My Recovery Methods…

A lot of people ask me what different things I do for recovery…

First,  I really try to eat as clean and healthy as possible:

Daily Diet/Supplement Intake:
8am: 6 egg omelette (only 2 whole eggs), 1c Orange Juice
9am: 1/4th Scoop NO-Shotgun, 1 Promax Protein Bar
9:45am: 1 Scoop NO-Shotgun
10:45am: (Mid-Workout) 1 Banana, Gatorade
12pm: 1 Scoop of Elite Gourmet Protein
12:30pm: 8oz. Salmon, 1c Berries, 1c Broccoli
1:45pm: 1 Scoop NO-Shotgun, 1 Super Vitamin Pak
3pm: (Mid-Workout) 1 Orange
5pm: Post-Workout Fruit/Protein Smoothie
6pm: 8oz. Chicken Breast (in a salad)
8pm: 1 Scoop of Elite Gourmet Protein
9pm: 1c Cottage Cheese, 3 ZMA caps

Second, I try to limit the amount of stress I have…

Daily Schedule:
7:30am: Wake up
8:00am: Watch Sportscenter and loosen up
8:45am: Respond to messages, work on website
10am: 1st training session
12pm: rest/cold pool/hot tub
1pm: Run errands/work on website
2pm: 2nd training session
5pm: Coach kids (weightlifting)
8pm: Back home and relaxing
9:30pm: Sleep!

SLEEP-Ok, you guys don’t want to hear about all that stuff haha! I do sleep at least 9 and a half hours EVERY night. That is absolutely key to feeling fresh and ready to go for the next day. I do every single thing possible to make sure I have 9.5 hours set aside to sleep. That means, I have to get in bed with 10 hours until I have to wake up. Yes, it’s a commitment, but, so is being great:)

PROTEIN/HOT TUB/COLD POOL-Some of the different things I do… After my first training session of course I drink a protein shake immediately, along with some type of fruit (banana usually). You have to refuel your body ASAP after working out! Then, I head over to the cold pool and hot tub. I then alternate for about 15-20 minutes. I’ll go about 3-4 minutes in each throughout the whole time, always ending in the cold pool. I don’t like to sit in the hot tub TOO much, as it can make you feel drained and zap your energy. So the time in the hot tub is usually only about 6-7 min compared to 13-14 in the cold pool.

Cold pool

RELAX/PROTEIN SHAKE– Then, I go back to the house and RELAX until the next session…I’ll cook a little bit of food for the rest of the day, then, just relax. Watch some tv, maybe run some errands if I have to, but just try to relax. After the 2nd session, I get my protein shake (or smoothie), then go immediately into the cold tub.

GET BACK WALKED ON- Well, I left one thing out. I always have a friend walk on my back/legs. I got it from a chinese coach, Jianping Ma. He coaches at United Sport & Athlete in Waterloo, IA. I lifted at that center for about a year. This helps tremendously!! It is very hard to explain “how” to do it without being in person, but, it just plain works. It takes a LOT of the tension off your entire back. It really feels like you didn’t even train right after you have it done. I HATE when someone is not at the gym that knows how to do it. I actually brought it to the gym, now everyone loves it here.

United Sport & Athlete Head Coach Jianping Ma

COLD TUB– Then, I spend about 15 minutes in the cold tub. The one we have is generally around 40 degrees. We don’t have a ton of ice to make it colder, but, 40 degrees is plenty cold. It makes me feel a lot more fresh and recovered than when I head in. After that, again, it’s all about just trying to minimize stress.

Cold tub..brrrrrr

FOAM ROLLER– 3-4 days per week I do some work with a foam roller. I roll out my lats, low back, upper back, IT bands, glutes, calves, shoulders, you name it. This is usually when I am really sore. Although, you shouldn’t just wait until you are really sore. That is like waiting until you get the fat to start dieting. HAHA! Seriously. I am going to start doing it even when I feel decent, as it can delay the onset of soreness and really fight it off by taking some of the knots out and the tension.

STRETCHING– Again, 3-4 days per week I do some extensive stretching. It is usually after my 2nd session (after getting my back walked on but before the cold tub). Sometimes I am on a tight schedule and have to wait until night time or until the next morning. Either way, I still make it a point to do some extra work

Had to throw one good looking girl in there 🙂

GENERALIZED WARM UP/STRETCHING– I do this 7 days per week in the morning. I do a generalized warm up (jump rope, pushups, situps, jogging in place), and also some general wrestling warm up stuff (just enough to get a sweat going, nothing crazy). Then, I do some light stretching. This is moreso something to get me going. I learned the importance of  this from my visit to the Olympic Training Center (from Head Coach Zygmunt Smalcerz). I felt a lot better heading into training session #1 after this.

POST WORKOUT SMOOTHIE– If you guys have not checked out my previous posts about my post workout nutrition, please do…This plays a VERY large role in my recovery on a daily basis as well.

Massage– Once per week I get a 60 minute massage. This is by a girl who is also a weightlifter, so, she is extremely good. This is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to my recovery on a weekly basis.

If you still have other questions feel free to ask…All in the life of an aspiring weightlifter! This, in addition to training 2 times per day almost every single day!! Anything worthwhile is never going to be easy.

Something I am going to start doing as well is the sauna/steam room/cold pool combination. I Have heard tremendous things about it, I just need to find access to the facilities.

OH… Last but not least, it DOES help to be Jared Enderton AKA The Sexiest Weightlifter Alive according to google. Search it on Google Web and Google Images…you’ll see!! hahaha 🙂