Recovery...

So...recovery just means taking a rest day right? Wrong. 

Recovery is so much more than just spending the day away from the gym, and 

actually you could be inhibiting your body's ability to recover on your so called recovery/rest day

if you aren't taking the right steps to actually recover! 

Recovery = repair

What can I do to recover, and keep my body safe and healthy?

1. Rest, take a day away from the gym to limit overtraining

2. Stop drinking 8 cups of coffee per day, energy drinks, soda (yuck) DRINK WATER

I cannot stress this enough! We need to keep our muscles moist and lubed up!

Coffee, energy drinks, sodas contain water, yes. BUT, the caffeine, artificial flavors and additives make you excrete all the water in them and dehydrate you. This causes "dry, brittle" muscles which are at a HUGE risk for pulling, tearing, straining.....

3. EAT RIGHT. Healthy, real foods. Nothing artificial or "fake." If you cannot pronounce something in the ingredient list, DON'T eat it! The term "You are what you eat" is VERY VERY true!

Your food is your fuel, eat it to have awesome workouts and to feel amazing during the day. Eat it to recovery and repair your body after tough, grueling workouts and long hard days.

4. Stretch, roll out, apply heat/ice when your muscles/joints need it! Take care of yourself!! You may be a CrossFit superhero, but you aren't a comic book superhero with a body made of steel....We need to be aware of what our bodies need, listen to what it's trying to tell us (like take an extra rest day...)

Not following these steps is like asking for injury, pain and possibly regressing instead of hitting new PR's! 

So let's be smart people! 

Train. Hydrate. Eat. SLEEP. Repeat.