2-minute plunge can be beneficial. Like the sauna, you can break up the 12 minutes into multiple sessions a week.
-Did you manage your stress well this week?
Every step you take in speeding up your recovery goes out the window when you have a high amount of stress in your life. Life is hard sometimes, I get that. That’s where daily habits such as meditation, gratitude journaling, and being generous go a long way in helping you with a different perspective.
TAKE AWAY:
Most of you are probably doing several of these already. Personally, I struggle with getting the daily walk-in, the sleep, and the cold plunge.
One final tip you can do is to take a recovery week. Where you simply rest for an entire 7 days with no exercise. This is something you do when you have Stage 1 of Overtraining Syndrome (OTS).
Hope all of this was helpful,
When you can, please share this with someone who needs it.
