HELPING YOU LIVE YOUR HEALTHIEST LIFE
When it comes to achieving results, training in the gym is only the flame that lights the firework. If you’re only training, you will likely stop short of making the gains you’d like to see. The other key priority must be recovery.
But what is recovery?
Recovery is allowing your body to heal and destress from your training sessions. It is the wick. Only when your training meets recovery will you see real, visible results.
There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to recover from a hard workout. But, we are going to start here with a foundation. Once you’ve maximized these three habits, you can start adding in new methods to boost your recovery further
#1: Sleep
There is absolutely no other recovery method that drives performance and increases the body’s recovery time like sleep. My favorite thing about sleep is that it is absolutely free—available to anyone and everyone that will take advantage of it. This is where everyone should seek to improve. I recommend you check out this article, which has some extensive information I’ve used to improve my own sleep habits.
#2: Nutrition
Food may not be as free as sleep, but it’s just as readily available. Often where we hurt ourselves is making poor food choices. The wrong food may blunt our recovery. Proper nutrition gives your body digestible protein sources, which increases muscle mass. Good nutrients also aid fat loss and boost energy. More energy means you can get back into the gym sooner. If nutrition is a big question mark for you, schedule a free No Snack Intro with our coaches to learn how you can start thriving.
While food may not be as free as sleep it is just as readily available but often times we find ourselves choosing the wrong foods that potentially blunt our recovery instead of aid it. By choosing proper nutrition you can increase muscle in the body by giving your body digestible protein sources, decrease fat by allowing your body to take in nutrients that aid in fat loss, and boost energy by fueling your body properly which will allow you to get back in the gym sooner than you may have with poor nutrition. If nutrition is a big question mark for you then schedule a free nutrition consultation with our coaches to learn more about how you can start moving forward in that area.
#3: Relaxation
When you think about relaxing does your mind go straight to Netflix? That’s chillin’ and chillin’ is different than relaxing. When you train hard you put your body in a sympathetic state—another way of saying you’re stressing your body out. Think of it like a pressure gauge: green (good), yellow (not optimal), and red (stressed). When you train, you push your body through the yellow into the red so that it will give you results. But staying in those areas when you aren’t training is a recipe for disaster. Take some time to breathe. You can use an app like Headspace or just lay down with your back on the floor, eyes closed, and breathe in and out deeply for 10 minutes before bed. Getting your body into a relaxed state leaves you with a sense of calm that can drastically improve your sleep, your recovery, and your approach to day-to-day tasks.
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These are the three habits that have made the biggest impact on my personal recovery. They’ve become staples in my everyday training routine. There is a lot of marketing out there convincing you that you need to spend money to get better. But, the honest truth is that the best recovery tools are probably right in front of you. Take advantage of them and you’ll be amazed at how much faster you move toward your goals.
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