The Four Horseman of Optimal Recovery (Part 1)

Nick Smoot- Owner of Smoot Fitness

Smootfitness.com

I started a new training block yesterday, and man was it brutal.  The focus of this phase is maximal strength, and day one looks like this:

– Barbell Box Squat- 6X3

– Good Mornings- 6X3

-Lying Hamstring Curl- 3X6

-Barbell Lunges- 3X6

-Back Extensions- 3X6

I always expect to be sore the day after an intense training session (especially the first week of a new program), but being unable to ascend a flight of stairs two hours post-workout kind of caught me by surprise.

I looked at the next two training days and Thursday calls for max effort deadlifts and back squats.  Fan-Freaking-Tastic!  Don’t get me wrong, squats and deadlifts are my favorite exercises, and I would have them in every training session if I was able to recover from it.  But, I can’t say I’m a fan of doing them when my legs are excruciatingly sore, and seeing as how it took me a good fifteen minutes to squirm my way out of bed this morning, I need to recover, and I need to do it fast.

And that is where we begin the topic of today’s blog post: recovery.  In my opinion, recovery is one of the most underappreciated components of the overall training plan, yet it’s arguably the most important.  Training provides the stress that creates an environment for the body to adapt (and become stronger, bigger, faster, you name it), but it’s adequate rest and recovery that allows those adaptions to actually take place.

Sleep, nutrition, rest days, and deloads are what I like to call the “Four Horseman” of optimal recovery.  Because I’ve taken up a lot of space on the intro alone, I’m going to split this post in to two parts, with the first part tackling sleep and nutrition.

 

Sleep

Do you remember Snorlax from the old Pokemon games (yeah, I’m breaking nerd on you guys for a second)?  For anyone who doesn’t, Snorlax was an obese, pointy eared, green pokemon that spent 99% of his life asleep.  Logically, he should be weak, slow, and pretty easy to defeat in battle.  In reality (well, in reality within the virtual reality of pokemon), Snorlax was incredibly strong, very fast, and his health regenerated every time he used “rest” in battle, making the act of defeating him extremely difficult.  Now Snorlax may not be real, and humans don’t magically gain strength just by sleeping, but Snorlax did a fantastic job of showing just how powerful sleep can truly be. 

It’s while we are asleep that our muscles repair and grow, our neurotransmitters replenish, our CNS (central nervous system) recovers, growth hormone is released, immune function is maximized/maintained, and a lot of other important things that have a large impact on our overall health, recovery, and performance.

How much sleep should you get per night?  I think the ideal range for most people is 6-8 hours.  I personally average eight, never drop below six, and wake up throwing haymakers if anyone interrupts one of my exotic dreams about Mila Kunis (you have been warned.).

Now eight hours of sleep isn’t possible for everyone, and that’s fine.  I would argue that the quality of sleep matters more than the quantity.  However, if maximizing recovery (and consequently performance and progress) is a top priority, you need to start spending AT LEAST seven hours in the sack on a semi-consistent basis.

 

Nutrition

If sleep is Batman, nutrition is Robin.  Food is fuel, and your daily macronutrient and caloric intake (just a fancy way of saying food intake) has a profound impact on your recovery from your workouts.  Why don’t powerlifters sit around eating celery sticks all day?  I would argue that it’s because celery tastes like a cross between Tylenol and tree bark, but the more plausible answer is that celery doesn’t provide enough nutrients and calories (energy) to even support channel surfing, let alone high intensity exercise, recovery, or muscle growth.

In order to maximize recovery from your training sessions, you should be eating around your maintenance caloric intake (the amount of calories needed to maintain your current body weight), and preferably in a slight surplus.  For people who are dieting, this obviously won’t be possible, but a lower food intake is generally accounted for by a decrease in training volume during this time, so everything should balance out.

As far as macros (proteins, carbs, and fats) are concerned, shoot for a balance between all three.  Everyone will require different macros based on their metabolic rate, lean body mass, genetics, training program, activity level, gender, age, etc., but here are some general guidelines you can follow:

• 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight
• .3-.5 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight
• Fill in the rest of your caloric target with carbohydrates.

Now I’m not going to sit here and lecture you on food choice.  The majority of you reading this are adults and are going to eat whatever the hell you want.  But, micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) do have a big impact on recovery (and your overall health for that matter), so the majority of your food intake should come from nutrient dense foods.  That doesn’t mean ALL of your food needs to come from those sources (I’m about to tear down a Stromboli later on tonight, and I’m DIETING), but around 85% of your food should come from sources such as sweet potato, oatmeal, fruits, veggies, rice, lean meats, etc. if you want to maintain good health and optimize your recovery.

Summing Up

Alright guys so I think it’s pretty clear that adequate sleep and proper nutrition are absolute necessities when it comes to maximizing recovery and getting the most out of your training sessions.  The first two components of recovery are in the books.  Stay tuned for part two (which should be dropping next week) where I cover rest days and deloads.