Many years ago I heard legendary wrestler and coach Dan Gable speak.
There was one thing that he said that stood out to me and I still think about it every once in a while. Why? Because it describes a principle that is easily missed by most trainees. It certainly was for me until I heard him talk about it!
What did he say?
“You have to work as hard at recovery as you do at training.”
Because of that, I’m always on the lookout for new techniques, and new science surrounding the topic of recovery.
Recently I stumbled across this article, “What’s New in Sports Recovery Research” by Alex Hutchinson.
There are a few topics covered there, but the main one I want to talk about is the psychological side of recovery.
In the article it says:
“Soreness is (partly) in your mind.”
“There were some notable psychological differences between those who did and didn’t get sore. The DOMS sufferers had reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and stress before any exercise took place. The higher a subject’s anxiety, the more intense their subsequent muscle soreness was likely to be.”
“The message here isn’t that pain and soreness are all in your head, or that admitting you feel sore is a sign of weakness. But it is a reminder that recovery is a murkier and less objective concept that we like to think.”
Wow, someone else is actually talking about this and doing studies around something I’ve been talking about for years, that is that your mind influences recovery!
I feel like I’ve been shouting about mental training for years…with, unfortunately, very few people listening.
Years back I put together my Ultimate Recovery Formula.
While this covers all the important physiological basics such as understanding how different forms of training effect recovery, nutrition, rest, lifestyle, etc., that is just a part of it. That was foundational.
But the main thing I really wanted to cover was the mental (and even energetic) side of recovery. I created a hypnotic track that does just that.
And the thing works spookily well…
“I don’t know exactly how it works but it just does! I can bounce right back from tough workouts and am progressing quicker with my training because of it. I’m training 6 days a week, twice most days now.”
-Kevin Green
“I love the Ultimate Recovery Formula because I truly feel it is helping me recover faster and better tap into the mind body connection. As you know, this is huge for us athletes.”
-Tanner Gers
Now it looks like there is some preliminary science to back up HOW this is working.
Pick up the Ultimate Recovery Formula today if you want to accelerate your recovery.
And even if not, please, please, pay more attention to this crucial area.
P.S. Let me add something to the principle. Dan Gable was a freakishly hard-work machine. Notice his quote again. “You have to work as hard at recovery as you do at training.” While there is a time and place for hard work, it’s not the ONLY thing. Let’s alter that a little bit and say, “You have to work as smart and hard at recovery as you do at training.”