The Importance of Recovery

WOW – Alchemy CrossFit just keeps growing and you guys keep excelling and exceeding your expectations of what can be accomplished in such a short time!  You all really inspire us – your dedication, drive, and passion motivate us every day.

Last article I wrote a bit about Intensity – and how it is vital – but that proper mechanics, consistently demonstrated were the foundation that intensity must be built on.  Now, when you start adding intensity you will get sore, your body will adapt, you will get stronger, faster, more agile, etc.  In other words, you will improve the 10 physical skills, and in so doing your overall fitness.  However, these changes, for the most part, don’t happen in the gym, during your workout.  They occur as you recover.  There are a few essential components to recovery, and these apply whether you are recovering from a workout, or from an acute injury.

Rest: Without rest you can not and will not recover.  Your body has a finite amount of resources available.  If you don’t give yourself time to recharge, when you are not further breaking down muscle tissues and depleting glycogen and glucose stores, you will eventually crash – first by plateauing, and then by actually seeing a decrease in your performance.  Practically this means take at least 1 day off of training every week – the more you train, and the longer you have been training, the more you can train every week – but you always need some rest.  Rest does not need to be sitting on the couch doing nothing.  Active rest is actually superior for recovery.  Go for a hike, play pick up basketball, do some skill work, find something active and fun.  Fun is essential here – mental and emotional fatigue can be as detrimental to your performance as physical fatigue.

Sleep: Contrary to popular opinion you need sleep.  You will not function at a high level while running on 3-5 hours a night.  Sleep, especially REM sleep, is the most efficient time for your body to rebuild and replenish.  If you short yourself on sleep, your performance will suffer – there are no exceptions.  That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do what you normally do, workout, etc – just that you are performing at a sub-optimal level.  HERE is a short article on some of the health effects of lack of sleep.

Food: Proper nutrition is another key to efficient recovery.  It makes sense – you wouldn’t try to fuel a race car with  contaminated gas – eating poorly is the same thing. We recommend the Zone as far as nutritional plans go.  Each meal should consist of 40% Carbohydrates (complex carbs such as veggies are best), 30% Protein, and 30% good Fats.  What I have seen going over members nutrition logs is that people chronically under-ingest protein.  Check out this article from the CrossFit Journal for more info and a sample meal plan.

Water: You would be hard pressed to drink too much water.  I have never met anyone who could drink even remotely enough water to be harmful, but I’ve met hundreds of people who are chronically dehydrated.  Water makes up the largest proportion of our cells, and is essential to proper digestion, cooling, and energy production.  It is very possible to lose 2 or more pounds of water in a workout (about a liter). You need to replace it to ensure proper and efficient recovery.  Also, thirst is not a good gauge of your hydration status – by the time you are thirsty during a workout it is too late.  You need to drink water on a consistent basis so you come into the workout hydrated, and rehydrate afterwords.

There are also a few things that can greatly aid in your recovery efforts.

Ice: Ice is the single most effective way to decrease inflammation – it has negligible side effects, unlike NSAID’s (non steroidal anti-inflammatory meds such as IBUPROFEN for example).  It is cheap, readily available, and has been used for centuries if not millenia.  If something hurts -ICE it. 10 minutes on with at least 20 minutes off.    HERE is an interesting article on the use of ice for therapy and recovery.

Stretching/Mobility Work: Moving your sore muscles through their natural range of motion is essential to reducing the amount and duration of muscle soreness.  Stretching will not prevent or reduce DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) but the increased blood flow from active mobility work will help.  Stretching after exercise is essential to maintain and/or increase the joints range of motion. For example, if you are sore from heavy squats, go for a walk and do some air squats, if you’re  sore from push ups, do some arm circles, walk vigorously with your arms, and do some wall or knee push ups.

Massage/ART: Massage can help loosen tight muscles, aid in relaxing muscles, increase your body awareness, and encourage and increase blood flow which helps remove lactic acid and other waste products.  ART (a soft tissue technique) can help break up scar tissue and adhesions, allowing your muscles to function as intended.

Remember, if you have any questions, ask us – we are here to help you meet and exceed your goals!