Recovery Tactics For Busy People Who Train Hard

[noname5137]

@tartamudo Its all good as long as you aren't doing it immediately after exercise.

 

[victoriousinchrist]

@cherryjohnson I am also a very active person, raising a family, work full time, train hard almost daily and I am working on side-hustles all the time.

I think you neglected the one part of training / recovery that everyone seems to neglect.

You need a proper program.

No amount of sleep, hydration, supplements and even steroids will help you recover from a constant work out that destroys you. A proper program should know when to push you, when to maintain and when to cut things back. Too much stimulus in too short of time can lead to performance issues that can effect your training and competition, but the former is even more worrisome because it begs to question if you're getting the most out of your every day workouts.

Outside of getting a good 7-9 hours of sleep, staying hydrated, eating properly (which isn't as hard as some fitness people make it out to be) then I am not sure if I care for much else.

1. DOMS management - Where in Dr. Patrick's talk does it talk about DOM's? A lot of athletes use hot and cold baths. It has been shown to help a little bit with short term recovery. It also has been brought up by several other sport scientists on the effect. Why do you want to reduce inflammation and soreness? These are natural body responses to stimulus that help create adaptation. Why do you want to minimize this effect every time? You're a CF games athlete who needs to be ready to go for a 2nd and 3rd workout later in the day, I get it. You're a CF hobbyist who likes to stay active? Idk how much hot and cold baths are great for TIME EFFICIENCY lol. I am not against these things, just be wary of the negatives too. (It's not that quick to do, it's not always valuable to do, and it can be counter productive at times - check out Andy Galpin's take on this for more).
2. Yes Sleep is great. It's been a bit over dramaticized by people like Matthew Walker in recent years. But yes everyone should get the right sleep for them. Sleeping in a comfortable room (dark, on colder side) can help. 7-9 seems like the best for most. Some can do 6 and feel better. Some need 10+, especially more serious athletes. Mat Fraser said he needs 13 lol. I believe it. Sometimes I wish I could take 30 min naps here and there.
3. Mobility - Yea these tactics can help with short term mostly, but also general movement can help for some long term.
4. Meditation - Yes Meditation can be good to relax, though I know a lot of people who get more stressed trying to meditate. And it also begs to question what is and isnt meditation. Is working out meditation? Is TV watching a way to relax? etc

For me. I do the following:

• I have a work out program that is challenging, but manageable. I push it here, I take it a step back elsewhere. I know I can't do everything at 100%. I have differ phases for differ times of the year.
• My sleep I aim for 8 hours about every night. I don't care if smoking weed can hinder some deep sleep, all I know is without it I would get less than 7 hours in total and then I feel bad. Hydration before bed is key
• My nutrition is IIFYM. If I hit this + get some fiber in + stay hydrated, then I feel great. Supplements usually only used to help me deficiencies. Like Vitamin D, which I am now stopping with sun being back out lol

 

[p8089]

@victoriousinchrist It's nice seeing someone in this forum specify that sleep varies both with activity but also with the individual.

Not prioritizing sleep is clearly a mistake, but trying to sleep too long can also have detrimental effects as well.

Statistically it's been known for a while that people who sleep much more than 8 hours a night have increased all cause mortality, but I've yet to see anything factoring for level of athleticism.

It's also been known for a while that trying to sleep too long for your body/activity level will cause insomnia, the hallmark of which is lying in bed unable to sleep. with cognitive behavioral therapy, they first and most lasting change made is known as 'sleep restriction'.

 

[7bjoern7]

@cherryjohnson Snickers

 

[patona]

@7bjoern7 Don’t forget the thick Gatorade!

 

[yevon007]

@patona Thicc* gatorade

 

[cherryjohnson]

@7bjoern7 Pre-workout snack

 

[dawn16]

@cherryjohnson I've been getting a yoga session in once/wk, plus some daily meditation.

 

[jlmetcalf]

@dawn16 I love yoga! I do hot yoga twice a week and it's incredibly helpful for my recovery and mobility. My Crossfit box also has a yoga studio in the building (my coach runs both) and I thought it was a weird combination at first, but they go so well together.

How did you get into meditation? Where do you fit it in your schedule? I feel like it would be very helpful for me, but I haven't worked it into my day yet.

 

[dawn16]

@jlmetcalf I have a close friend who is really into yoga. She's taught classes and just seems to have it together. One day we were out hiking and talking. Her week had been stressful. Anyway, she said we should do a simple meditation session. I try to get a few minutes in early in the am or at night once I'm home from work. I prefered mornings but DST has f'd up my schedule. There are so many apps out there you can use.

 

[lnyc83]

@cherryjohnson Nothing here matters if you’re not training within your volume landmarks. Vibration tools and stretching aren’t recovery.

 

[girlintheclouds]

@cherryjohnson Yeah none of that shit really matters besides sleep.

If you aren’t recovering, do less, until you can handle more. Avoid anything that isn’t training. Sleep 10 hours. Eat caloric surplus.

It’s really that simple.

 

[cherryjohnson]

@girlintheclouds 100% agree. If I could, trust me, I would love 10h straight in the sack.

 

[picot08]

@cherryjohnson Kids are the ultimate sleep killers

 

[bilnit]

@picot08 I always think about how if I didn't have kids I'd be so well rested and in such better CrossFit shape then quickly remember that no, I wouldn't and I would most certainly find some other way to mess it up. It is nice to dream though.

 

[nickodack69]

@girlintheclouds

Avoid anything that isn’t training.

Take your point, but surely in the interests of health it's best to not discourage leading an active lifestyle. Inactivity (usually erroneously conflated with sitting) is a pretty bad habit that increases the risk of all sorts of diseases and muscoskeletal conditions which would impact training performance. Pretty sure light, active recovery can also be good for stimulating blood flow to encourage muscles to repair.

Granted, if you were purely training with the sole goal of becoming a better athlete (rather than maximising general health, longevity etc.) then you could be as inactive as you want to promote recovery outside of the gym. But OP's take seems a bit more holistic than that.

 

[girlintheclouds]

@nickodack69 I’m just saying. You don’t need saunas, ice baths, or fancy shit if you are training for health.

If you want performance, do your training (which includes hard training and “active recovery” aka lower intensity training and do nothing else.

 

[worshiper1994]

@cherryjohnson My coach wrote this,

https://kabukistrength.com/optimize-recovery-maximal-strength-gains-daniel-debrocke/

Goes through all the typical go tos as far as recovery is concerned.

Essentially, the most important: Sleep, nutrition, and stress management play the biggest roles in recovery.

 

[lhoustonii]

@cherryjohnson I'm a HUGE believer in Ashwagandha, it's proven to decrease cortisol and improve sleep and muscle recovery. Check out www.lunewell.co

 

[armorofgoddj]

@cherryjohnson The more I exercise, the better I recover. Obviously you can’t blow out every time, but two a days kill DOMS and it feels like the more often I work, the more ready I am to work. I typically stick to one decent WOD with accessory work, then another session with steady state/mono steuctural and whatever I feel like. Two 30-45 minute sessions instead of a single one hour session.

Also just more burpees.