Recover Well

I'm one of those guys who loves intense workouts such as 250 push-ups and 400 squats, lifting heavy for an hour with my boys when I get the chance, do 30 min. Animal Workouts, bend a few spikes in a row, finishers that are pure ass kickers; I love that stuff but I also love the recovery workouts as well. Most never realize how much recovery is just as important as the intense ones themselves. When I do recovery workouts its usually exercises at a lighter intensity and a good portion of the time are what I call Playful Movements; combining the elements of stretching, Animal Flow, Regeneration & Ginastica Natural where its really just messing around and playing but also have it being more meditative and fun.

The body needs to repair itself but that's not going to happen if you kick its ass day in and day out every single day of the week, you're not a pro athlete and even if you were, recovery needs more attention than you'll want to believe. I've worked out among some heavy duty guys and very few I ever say truly did some recovery training. I don't do very much of the "warm up" stretches before my workouts for a number of reasons, one being that a lot of workouts have an automatic stretching element in them so I do get limber and loose as I go throughout the training. Some days however like yesterday I had to take it easy on my shoulders and my legs after a heavy deck of cards workout and muscle control exercises so I did exercises that didn't put a lot of heavy stress on those particular muscles such as bridging exercises, DVR Exercises (Dynamic Visualized Resistance) & the Chest Expander to stretch the shoulders from various angles (awesome tool for those who've had shoulder issues).

Make recovery workouts a part of your regimen regardless of what system you're on. If you can't function at a high level you won't be at your best. Do daily training by being intense less than a few days a week and do recovery workouts on your "off' days and the reason why I put it in quotes was because there's no such thing as a day off, even if it means going for a 30 min. walk/hike or swimming or bicycling or even just to have a field day playing a sport with your buddies. Be active.

Your training is not going to die if you do a recovery day or 2; some people need a week or more because that's just how the body works. It gets to me sometimes when people are so idiotic to think that if they train the same as a pro athlete to get the results they want its going to magically happen. Pro Athletes train hard for a specific purpose and that's for their particular sport. It's not meant for the average person to be going that hard for a period of time; you need recovery, healthy food intake and the right kind of exercise meant for your body type & or leverage. I'm learning this myself but unlike the majority of brain dead people out there I know when its time to back off and do things to get me back to what I want to do. Recover well and do so being mindful and open to the idea that you know what, its ok to not be so intense all the time, its ok to take it easy and do something lighter; you're still doing something and you're keeping yourself consistent. Its not easy by any stretch but with consistency you are creating a life-long element that leads you on the path to a kick ass life well beyond your years.