April 2023
Recovery Tools and Tips
Are you feeling tired, constantly sore, having trouble sleeping, or getting sick or injured? If you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it's possible that you're not recovering well enough from stress. Stress can come in many forms, including from your workouts, work projects, family travel, and other unexpected life events. Our ability to handle and adapt to stress is crucial for recovery and growth.
In the world of fitness, the concept of recovering positively from the stress of exercise is called supercompensation. Many factors contribute to recovery, and in this month's newsletter, we'll explore a few tips to help you feel more energized and perform better both in and outside of the gym.
Sleep. This is by far the most important factor to consider in regards to recovery. If you are not achieving 7-9 hours of high quality sleep consistently, this should be your first step. Refer back to our newsletter about sleep being your superpower for some helpful advice on how to improve this factor of recovery.
Fueling your body. It is vitally important to rehydrate and replenish your body after stressful events. Intake of high quality foods and liquids promote positive adaptations through brain and muscle repair/growth. We have also talked about nutrition in previous newsletters, so please refer back to our Nutrition 101 and 201 articles for practical application on how to improve your nutrition.
Soft tissue mobilization. Massage, percussion guns, foam rolling, lacrosse ball, cupping, and scraping are all examples of this method of recovery. Soft tissue mobilization (STM) improves circulation and blood flow to affected tissues, and in turn increases range of motion and lowers muscle tension. Check out Mobility Wod Youtube for some expert STM techniques. Also, Dr. Scott Popp is a great resource and practitioner of this method of recovery, check out his website to learn more.
Cold and hot exposure are two powerful and popular tools that can be used to aid in recovery.
Done correctly, deliberate cold exposure can positively affect brain and body health.
Increase energy and focus. Deliberate cold exposure causes a significant release of epinephrine (aka adrenaline) and norepinephrine (aka noradrenaline) in the brain and body. These neurochemicals make us feel alert and can make us feel agitated and as if we need to move or vocalize during the cold exposure. Cold causes their levels to stay elevated for some time and their ongoing effect after the exposure is to increase your level of energy and focus, which can be applied to other mental and/or physical activities.
Enhance your mood. While not true of every stress, cold exposure causes the prolonged release of dopamine. Dopamine is a powerful molecule capable of elevating mood, enhancing focus, attention, goal-directed behavior.
Improving your metabolism. In the short-term, cold exposure increases metabolism as the body has to burn calories to increase core body temperature. The total calories burned from the cold exposure are not that significant. However, the conversion of white fat (energy storage) to beige or brown fat (which are highly metabolically active) can be beneficial.
Physical activity recovery. A meta-analysis of cold-water immersion effects on recovery found that cold exposure can be a highly effective recovery tool after high-intensity exercise or endurance training. Short interval (< 5 mins), cold water immersion demonstrated positive outcomes for muscle power, perceived recovery, and decreased muscle soreness (in part due to a reduction in circulating creatine kinases). The problem is that cold water immersion (but not cold showers) can limit some of the gains in hypertrophy, strength or endurance if done in the 4 hours or so after training. It’s better to wait 6 to 8 or more hours until after training, or do it before training unless your goal is simply to recover without adaptation (for instance, when in a competition mode and not trying to get better, stronger, etc.)
When done correctly, heat exposure offers tremendous benefits. However, it is extremely dangerous to use temperatures that are too hot.
There are many ways to access controlled deliberate exposure to heat, including dry saunas, steam saunas, hot tubs, hot showers, or by simply increasing body temperature by wearing warm layers of clothes during a brief jog. Pick whatever method or methods you can routinely work into your schedule and that match your budget.
Regular use of sauna can improve cardiovascular health. Laukkanen et al. found that through regular use of sauna, participants reduced their risk of cardiovascular events/stroke that led to death.
Studies have found that the regular use of sauna can decrease cortisol levels; enhance the activation of DNA repair/longevity pathways; and increase the activation of unique heat-dependent molecular mechanisms, termed Heat Shock Proteins, which help monitor and possibly repair protein structure within our cells. The integrity of protein structures is vital to our health and wellbeing.
Growth hormone plays a key role in stimulating muscle growth, strengthening bones, repairing tissue, and increasing metabolism. (Learn more about Growth Hormone in this episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast). Growth Hormone is released at night while we sleep. Unfortunately, as we age, there is a decline in the amount of natural Growth Hormone. Occasional use of specific sauna protocols, however, has been shown to dramatically boost the amount of Growth Hormone released.
Resources
https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-and-use-of-cold-exposure-for-health-and-performance/
https://hubermanlab.com/deliberate-heat-exposure-protocols-for-health-and-performance/
Preview of Programming Focuses this Month
Back Squat, Strict Press, Clean Progressive Loading Cycle
Running/Rowing Volume Accumulation
Murph Prep
Community Highlights/ Announcements
Congrats to all our CrossFit Quarter Finals qualifiers and participants! They all endured some tough tests this year, great work to you all.
Open Division: Effie Bird, Tannar Galey, & Charlotte Ward
35+ Age Group Division: Barb Patik, Scott Johnson, and Megan Sculley
Upcoming Events
307 ATHLETE YOUTH COURSES
Next Session starts Apr 3 (4 weeks)
Ages 8-11 & 12-14
Sign up at 307athlete.com
Best Babes Wyoming (Cheyenne WY) Competition
Festivus (Castle Rock, CO) Competition
Memorial Day Murph
No classes Easter Weekend Saturday and Sunday. The Gym is closed for Easter Sunday.
Disclaimer
This website does not provide medical advice. The information provided is purely for educational purposes. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Please seek your medical provider regarding any medical condition or treatment.