I used to believe in foam rolling and stretching for recovery, but now those modalities take the back seat. Instead, here are my Big Three for Big Gains when it comes to recovery.
1. Get Your Sleep Right
Anywhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep both the night before and the night after a training session are a must. You cannot out-exercise a bad diet, and you cannot out-eat bad sleep. Prioritize this as #1 and see the massive results you have been wanting.
2. Pinpoint Nutrition
I gave guidelines in my earlier article, "Recovery 101: Nutrition". You can follow these if you like, but what I am really talking about here is following a pre- and post-training diet that is designed exactly to what your body needs and can use. If you can't metabolize carbohydrates, carbo loading before or after will only make you sick and bloated.
3. PMA
Positive Mental Attitude. Exercise is a stress on the body, and the body is unable to differentiate between physical and emotional stress. Because all stress is cumulative on the body, you need to make sure you keep a positive mental attitude in and outside of the gym. Minimizing unnecessary stress will allow your body the greatest opportunity to be in an anabolic state with greater testosterone and growth hormone production, allowing y0u the results you desire.
While what you do in the gym is vital to reaching your goals, everything you do outside of it trumps all that is done within. If you can't make the commitment to positively changing your lifestyle outside of the gym, don't expect positive changes to happen to your training and physique.
Charlie Cates, CSCS
Self Made®, Owner
Charlie Cates is a strength and conditioning specialist and the owner of Self Made® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL. He has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP’s. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.
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