As you make your way through your workout program, one thing that you need to be taking into account is the amount of recovery that you’re seeing between sessions.
If you want to see optimal results from your workout, it’s going to be imperative that you’re seeing a good rate of recovery between each and every training session that you do. If you don’t and go back into the gym before you have fully recovered, you’re just going to end up breaking your tissues down further and moving away from your goals rather than closer towards them. This was discussed in depth at the Big Seminar 2 that TPS just hosted.
Vincent Dizenzo covered this in his presentation and all of the panel at the seminar agreed that recovery techniques were far more important for success than most people think.
That said, there are things that you can do to help improve your recovery and remain injury free and constantly making progress towards your goals. If you’re serious about making the type of results that you dream of, you need to be putting your best foot forward with each gym session.
Let’s take a look at a few of the top recovery strategies that you can begin to utilize:
Hot Baths
“Maybe not this hot”
The first recovery strategy to consider is taking a nice hot bath. Hot baths are great because not only are they going to relax the body, but they’re going to help to increase the blood circulation throughout the cells as well.
This can help to bring more nutrients and oxygen to the muscle tissues, improving the repair process.
In addition to that, most people find that a hot bath will really help to ease the tension in the muscle that’s experienced, so this can really go a long way towards helping to reduce post-workout muscle soreness.
Ice Baths
These are for the serious lifter. Taking an ice bath is not for the timid but it does wonders for your recovery. Some research does indicate that ice baths may not be as effective as many think, but in practical experience by many highly successful athletes, they work wonders.
They are not easy to do, you need to fill a tub with cold water and lots of ice then get in for at least 10 minutes. It is said that ice baths can oxygenate the blood and tissue more than other modalities and they help decrease swelling.
Contrast Showers
Contrast showers are easy to do and they aid recovery quickly. After a particularly hard workout, or every day when you wake up, hit the showers and do this:
Turn on the water as hot as you can stand without burning your skin and stay under it for at least 20 seconds, switch it to the coldest water that you can stand for another 20 seconds and repeat the cycles for a few minutes.
Stretching
The next method that you can use to help enhance the recovery that you see is stretching. Stretching is another great technique for reducing post-workout soreness and can also put you into a calmer state. It is best done post workout and is a great cool down. Warm muscles respond better to stretches than cold ones.
Make sure that you hold each stretch that you perform for at least 20 seconds for best results. Stretching also helps you to increase your flexibility, which will help you perform better in your training.
Foam Rolling
Available at the Front Desk for Sale
Foam rolling is the next type of recovery technique that is starting to get more and more popular among many different people. Foam rolling is done by using a foam roller, obviously. You can also use a piece of PVC pipe. You have seen these all over the gym. They are usually black pieces of foam about 3 feet long and they are used to break up scar tissue and adhesions in your muscles. Simply lie on the floor and roll on them all over your body. Try and get at least 10 strokes per area that you are rolling on.
As you do this you should feel some deep pressure building up and then the muscle easing and relaxing as you go. Note that this may be slightly painful at first, but as you work into it, you’ll feel any knots in the muscle relaxing and eventually start to feel much better overall. If you feel a spot that is more painful than others, spend extra time on that area. The more it hurts, the more you need it on that spot.
Graston/ART
For all of the benefits of Graston/ART, see out page. Dr. Tiplady is at TPS on Saturdays and is available for this miracle treatment. Yep, I said miracle. Graston/ART can fix problems that required surgery just a few years ago. Give it a shot.
Massage
Finally, we have massage. The benefits of massage are too many to list and if you are not utilizing this you are doing yourself a huge disservice. I know that not everyone can get a massage all the time but getting one, even once a month will do your body a world of good.
Find a good massage therapist that focuses on sports recovery. We are not talking about the spa massage where you fall asleep here. A good sports massage is not the most comfortable thing in the world but it WORKS to get you feeling and moving better.
TPS has Jen Noyer on staff for massage by appointment. I have used many massage therapists over the years, but I have found Jen to be the best I have ever used. That’s why she is on staff. Stop by the Front Desk to make an appointment.
Please try out some of these techniques and see how much better your training and your results are after incorporating them.
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