How to Improve Your Recovery

Taking days off can be difficult for a lot of people, particularly when you are first starting a new routine or if you are trying to be competitive but not being strategic with your recovery can have a lot of consequences. Recovery is such an important part of your wellness journey. It can be the one thing that can make or break a solid fitness or nutrition program. This doesn't mean you must lie around and watch Netflix all day (that could actually make things worse) but adding in activities such as massage, yoga or implementing active recovery strategies like walking or swimming can reap many benefits.

Recovery can have many benefits:

1. Reduce muscle soreness

2. Improves longevity

3. Prevents overtraining

4. Reduces the chance for injury

5. Prevents burnout

Allowing 48 hours between strength training the same muscle groups, or 48-36 hours after high intensity sessions can help you get the most amount of benefits from your recovery sessions but there are plenty of other strategies that can help improve your recovery. Nutrition, Sleep and hydration play equally important roles in getting the most out of recovery!

Here are my TOP 6 recommendations to improve your recovery:

1. Get an adequate amount of protein! If you are one of my clients you might be sick of hearing me say "prioritize protein" but it really deserves being repeated. Most recommend, to get the most benefit of muscle growth and repair, that you take in about .8-1.2g of protein/lb of lean mass. This means if you weight 150lbs and you are 25% body fat you would have roughly 112-115lbs of lean mass on your frame. You would want to consume anywhere between 90-140g of protein/day. Protein has an important role in muscle protein synthesis. Having protein before, during and after strength training sessions can improve muscle repair and growth.

2. Support your activity and your recovery with carbohydrates. This replenishes glycogen stores in muscles and your liver after a workout and can keep blood sugar levels stable as during your activity. Combine approximately 30-45g of carbohydrates with about 15g of protein to get the best results. One of my favorites is vanilla protein with orange juice.

3. Hydrate properly. Hydration can not only help move things along in your body but its also critical in moving things AROUND. Not sure how much water you should be drinking? Take your body weight and divide it in half. If you weight 150lbs you would need roughly 75 oz of non caffeinated beverages a day. Add an additional 1-2 8oz glasses of water water for every pound that you lose during exercise or sweating. Adding some electrolytes can also improve fitness.

4. Get enough sleep!!! For me, this should really be number 1! Everyone has different sleep needs but for the majority of people 7-9 hours of sleep seems to be the magic window. Sleep is where the magic happens. Hormones are produced to contribute to muscle repair and growth. When sleep is lacking it impedes necessary inflammation and cellular work that is needed to aid in recovery.

5. Massage and foam rolling can help break up scar tissue and improve flexibility. Massage, and foam rolling specifically, can improve range of motion, decrease stress, improve blood flow and delay muscle soreness. Adding this to your recovery routine can not only help with recovery but can improve the longevity of of your fitness journey. It's a whole lot easier to stick with something when you can decrease the muscle soreness and help prevent injury.

6. Ice baths and cold showers are magical for your mind and body! Not only does an ice bath help to soothe sore muscles or even prevent muscle soreness but it can also decrease stress by stimulating the Vagus Nerve and ease anxiety. The cold can help slow down your CNS that is involved in sending pain signals and limit muscle soreness. Try starting with less cold water and work your way into an ice bath and the colder the water the less time you will need to hang out there. Try starting with turning the temperature down in the shower. Start with two minutes and work your way up to five. This is also great for shrinking pores in your face and sealing moisture in your hair. Try rinsing your conditioner with cool water.

Not only are you going to get a much earned "break" from your routine but you aree also going to help restore muscle glycogen and make sure your muscles are primed and ready to go for your next training session.

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