How to optimize recovery?

MxS/SE/HIC/E
Moz69
Posts: 165
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:59 pm
Location: Derbyshire UK

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by Moz69 »

Barkadion wrote:That is a great question.

I do almost everything that you are listed.

- Foam rolling and mobility drills on daily basis. Mostly as a part of warm up and as a cool down once in a while.
- I do yoga sometimes on the weeks off.
- ZMA, Glycine for deep sleep (Thank you to DocO). My usual deal is 4-6 hours of interrupted sleep due to being new dad with twins. That doesn't help.
- I don't restrict quality carbs and I take 1-1.2g/lbm of protein. I keep calorie maintenance /slight surplus according to the common calculations.
- Meditation. This is new to me and it does help A LOT. My new discovery that is a game changer.
- I don't take MultiV but I do take some supps based on my labs. B-12 currently due to me experimenting with meatless diet.

Also, new AA book addresses recovery topic as well. An it does address that well :D
I am thinking of implementing OP I/A or 3-1-3 scheme or both in my near future.

I am very interested what TB-ers will be responding here..

What type of meditation are you doing Bark
An old Scottish friend once said to me "A queer bird the fish" I never bloody knew what he meant.

User avatar
Barkadion
Posts: 4531
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 3:09 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by Barkadion »

Moz69 wrote:
Barkadion wrote:That is a great question.

I do almost everything that you are listed.

- Foam rolling and mobility drills on daily basis. Mostly as a part of warm up and as a cool down once in a while.
- I do yoga sometimes on the weeks off.
- ZMA, Glycine for deep sleep (Thank you to DocO). My usual deal is 4-6 hours of interrupted sleep due to being new dad with twins. That doesn't help.
- I don't restrict quality carbs and I take 1-1.2g/lbm of protein. I keep calorie maintenance /slight surplus according to the common calculations.
- Meditation. This is new to me and it does help A LOT. My new discovery that is a game changer.
- I don't take MultiV but I do take some supps based on my labs. B-12 currently due to me experimenting with meatless diet.

Also, new AA book addresses recovery topic as well. An it does address that well :D
I am thinking of implementing OP I/A or 3-1-3 scheme or both in my near future.

I am very interested what TB-ers will be responding here..

What type of meditation are you doing Bark
I am doing mindful type of meditation with concentration on breathing following TMI book's approach. It has all the stages, technique and complete scientific guide.

One of the best books, IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated ... lluminated
"Man is what he reads." - Joseph Brodsky

Moz69
Posts: 165
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:59 pm
Location: Derbyshire UK

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by Moz69 »

Barkadion wrote:
Moz69 wrote:
Barkadion wrote:That is a great question.

I do almost everything that you are listed.

- Foam rolling and mobility drills on daily basis. Mostly as a part of warm up and as a cool down once in a while.
- I do yoga sometimes on the weeks off.
- ZMA, Glycine for deep sleep (Thank you to DocO). My usual deal is 4-6 hours of interrupted sleep due to being new dad with twins. That doesn't help.
- I don't restrict quality carbs and I take 1-1.2g/lbm of protein. I keep calorie maintenance /slight surplus according to the common calculations.
- Meditation. This is new to me and it does help A LOT. My new discovery that is a game changer.
- I don't take MultiV but I do take some supps based on my labs. B-12 currently due to me experimenting with meatless diet.

Also, new AA book addresses recovery topic as well. An it does address that well :D
I am thinking of implementing OP I/A or 3-1-3 scheme or both in my near future.

I am very interested what TB-ers will be responding here..

What type of meditation are you doing Bark
I am doing mindful type of meditation with concentration on breathing following TMI book's approach. It has all the stages, technique and complete scientific guide.

One of the best books, IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Illuminated ... lluminated


cheers bark
An old Scottish friend once said to me "A queer bird the fish" I never bloody knew what he meant.

User avatar
BlackPyjamas
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:52 am

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by BlackPyjamas »

Maxrip13 wrote:
BlackPyjamas wrote:So I've started looking into something called "Heart Math", which seems to be essentially bio-feedback using heart rate variability. The idea is to monitor your HRV while you do breathing exercises to bring it back into optimal range. Haven't committed to it yet because I'm getting some snake-oil vibes, but it looks like it might have some potential as a recovery tool.
Similar to Joel Jamiesons HRV stuff that he uses to decide on intensity of training that day? What they say makes sense,but it's pretty expensive and not completely applicable to tactical athletes.

I am working on improving my recovery ability by creating some better habits, but if I only trained when my body was sufficiently recovered I would be lucky to train once or twice a week. In a perfect world it's great, but I think that as a tactical athlete we need to train when fatigued and not fully recovered to get our body used to performing in that state.

Things like training maxes and being realistic about how hard we perform in a training session seems to work better than trying to peak like a high level athlete. I would love to read a study or similar on it though as my favourite thing in regards to training is to be proven wrong and learn a new way to work towards my goals better :D

Interesting, I've heard the exact same thing from some very fit people I know... that HRV is limited because you'd be missing out on too many potential training days because you're not in the "optimal" zone or completely recovered.

This heartmath stuff is more for setting your mindset vs training, feeling happy or grounded like meditation. Similar to biofeedback I guess. HRV is used as a marker because this company is linking heart rate variability with mood. Interesting approach, but their promotional material raises some flags for me.

User avatar
BlackPyjamas
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:52 am

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by BlackPyjamas »

Jefferson wrote:
BlackPyjamas wrote:So I've started looking into something called "Heart Math", which seems to be essentially bio-feedback using heart rate variability. The idea is to monitor your HRV while you do breathing exercises to bring it back into optimal range. Haven't committed to it yet because I'm getting some snake-oil vibes, but it looks like it might have some potential as a recovery tool.
I have been using he emwave2 off and on for 3 years. I like doing 5 minutes in the morning or in the evening if I did a big workout and need to shut down the sympathetic nervous system. If you are diligent about practicing it can be beneficial.

If it's a stretch fininancially, then don't buy it. You can get a ton of mileage from ice baths, Epsom salts baths, sleep, magnesium, meditation, etc.
Thanks for the feedback.

Maxrip13
Posts: 1977
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:23 am

Re: How to optimize recovery?

Post by Maxrip13 »

BlackPyjamas wrote:
Maxrip13 wrote:
BlackPyjamas wrote:So I've started looking into something called "Heart Math", which seems to be essentially bio-feedback using heart rate variability. The idea is to monitor your HRV while you do breathing exercises to bring it back into optimal range. Haven't committed to it yet because I'm getting some snake-oil vibes, but it looks like it might have some potential as a recovery tool.
Similar to Joel Jamiesons HRV stuff that he uses to decide on intensity of training that day? What they say makes sense,but it's pretty expensive and not completely applicable to tactical athletes.

I am working on improving my recovery ability by creating some better habits, but if I only trained when my body was sufficiently recovered I would be lucky to train once or twice a week. In a perfect world it's great, but I think that as a tactical athlete we need to train when fatigued and not fully recovered to get our body used to performing in that state.

Things like training maxes and being realistic about how hard we perform in a training session seems to work better than trying to peak like a high level athlete. I would love to read a study or similar on it though as my favourite thing in regards to training is to be proven wrong and learn a new way to work towards my goals better :D

Interesting, I've heard the exact same thing from some very fit people I know... that HRV is limited because you'd be missing out on too many potential training days because you're not in the "optimal" zone or completely recovered.

This heartmath stuff is more for setting your mindset vs training, feeling happy or grounded like meditation. Similar to biofeedback I guess. HRV is used as a marker because this company is linking heart rate variability with mood. Interesting approach, but their promotional material raises some flags for me.

Ahh ok that makes sense. I might have a read into it.

Yeah I think sometimes you just have to suck it up and train. If I only trained when my body felt good or an app told me I was recovered I would never get to. Maybe it works for an olympic athlete who just trains, eats and sleeps, but it''s not applicable to a "tactical athlete" for lack of a better term.

Something I like to do that isn't necessarily recommended in the TB books is add in mobility work during my rest periods. I will use the first minute of my rest to do roughly 30secs -1 min of some type of exercise that relates to my current movement or next movement planned. I do my TB strength work in a circuit as I train at home and mix in mobility work between. I try and stick to two mins rest and never any less.
e.g
Squats
Lizard stretch

Benchpress
Shoulder stretch/Foam roll problem spots

Weighted Pullups
Lat & Pec stretch

x however many rounds.

This seems to work great for me as I am pretty bad with mobility work outside of following ROMWOD. Just a good way to make use of time and get some extra recovery work in through a session. This sort of thing adds up over multiple session and would atleast 20+ mins of mobility work over the week.

Post Reply