Hi Coach,
What are your favorite strategies or methods to optimize recovery and get back into parasympathetic mode after training?..stretching, foam rolling, breathing exercises, carbs to blunt cortisol, etc?
Walking is pretty cool for recovery AND burning a few extra calories on a cut OR better nutrient optimization during a bulk.
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Agree with walking, and would add movement of any type for me as I have got older seems to really aid with recovery.
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Good recommendations so far.
One of my go-to, which I’ve used for close to 20 years with athletes is taking magnesium taurate (500mg) and glycine (3g) post-workout.
Magnesium (on top of being needed for tons of bodily functions) helps dislocate the adrenaline from the adrenergic receptors. The taurine molecules help bring the nervous system in balance (I call it the equalizer); if you are too high it calms you down. The glycine is a neurological inhibitor which calms the brain down and also reduces cortisol. Plus, it increases circulating serotonin.
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One thing I’ve noticed over the last couple years is “an ounce of prevention” kind of thing - I am a little wary of digging a hole too deep because it takes me some real time to get out of it.
Two big ones for me here:
- Don’t do barbell lifts more than two days in a row
- Intraworkout carbs/ don’t train fasted
Something else I’m kind of playing with lately (some on purpose, some out of my ADHD) is varying the stimulus between sessions. So maybe one push day is intensity-based bodybuilding, the next is an athletic complex, and the third is more strength-based with long rest periods. I don’t know if this makes a difference, but I’m at least slightly more mentally stimulated. It may be dumb from a programming perspective, but I think there’s ways to make it work within a week if I wanted to; otherwise we wouldn’t see successful conjugate lifters.
I’d also say sleep is awesome for recovery, but I can’t sleep so who knows.
I do think keeping a set schedule helps - waking at the same time, lifting at the same time, etc. My body sort of learns what’s going to be asked of it and adjusts itself.
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Supine breathing drills for 10-15 breaths of 5 one thousand inhale + 1 second at the top + 5 one thousand exhale.
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Taurine and magnesium works magic for me. Especially before bed after training.
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