RECUPERATION COMBOS
My training week is pretty demanding. My job is pretty demanding as well. I have to find ways to get away with rather little sleep and still recover for my next workout.
For me, quality of sleep is one crucial element of proper recuperation. So is sound nutrition and an optimal peri-workout nutrition protocol.
Additionally, I have some “recuperation combos” up the sleeve I would like to share with you. I found these procedures to work very well for me. You might want to experiment a bit with one or the other.
- Neural Charge Workouts & PowerDrive
I’m not going to explain neural charge workouts because they are very well covered by coach Thibaudeau on this page. I especially love neural charge workouts 4-6 hours before a heavy training session (e.g. in the early morning followed by a regular workout in my lunch break).
I also quite often do a neural charge workout on days I feel drained. I try to have it finished before 2 pm, because I am very sensitive to CNS-stimulation and have problems falling asleep when I do a NCW in the later afternoon or evening.
I mix 2 scoops Biotest PowerDrive in 30-40 oz. of water and drink it during and after the workout (which never lasts longer than 20 minutes). I might sip another serving of PowerDrive 2-4 hours after the completed workout.
When do I do this?
a) To prepare for a heavy workout later on the same day.
b) When I feel drained and just want to do a single workout and can schedule it to be completed before 2 pm.
- Foam rolling, stretching, Epsom salt bath & SUSHI
This is one of my absolute favourites when it comes to recuperation tools.
As I mentioned above, I do not really like neural charge workouts in the evenings, because they tend to activate my nervous system too much to allow me to find restful sleep at night.
So, whenever I feel exhausted from work and/or my workouts when I am at home in the evening, I do this procedure.
It’s very relaxing - not stimulating - it boosts my recuperation and it’s fun!
Here is what I do: Last night I was at home at 7 pm. Which is pretty early for me, and since my fiancee was out with her girls and my muscles felt stiff and sore, I decided to do this routine.
I always start with 8 to 12 easy minutes on my stationary bicycle. Don’t, don’t overdo this and I even consider this optional. I just like to break a sweat before I start my foam rolling and static stretching.
I then do 6 to 8 foam rolling exercises.
After that, I spend 15 minutes or so with static stretching. Static stretching has a very relaxing effect on me. This might also be do to the deep and relaxing breathing involved.
After the stretching I jump into a warm/hot Epsom salt bath for about 20 minutes.
No comes the real fun part: a BIG plate of sushi. Let me explain why I do this: I found a boost in calories to help with recovery. My diet is always a borderline act between providing enough calories and nutrient to allow for muscle growth and performance in and outside the gym and staying lean pretty much year round. So when I feel drained and exhausted, a sudden boost in calories and carbs seems to help speed up the recovery process. It’s like my body is able to catch up then.
I also found fish oils to really help speed up the recovery process. I prefer to use Sushi over - let’s say - a big bowl of pasta and some fish oil caps. It just feels better and “cleaner” to me.
I aim for about 1’000 calories in that meal and 100-150g of carbs. I prefer salmon as my choice of fish.
I wait for around 90 minutes after that meal, take a serving of Biotest Z12 and hit the sack. When I wake up the next morning, I feel fresh, rested, and ready for my next workout.
When do I do this?
a) If I feel drained, stiff, sore, jittery, anxious and I can’t workout during the day (i.e. have to do the recuperative workout in the evening).
b) Whenever I’m at home and don’t have anything else to do. I prefer to do something active (in this case something active to relax) over lying on the couch and eating shit.
- Light barbell exercises, mobility work and BCAA
The above routine is perfect for evenings. I do prefer static stretching over mobility work on the evenings because mobility work tends to activate my nervous system too much.
If I find the time to do a mobility workout before 2 or 3 pm, I like this routine:
I first start with light barbell exercises. I like to do the Olympic lifts here, some squats and push presses. I only do it to feel the movement, to work on my technique, to activate de nervous system and to add a little bit of volume to my weekly tonnage. I don’t consider this a weigh lifting session, though.
I take I weight I could do 3-4 sets of 20 reps, but I only do 3-4 sets of 6. So that’s very light. I often perform the exercises circuit style moving form exercise to exercise with something like 30 to 60 seconds rest between sets.
After that, I do some mobility exercises. T-Nation members should know Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson, I suppose:
http://www.magnificentmobility.com/
During the session, I consume something like 30g BCAAs.
I found this routine to really boost recuperation and to activate the nervous system enough to be productive (e.g. at work) for the second half of the day.
When do I do this?
a) As an alternative to a neural charge workout with the difference that I add a little more additional volume to my weekly tonnage.
b) When I feel I have to work on my lifting technique and want to combine this with a “recuperative” session.
- Deep tissue massage, sauna and BCAA / Grow!
On weekends, I love to do this routine. I’m an outdoor kind of guy and like hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, swimming, or just taking long walks with my girl on Sundays.
If the weather is bad, I go to my gym which has a very nice Spa area and book a massage.
A deep tissue massage is not as funny as you might think. As a matter of fact, it hurts quite a bit. But it really helps to losen up those stiff and sore muscles.
After 50 minutes of “torture” I do 2 to 3 rounds of sauna (12 minutes each).
No I might be the only person sipping on my BCAA drink during the massage and in between the sauna sessions, but I really found this to be very helpful with regard to faster recovery.
After taking a hot/cold shower I down a big protein shake (that’s 2-3 scoops of Grow! for me). I believe that after the massage treatment the body really needs those building blocks to rebuild muscle tissue.
When do I do this?
a) On weekends when the weather is bad…
- Yoga classes and… red wine
Ok, this might sound a bit funny. It’s more like a semi-healthy ritual of my girl and me than a sophisticated recovery-enhancing routine.
My girl loves those yoga classes. And honestly, once in a while they are fun! Don’t worry about your manliness. A T-man is a T-man and will always look, act and be perceived as a T-man, whether he does Yoga, aerobic or Salsa classes.
So, once a month or once every 6 weeks I join my fiancee for a Yoga class. It’s great, especially because a good teacher will not only teach you stretching techniques, but also proper breathing.
After that, we go to the city, find a cosy bar and have a glass of red wine. Believe it or not, such an evening is a great way to recover physically as well as mentally (but don’t do it every night, though…).
When do I do this?
a) When I want to spend a nice evening with my girl…
Now I know TC wouldn’t agree with me that T-man DO drink wine, but that might be just cultural differences.
I personally don’t drink BEER. In my cultural (European) environment, people (more often than not) start drinking beer because it’s cheap to get drunk with and because others (the older, “cooler” guys) drink it.
Drinking to much beer will not make you a man; it will make you a woman.
A high correlation is observed between a country’s beer consumption and the frequency of “male breasts”, i.e. severe cases of gynecomastia. Which - according to many scientists and the world’s most respected andrologists - can be caused by the sheer load of phytoestrogens found in beer, or in hops.
So, if you want to be bigger - and I’m talking to those lame estrogen-damaged penises right now - stick to water, protein shakes and an occasional glass of wine.
Cheers, PA
