If you ask a trainer how they approach their training programs, they can give you a detailed plan on how they deliver a workout. If you ask them how they warm-up, they may go between tissue work and mobility drills. Now ask them how they approach recovery. What is their plan? That’s where you may hear crickets. Years ago, I became more deliberate about my approach to recovery. I started to schedule recovery time, like I do my workouts. The outcome was that I saw a rapid improvement with my recovery.
We tend to put a generic tag and approach to recovery. “I’ll take off from training”, is a familiar response. That will eliminate adding more trauma (and that is what training is) to your muscle tissues, but how will that aid in recovery. If you consider the delivery of proteins in the form of amino acids as recovery, then you are correct, but how does that differ from any other day? Sleep is also another huge contributor towards recovery, but what are you doing differently on recovery days? I’ve written in the past on how I use the Sleep tracker form Oura to monitor my HRV and sleep patterns. This provides great data to track trends and to notify me if I am trending in the wrong direction.
I wrote in a past post about different recovery methods. If you missed it, here is the link.
A good approach to recovery is to schedule time during the week when the emphasis will be on tissue repair, waste removal, and decongestion of the muscle tissue. I tend to go between foam rolling for 10- 15 minutes and percussion work using the HyperVolt massage gun. Massage work from a manual therapist is another good option. I used to be a huge fan of icing, with the objective of reducing swelling, but have recently started using electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) from MarkPro with good success. The muscle stimulation is transmitted through the skin using electrodes.
Here are a few examples of my favorite choices.
Trigger point work w/ HyperVolt
The key is that you should not be random about your recovery. Determine which you prefer and schedule it with the same priority as your workouts. Make sure you are providing your body what it needs.
I’ll see you at the studio.