Figure Athlete - 10 Steps to Super Recovery

10 Steps to Super Recovery
by Steven Morris

How many people do you think put any noticeable effort into planning their recovery from training? Based on my fourteen years of training experience, not too many.

A few years back, I almost bought into the then-popular theory that damn near everybody who lifted weights more than two days a week was "overtraining." I soon realized that most people weren't anywhere nearovertrained.

They were just under-recovered!

James Loehr, one of the greatest sports psychologists of all time, talked about making "waves" in your training:

"Without recovery, stress is all there is. Stress becomes linear, constant, unremitting. Linear stress eventually means overtraining, increasing weakness, and poor performance... Recovery must occur at all three levels — physical, mental, and emotional.

Recovery often simply means rest. When you rest, you temporarily break episodes of stress and allow energy to be restored."

If you take some time to plan out your recovery methods, I guarantee that you'll see tremendous progress. Here are some of the most effective recovery methods.

How many lifters do you know (yourself included) who walk around in a sleep deficit everyday? Look at your co-workers tomorrow and you'll probably see some seriously tired people.

It only takes one night of sleep deprivation — getting less than six hour of uninterrupted sleep — before central nervous system performance begins to decline. But how much sleep do you actually need?

The standard suggestion is seven to eight uninterrupted hours. However, if you've been chronically sleep deprived, you may need to spend several weeks "paying down" your sleep debt.

The "easiest" and most obvious way to do this is to simply sleep more! Add an hour at night and grab a nap as often as possible (even a 15-minute power nap helps). Eventually, you'll be back to "normal" and you can go back to the suggested seven to eight hours per night.

• When you're first getting used to afternoon naps, find a good meditation CD, sleep tape, or white noise machine. They're incredibly helpful.

• Keep your bedroom as dark as possible. Cover LCD screens (on alarm clocks, the television, the DVD player, etc.), and put heavy "blackout" drapes over any windows.

• Wear a sleep mask, even after you darken the room. As someone who always had trouble falling asleep, I found wearing a sleep mask helped tremendously.

• If you decide that you need prescription sleep drugs, proceed with extreme caution. Some drugs are actually thought to interfere with REM sleep. So while you may sleep more, you're lacking the most important stage of the sleep cycle and basically trading sleep quality for quantity.

Instead, try melatonin, ZMA, or even the classic warm milk and turkey cocktail (but not blended together). The key is to find something that works for you.

Wait... don't panic. I'm not asking you to convert to Buddhism or try to contact your animal spirit guide. Even the most simple forms of meditation — just closing your eyes and saying "in and out" as your breathe — will work wonders.

You may find that you even fall asleep while doing this. Great!

Fifteen minutes of just letting go of your day's troubles will help your mind relax and let your body recover. Scientists have been able to measure the changes in a person before, during, and after meditation. Brain scans have shown that there are actual shifts in the brain due to meditation.

Brain waves in the right frontal cortex, which is the area of our brain prone to stress, move to the left frontal cortex, which is the calmer area of the brain. More benefits of meditation include a possible shift toward fat burning, improved carbohydrate metabolism, and reduced cortisol levels.

It better be obvious that these are all beneficial for Figure Athletes.

There's a million meditation CD's out there. Try a few different ones to see what you like, and what you respond best to. If you're worried about any possible religious connotations, seek out a "sports relaxation" CD.

I suppose the new trend is peri-workout nutrition, and this is a great idea. A great post-workout recovery drink, like Surge, is vital!

When Bill Starr wrote about the benefits of post-workout nutrition way back in the '70s in his classic book, "The Strongest Shall Survive," he said:

"European researchers found that if their athletes ingest protein, preferably in liquid form, in less than 30 minutes after exercise, their recovery rate is three times faster than if they wait past this time period."

This was written nearly 40 years ago, yet some people still haven't caught on. Get a good recovery drink and sip it before, during, and after training.

Frankly, most lifters don't under-eat, but they do eat the wrong foods to facilitate recovery. Follow the basic principles of a (fairly) healthy diet and you'll be okay. Dr. John Berardi's "7 Habits" article is a great place to start.

I just talked about the benefits of post-workout supplementation, but it bears repeating. I still think the nutrition chapters of Starr's "The Strongest Shall Survive" are excellent. His vitamin and mineral recommendations are overkill, but that's not the point.

If you get key vitamins and minerals into your system right after training — vitamins C, D, and A, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium — you will recover faster.

I'll admit that I thought foam rollers were "B.S." for a long time; until I tried one. For 10 bucks, I totally transformed the way I felt. After two weeks of rolling four times per week, I felt amazing. My flexibility was back, my joints didn't hurt, and sometimes it was actually a major energy booster.

I've been unable to find any research explaining why, but if I was tired, a good 10-minutes on the foam roller was like a shot of espresso. It's never failed to produce similar results in my clients, either.

Maybe it increased the blood circulation, or maybe it just loosened up my muscles. Either way, I only care that it worked and continues to work.

If you just don't notice any relief from a foamroller, go to the hardware store and get a big piece of PVC. That's also good at getting into places that the roller can miss, like the hamstrings, for example.

There's no doubt that a professional massage is a luxury, but if you can afford it, get one as often as possible. There's been some debate about whether or not massage actually reduces recovery time, but that's missing the point.

It's more about the relaxation than anything else. For one hour, you're free of any troubles. No cell phones, nagging bosses, or lines for your favorite lat pulldown machine... and somebody's rubbing almost every muscle you've got. Sounds like a worthwhile investment to me!

Anyway, most of the studies saying that massage doesn't speed recovery focus on Swedish-style massage. For anyone who's built any amount of muscle tissue, Swedish massages are a waste of time, recovery-wise.

Most lifters simply have too much muscle and need a much deeper style of massage to have a significant, positive effect. You'll need to check out either a sports massage therapist or Shiatsu. If you can find an active release therapy (A.R.T.) practitioner, go for it!

If you're a trainer, you'd be wise to locate a massage therapist to train and exchange services. It'll be the best investment you've ever made.

This is no recent fad. My grandmother told me about the benefits of Epsom salt baths years ago, when I first picked up a weight. She didn't know why they worked, she just knew they did. It turns out that the high magnesium content in Epsom salt baths facilitates the removal of acids through the skin.

Add about two cups to your bath water, along with a handful of sea salt. Places like Bath and Bodyworks will have about a thousand bath time/relaxation powders to choose from. You can also look for a "bath tea bag," no joke. It looks like a giant tea bag you put in the bathtub.

A few months ago, I had a super-heavy max effort lower body workout planned. My back and hamstrings were feeling tight, so I decided to take a quick bath combined with a 15-minute nap. It worked like gangbusters and I hit a 15-pound deadlift P.R. that evening.

The baths also work well aftertraining, or even on the next day. Combine them with some light stretching and a power nap, and you got a recipe for recovery soup!

I know, I know. You're thinking, "Extraworkouts help with recovery?" Yep, but it's not what you expect.

Try walking more. Don't jog, walk. Walking can be a good, calorie-burning, blood-moving activity that won't sap strength or eat muscle. Around 20 to 40 minutes is a good place to start. Think walking is boring? Get an iPod or a hyper little dog, and get going.

But you're not limited to justwalking. One type of extra workout that's worked best for me is using a sled or Prowler. You can put in a good, solid effort but not get sore, because of the lack of eccentric work.

The Prowler is specifically designed to be pushed, pulled, and cursed at after workouts.

Remember that you're doing this for recovery, so go light. There's no need to be a hero with the weight or distance you use.

Of all the advice so far, this is the hardest for me to follow. For most of us, training is fun. Yeah, it's tough, but we love it. Because of this, our instinct is to go 100% all the time, but many coaches recommend "de-loading" every fourth week, and it's a good rule of thumb.

Powerlifting coach Jim Wendler wrote a guide to designing a de-load week. Basically, you should reduce your very heavy lifting, but continue with your easier accessory work.

There are different ways to do it, so experimentation is the best route. The general idea is to spend one week notbeating yourself up, but still making progress in the gym.

Sometimes doing less in the gym can lead to more.

What about a full week off? These are also necessary, every so often. For me, a de-load is usually more productive than a full week off; but I'll still take them. The only things I do during a week off are some stretching and walking.

I'll occasionally combine the week off with a break from my normal diet. It's a great relief psychologically and physiologically. Don't worry about gaining weight during this time. If you can gain noticeable weight in one week, you're doing some serious eating.

I often have to force my clients and athletes into a full week off. People who are hard workers and have addictive personalities can become downright obsessed with training. For them, it's even more important to fully get away for a short time.

They always come back stronger the next week. And so will you!

Steven Morris is a personal trainer and strength coach in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas, and owner of UWA Fitness. He has been lifting weights for over 15 years and has been helping people achieve their fitness and strength goals for over a decade. You can learn more about his methods and services at www.EliteFemaleFitness.com and www.ExplosiveFootballTraining.com.

Loehr, James. The New Toughness Training for Sports: Mental Emotional Physical Conditioning from One of the World's Premier Sports Psychologists. Plume. 1995

Starr, Bill. "The Strongest Shall Survive." Fourth Edition, 1996. Fredricksburg, VA.

http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/DietandLifestyle/epsom.htm

http://www.learnwell.org/meditate.htm

http://www.project-meditation.org/a_bom2/meditation_benefits.html

Lowery, Dr. Lonnie. Meditation for Muscle

Wenger, M.A. & Bagchi, B.K., Studies of autonomic functions in practitioners of Yoga in India, Behavioral Science, 6, 312-323 (1961).

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