Recovery

It’s been a tough week, and I’ve been talking with many of you about recovery and how to alleviate muscle soreness and other aches and pains.
Here are a few things to incorporate in your recovery program:

  • Foam & lacrosse ball rolling and mobility work – you can do this at home as well as at the gym.
  • HYDRATE – with plenty of water. As the summer heats up, use coconut water for added electrolytes. Avoid sports drinks high in sugar (and the diet versions with artificial sweeteners!). Limit caffeine to black coffee or tea, and don’t drink it after noon.
  • Sleep – Seven to nine hours in a PITCH BLACK dark, cool room.
  • Nutrition – how you eat throughout the day and ESPECIALLY what you take in immediately after your WOD is important. Get a good quality protein supplement into your system within 45 minutes of finishing a WOD, and then eat a full meal (protein, fat and carbs) 60-90 minutes later.
  • Supplements – fish oil and magnesium citrate will both aid in recovery. Fish oil is high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation of all types, BUT these fatty acids are very fragile, so it’s important to invest in a quality fish oil supplement.
  • Epsom salts baths and contrast showers – take a warm bath in Epsom salts, or try a contrast shower (5 cycles of 1 minute hot, 1 minute cold water…this is also an excellent hangover cure… or so I’ve been told).
  • Rest days – listen to your body and take a day off when needed. A yoga class, a leisurely stroll through the park or an easy bike ride are all great activities to do on your days off from CrossFit.

*We sell Stronger, Faster, Healthier fish oil and protein in the Pro Shop. Check out some FAQ about their fish oil and protein here, or ask Lis for more details. Disclaimer: we’ll never sell anything in the Pro Shop that we don’t use ourselves. This is good stuff.

What are your top recovery tips/tactics? Share them in the comments!

Reminder for this weekend’s Free Piedmont Park WOD

Join us this Sunday at 10 for our FREE PARK WOD (open to the public and suitable for all skill levels). We’ll meet in the meadow near Park Tavern for a WOD, THEN we’ll head over to the sand volleyball courts to play HOOVER BALL. Don’t worry, if you don’t know what Hoover Ball is, we’ll teach you. Carlos is a pro and will be coaching the crew this Sunday!!

So meet in the meadow at 10 am AND/OR at the sand volleyball courts at 11 am. See you Sunday!

Zack and Melvin tackling the Bear Complex (check out Melvin’s mural progress behind him!)

Workout of the Day

Row or Run Repeats
3 1k row repeats OR 3 800m run repeats

Rest between row/run equal to the same amount of time the previous row/run took.
During rest: foam/lax ball roll/mobility work
Record splits.

If you did Murph on Monday, I recommend rowing. If you rowed on Tuesday, I recommend running.

Fri 06.01.12 Read More »