Yesterday I published a long list of my injuries and surgeries. At the wise old age of 53 I firmly believe that if I had incorporated recovery into my workout routines way back when I started at age 16, that list might be a bit shorter. While I have no scientific evidence to back that up, consider this.
What I do now far exceeds the amount and intensity of workouts I did the first 35 years. Extreme is a fair term to use. My mind and body goes through a lot. But I don't get hurt anymore. I only aggravate old injuries if I am not careful. The big one I watch out for is the herniated L5 disc.
I prevent injury now by recovery. I use three very important steps in my weekly recovery. First, I get plenty of sleep. Second, I do yoga. Third, I foam roll. I am a huge proponent of all three. Foam rolling may sound foreign to a lot of folks so here it is. It's a massage. But you do it yourself. You are in complete control of the time, intensity, and application areas. For about $75, you are your own personal masseuse for the rest of your life. Not that I don't mind the spa occasionally. But with weekly routines, that would get expensive. Personally I like the Rumble Roller. You can get it on Amazon. Best investment I ever made.
Why foam rolling? It takes all those knots out. If you leave the knots in, they become stress points in your musculature. They can cramp. They stay sore. They create added stress. I foam roll to prevent all that. And, it is incredibly relaxing. I combine yoga and foam rolling into about an hour a week and I feel like a million dollars afterwards.
The other recovery mode I wanted to mention was the weight factor. I maxed out at 215. I now weigh 175, five pounds below what I was at age 18. I did that with two simple changes. I stopped drinking a can of soda and eating a chocolate bar every night. Notice I did not say I cut them out of my diet. I tried that once (cutting out sugar entirely). Bad idea. The crash was horrible. I'll drink a soda maybe once a month. I eat chocolate daily. Just not at night. Why? Because sugar spikes at night don't burn efficiently. They interfere with your sleep. They can lead to buildups of fat. Sugar has its proper place in recovery, but that's for another post.
The other simple change leading to my weight loss was P90X. The aspect that made the difference was intensity. When I went to the gym, I would stretch in the sauna to work up a sweat. Because otherwise, I never sweated in the gym. Why? Because I would do a set. Rest a few minutes. Repeat. Useless. Dial it up! Use proper form, crank the music, and put your body to work. Sweat and feel the burn.
All that too I will cover in later posts. Right now I want you to start on your road to recovery. Buy a foam roller. Start doing yoga. I swear, yoga is a sweat fest. It is hard. That's what makes it so good.
Leave a comment and let me know how you're doing.
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