The Art of Recovery
“And for tired eyes every light is too bright, and for tired lips every breath too heavy, and for tired ears every word too much.” - Georg Buchner
Is recovery even a thing? How do I know if I’m not recovering well between sessions? What are the most scientifically proven, time tested, mother approved strategies to recover faster? Do you even recover bro?
I get asked some variant of these questions on a weekly basis by concerned clients who want to get the most from their body. They’ve been told through one medium or another that this recovery thing is important and if they want to do it like a pro then they are going to have to spend all that hard earned cash on some special combination of supplements, cold plunges, massages and whatever other high tech modality is in favor this week. Is this truth, nonsense or possibly a bit of truth without sufficient nuance? I have an answer but first let me first answer a question you didn’t ask…
What exactly is recovery?
Recovery is a strategy to reduce fatigue. When we work hard in the gym or on the track or whatever awesome thing we are doing with our body, we will accumulate both fitness and fatigue. You don’t get one without the other. So the goal of any good training program is to accrue as much fitness as possible with as little fatigue as possible. Because if fatigue outstrips fitness, then you will at best stop making progress and at worst get injured and be forced to take time off. This is where recovery strategies come into play. They serve the very useful function of allowing us to continue training while reducing the amount of fatigue we accumulate. Before we discuss a few of those “state of the art” recovery strategies and tactics, we should first discuss what poor recovery might look and feel like.
How do I know if I’m recovering well between sessions?
Fortunately there are some reliable tell tale signs that fatigue is starting to get the best of you and it may be prudent to take this recovery thing more seriously. Obviously it can affect folks in a variety of ways but here are my top 5 things to look out for. If 2 or more of these ring true for you, then it’s likely time to make recovery a priority (more on that in a minute).
1) Aches and pain are worse than normal: Soreness and a few aches and pains are totally part of the deal when training hard, but if these things start rising above baseline and or disrupting your life outside the gym, then that could be a sign of poor recovery.
2) Dreading going to the gym: Ideally you will be excited to hit the gym and get after it. But if your motivation is tanking and the idea of those squats in your next training session fills you with doom, then it might be a sign of poor recovery.
3) Loss of libido: This one doesn’t get talked about as much and usually happens when you are in a calorie deficit as well. If you find that your sex drive is less than what is normal for you, then that could be a sign of poor recovery.
4) Numbers going down in the gym: Ideally you will be making steady progress week over week. If you find that you are unable to add rep, weight or make improvements in technique, then that could be a sign of poor recovery.
5) You are hungrier / sleepier than normal: Your body is fantastic at telling you exactly what it needs. If it is telling you that it needs more sleep and food, then it’s a good bet that your recovery is challenged.
What are the time tested mother approved top tier no bullshit just the good stuff none of the bad stuff recovery strategies?!
Excellent question. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time, money and energy on trying to figure this recovery thing out for both myself and my clients. I’ve done every weird manual therapy modality, tried all the diets, taken all the supplements, sat in every version of sauna and cold plunge, stretched, mobilized, breathed and meditated in all the ways. What can I say, I’m down to try stuff even if it may be a bit outside the realm of common wisdom or scientific consensus.
You know what seems to have the most profound effect on recovery? Sleeping, eating, appropriate training and generally managing life stress better. Anticlimactic I know! I really want all of that other stuff to work but the juice is in fact not worth the squeeze. So lets talk about the basics…the things that actually work.
1) Sleeping: You don’t need a scientific study to tell you that you feel like trash when you sleep for 5 hours. I do think some people can get away with 6ish hours of sleep but 7 hours is the minimum for the vast majority of folks. If someone tells me they aren’t recovering well in the gym, I’m going to ask about their sleep. If it is less than 7 hours, then that is where all of your energy needs to go. It is your biggest lever to pull. You will just be spinning your wheels until you figure it out.
2) Eating: I’m not here to tell you that a particular diet is best. Fun fact, they are basically all fine if done well. What does matter is getting sufficient calories relative to your activity level, sufficient protein relative to your bodyweight and sufficient amounts of water. Here are some simple heuristics to get you in the ballpark:
Calories: For the vast majority of people, maintenance calories can be determined by multiplying your bodyweight x 14-16. If you are less active, then start with 14 and if you are more active then start with 16. This will get you in the ballpark and is a great place to start the experiment. So for a 160lbs person (like me), maintenance calories would be 2240 - 2560 calories per day. If you are at or under maintenance and find yourself not recovering well, then increasing the multiplier by 1 is probably a good idea.
Protein: For the vast majority of people a good amount of daily protein to consume is 70-80% of your bodyweight in grams per day. To again use myself as an example, a good amount of protein for someone weighing 160lbs would be 112 - 128 grams per day. The type of protein doesn’t matter all that much and it’s totally ok to go over 80% but I would not advise going under 70%. If you find yourself not recovering well, then increasing protein is an excellent strategy.
Water: For the vast majority of people, half your bodyweight in ounces of water per day is totally sufficient. It’s obviously ok to drink more if you feel like you aren’t recovering well.
3) Appropriate Training: The simplest way to think about training stress is by considering the interplay of three variables: Volume (how much), Intensity (how hard) and Frequency (how often). Generally speaking a change in one variable will impact the other two variables. A rise in training volume often necessitates a reduction in intensity. Conversely a rise in intensity will often necessitate a reduction in volume. Increasing frequency of a training stimulus is often a wonderful way to distribute an increase in volume over the week so as to avoid too much stress in a single session. There’s many ways to work it but the all too common mistake to avoid is simultaneously increasing all three variables at the same time. So if an eager trainee looking to maximize their gains were to increase volume, intensity and frequency all at the same time, I would suspect that they would quickly run into one or more of the signs of poor recovery we discussed earlier in the article. Know where you are coming from, have an idea of where you would like to go, then take your time getting there.
4) Managing Life Stress: This is a difficult thing to measure but is fairly intuitive to most folks. Everything matters. How you slept, how you ate, the previous day’s training, the argument you had with your partner, the worries you can’t let go of and a whole bunch of other unknowables that go into this mysterious stew you call you on any given day. Know yourself, have a sense of when your stress bucket is about to spill over and modify accordingly. There are generally two strategies one can take when managing a stress bucket on the verge of spilling over. You can take something out of the bucket or you can build a bigger bucket. In my personal and professional experience, removing stressors from the bucket is the more powerful strategy. Choose wisely.
So when exactly does massage, cryotherapy and all that other stuff make sense for recovery?
Great question! It makes a ton of sense when you have the big rocks in place. So sleep, nutrition, appropriate training and life stress are all in some semblance of order. Not necessarily perfect but there’s no major fires to put out and you are motoring along through life pretty well. This is a great time to put some energy into experimenting with recovery modalities. Just recognize that it is likely of marginal benefit and may provide a few percentage points of acute relief. Not nothing but not much. You get to decide if that is worth your time and your hard earned pennies.
