How do you Max Recovery?

[baldy]

Today I am feel wrecked, same feeling I used to get in the Unit20 days after doing heavy yokes. We used to refer to it as CNS fatigue but apparently that is nonsense. Must have been the heavy deadlifts from last night that did it and the fact that I have been training hard lately. Just really tired , very light kind of headache feeling and all kinds of soreness in the body.

I am trying to make sure I get Max Recovery as I know I am training hard. Does anyone have any things that I am missing or general advice (other than take a couple of weeks off).

At the moment I think I have most things covered.
- Nutrition, eating loads and gaining weight so I am not calorie negative
- Supplements, just creatine in the morning zinc before bed and maybe some trib if I remember
- Protein, 2-3 shakes a day with 30g protein.
- Warm up and stretch before each session
- Foam roller most nights after training
- Sleep getting 8-9 hours good sleep

[downhillingdemon]

Get sick and then you can't train

(but the thing that makes the biggest difference to me is fitting in an afternoon sleep where possible)

[baldy]

Get sick and then you can't train

(but the thing that makes the biggest difference to me is fitting in an afternoon sleep where possible)

Now that is a good idea, will try get one between getting home and going to the gym tonight.

[mabli]

I used to get really sore legs after long hilly walks, then it just stopped so I wasnt even achey after walking 15 peaks... I still get tired and mentally wiped out but for the most part I recover really quickly, just a light buzz in my muscles but no more...

I can only put it down to eating a more antioxidant rich diet. Possibly there's another reason, but it wont hurt to take a day off and then add blueberries etc to your morning smoothie, they're pretty cheap at the moment anyway

Id definately take a day off though, you'll come back twice as strong...

[JP]

At the moment I think I have most things covered.
- Nutrition, eating loads and gaining weight so I am not calorie negative
- Supplements, just creatine in the morning zinc before bed and maybe some trib if I remember
- Protein, 2-3 shakes a day with 30g protein.
- Warm up and stretch before each session
- Foam roller most nights after training
- Sleep getting 8-9 hours good sleep

out of that i get maybe nutrition and some of the supps, thats all.

the main thing is to slowly increase the workload and get used to it You will be feeling wrecked when doing it.

actually, thinking about it, you will just always feel wrecked

[baldy]

No miracle cures then?
My nap yesterday was awesome, just 45 minutes but took the edge off my crankyness.
Also going to book in for a massage this weekend.

[fredrikw]

The only cure is to stop training or train light, the breakdown which is necessary to get stronger will mean you will feel like a wreck. Speeding recovery however, is another subject which I don't know much about when it comes to strength sports

[JP]

Speeding recovery however, is another subject which I don't know much about when it comes to strength sports

you think it would be any different though? (genuine question!)

[fredrikw]

Speeding recovery however, is another subject which I don't know much about when it comes to strength sports

you think it would be any different though? (genuine question!)

Yeah, I was thinking hard on this before posting actually. But since in endurance sports there are many recommending training when low on energy, not eating straight away after training to prolong the breakdown process, and that training when fully loaded with carbs can eliminate quite a lot of the effects of the training, I didn't want to recommend that

But perhaps this is also true, to some extent at least, for strength training?

[JP]

no idea...

though you dont want to be full in the slightest - common sense way of thinking is that stomach full digesting is a totally different process than fight or flight reaction/adrenaline drive which is needed in training.

but training when wrecked is not a bad thing in strength sports

[fredrikw]

I'm not talking about full in an eating sense, I'm talking about full as in glycogen store in the muscles.

I guess the basics are the same, it's all about breaking the body down, and timing these successive breakdowns to be able to perform the best where it matters. In endurance sports it's not necessarily the ones that are fastest when training who are fastest during comps.

[JP]

that buildup and peaking is the same in our sport as well, but i dont know... been changing my mind about that lately anyway since starting to train with people who maintain high level of strength throughout the year and their peaks are very tiny boosts at comp times

and the comp season being so busy, there is very little time to do any buildups - isnt the same in your mountain biking races?

[fredrikw]

I'm not sure I believe that people who are strong all year round are really reaching their full potential, but then again I'm just guessing here... We have the base period during the winter, then adding sport specific stuff closer to the racing season.

[E-P]

No one has emphasized the importance of drinking lots of water. Not maybe a cure for all your "problems" but still very important.

[baldy]

No one has emphasized the importance of drinking lots of water. Not maybe a cure for all your "problems" but still very important.

Can you quantify this?
I drink a large volumes of liquids throughout the day, probably only 2 glasses of plain water. Each protein shake is about 400ml so that is nearly 1.5l already. Couple cups of tea and coffee. Plus 750ml of sports drink while training. So I easily get 3-4l a day.
Particularly after 1.5 hours of doing aikido I feel dehydrated, then drink a electrolyte sports drink which is better than water for dehydration.

I could drink more plain water, but interested to know when and for what reasons.