Now, the challenge here is to be aware of how your body feels and performs in the days after a workout AND recognizing the state of super-compensation.
Once you develop the distinguished feeling of being properly recovered and workout-ready, you can then proceed to create a new stimulus (training) right around that state.
Ultimately, this will allow you to create a bigger, higher training volume over time and thus, better results and stimulus in the long run.
Nailing The Window Is Not All…
Though you have to hit that recovery window and recognize if your body is recovered, there are way more aspects to recovery than one may think.
Let’s see the main ones:
- Essential nutrients
Your digestive system is the factory where the essential nutrients that your body needs are chemically processed and released into the bloodstream.
Essential means that your body needs it but cannot produce it on its own and it must therefore be derived from food.
In terms of recovery of tissues, hormones, and enzymes, there are a couple of essential nutrients – Proteins and fats.
These contain amino acids and fatty acids respectively, which, as we said, are essential for the body’s optimal recovery.
To get those, mainly rely on whole food sources, such as meat, fish, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.
Focus on satiating, nutrient-dense foods!
- Sleep
The modern-day world, full of entertainment and the possibility for an exciting social life, leads to many people being sleep-deprived.
And well, the truth is that the time when our conscious brain is out of service happens to be the same time when the body is at its deepest state of recovery.
Optimize your sleep and you will optimize your recovery!
- Reduce screen time, especially before bed
- Set a sleeping schedule
- Wake up with the sun, sleep with the moon
3. Stress management
One of the biggest enemies of your recovery comes in the form of bodily secreted stress chemicals like cortisol.
As a matter of fact, cortisol is so good at buffering the immune system and growth of the body, that doctors use it during organ transplants, to prevent the body from instantly rejecting the organ.
For this reason, it is important to regulate the levels of cortisol that your glands secrete and thus, maintain a more mindful, calm state that promotes recovery.
Practice meditation, mindfulness, and other mental, stress-management practices.
Final Thoughts
Being fit and healthy is not just about having the right training and nutrition regimens, but also a strict, monitored recovery plan.
Make sure to follow how your body feels and performs and grant it sufficient windows of time between the separate training sessions while nurturing its recovery with good sleep, food and less stress.
So are you ready for the never-ending recovery challenge?