Recovery Tactics For Busy People Who Train Hard

[cherryjohnson]

I’m a very active person (training multiple times per week) juggling between raising a family, growing a company, and lifting Iron.

To sustain my Crossfit "habit" and still manage to move fast and get shit done in life (DOMS much?) I’ve had to finally start taking this recovery thing seriously.

What I’m doing to enhance Recovery:

• DOMS Management: Hot/Cold Bath with Epsom salts. - Heard about the benefits of cold/hot exposure on a video by Dr. Rhonda Patrick. (
  )
• Sleep Optimization: I was one of the many people that took sleep for granted for most of my life until I had my first kid. These days I manage to sleep 7 hours uninterrupted. I take Valerian root plus melatonin and I use Rise Science for sleep tracking. ( https://www.risescience.com/ )
• Mobility Protocol: I’ve used the PVC pipe/lacrosse ball combo forever (still do) but decided to get my hands on an electric deep massager last year. Ended up buying an equine massager from Thumper! For those who wanna laugh at the sheer size of this monstrosity: (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PB18cu2Z9cHejA1HUtTdblMY2zH0j_kY/view?usp=sharing)
• Meditation: Some people will disagree, but I see meditation as a valuable tool. While it might not impact DOMS directly, it has been a great tool to manage my always-overloaded CNS. I usually do 20 minutes of TM first thing am.

Are there any other recovery protocols I should be looking into?

 

[chantelle1989g]

@cherryjohnson Sleep.

Fucking sleep more, people.

I think you’ve got it covered.

Meditation is overlooked too. Sleep and meditation (that can just be “spend 10 min think about your day, write down 3 good things that happened or that you’re proud of etc.”) are free and low effort compared to spending time rowing or on mobility.

 

[primrosehill]

@chantelle1989g Just like Mat said... if you could harness the benefits of sleep and hydration in pill form, you wouldn’t be able to keep it stocked on shelves

 

[dawn16]

@chantelle1989g Cheapest supplement their is, I don't follow my own advice but other people should!

 

[stormie_renee]

@chantelle1989g Wish I could sleep, but working 18-20 hours a day makes that pretty hard

 

[chantelle1989g]

@stormie_renee Working that many hours is actively detrimental to productivity; sleep deprivation makes humans very unhealthy in every metric, and that level of stress will literally kill people.

I hope it's worth it.

 

[stormie_renee]

@chantelle1989g Same here

 

[dawn16]

@cherryjohnson Plain old stretching has helped me tremendously. Have also had shoulder issues and started using Crossover Symmetry which has helped minimize my issues a lot.

 

[cherryjohnson]

@dawn16 Solid. I've been using the stretches and mobility exercises from the Kelly Starrett book for years.

 

[mititelumarcel]

@dawn16 Yea. I’ve got this 7min tai chi app. Works great for mobility.

 

[zeroempathy]

@cherryjohnson Don't forget good hydration.

 

[sam14]

@zeroempathy 6 pack of Busch light then? Got it.

 

[adrainsmith]

@cherryjohnson Sleep is probably my biggest one. I get at least 7 hours a night, usually 8. Someone else mentioned it here but just plain old static stretching after a session works wonders for your body. Mostly clean diet, lots of water and limited alcohol intact.

I’ve tried FITaid once or twice but I think it’s just a gimmicky thing lol

 

[usnuzuloose]

@adrainsmith I always hear about FITAID but never really looked into it,what do they claim the drink does?

 

[adrainsmith]

@usnuzuloose It’s supposed to contain electrolytes and supposedly prevent muscle cramping. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a huge problem with muscle cramps in the first place, but I think stretching and drinking lots of water have the same effect

 

[kostastsitas]

@cherryjohnson How much protein are you eating in a day? What's your micronutrient intake look like? Having enough (1.5-2g/kg) protein is key to recovery. You destroy your muscles in training, need to feed them to help them heal and grow. Also micronutrients are important for overall health and by focusing on micronutrients you will likely increase your fruit and veggie intake - leading to an overall healthier diet.

 

[justinp86]

@cherryjohnson Cutting down on stimulants such as caffeine is huge. People try to always squeeze more out with a preworkout but sometimes leaving something on the table and not having stimulants after mid day will aid greatly in recovery. Half Life of caffeine is like 6 hours so if you have 200 mg at 8 you have 100 mg at 12 and 50 at 6pm. Just cutting down on stimuli (simulated or real stress) will allow the body to recover much better. Most professional athletes train daily but at something like 70% so that they can be consistent and train daily free of injury.

 

[jane_]

@justinp86

Most professional athletes train daily but at something like 70% so that they can be consistent and train daily free of injury.

Are you talking about CF athletes or Olympic weightlifters?

 

[justinp86]

@jane_ Athletics in general, I don't follow crossfitters but I guarantee they're not maxing out daily.

 

[tartamudo]

@cherryjohnson Be careful with cold treatment during training. Theres evidence that it blunts post exercise adaptation. Use it for acute recovery for competitions, but not routinely during training.