Click Here For Your Free Over 40 Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine Subscription
How Do You Prepare and Recover from Hard Workouts
QUESTION: I was reading recently on two different sources on the Internet about different ways that people prepare themselves for workouts including taking anti-inflammatory over the counter drugs, NODOZ, and strong coffee or carbonated drinks with considerable caffeine. Their preparation also seems to take about 90 minutes.
I've also read where some high intensity training sessions may require an hour's sleep after a workout and most of the day to sufficiently recover and become coherent again. Is this kind of preparation necessary? Is this more or less what you do? Are the effects I noted usually what happens after a training session?
ANSWER: Such preparation is neither necessary or in any way desirable. In fact, it probably is dangerous. If it is necessary to medicate yourself before training, something is seriously wrong. If a person is that sore, why is he or she masking the discomfort and pain to train? Can training under such conditions possibly do any good? If a training routine is so aversive that it is dreaded and a person has to be literally out of his or her mind to do it, then something is definitely wrong with the training program.
Contrary to what you might have read, training is not supposed to be a torture session. It really appears that the only thing required to make a training session productive is to just very slightly surpass what you did previously. If you keep that goal in mind, then there is no reason to make every session a near-death experience. After all, there is only one way to surpass a near death experience!
The idea that training only requires slight increments was part of the art and science of training prescribed by such legendary trainers as Earle Liederman more than 75 years ago. Somewhere along the way, this critical practice was lost. Train with high intensity. Just slightly pass what we did last time, and finish the routine knowing you can do slightly better next time. That's the prescription for enjoyable, progressive training.
There is also nothing very "macho" or somehow confirming about throwing up after workouts, falling in a semiconscious state to the ground, or being disoriented for hours. Again, all that such post-workout responses indicate is that something is terribly over the top with the routine.
Personally, there is no special preparation that I do for training. This is an activity that I've done for many years and I almost always look forward to a session. I only need to begin thinking about training, open my training dairy to be sure I know exactly what's been planned, and set up the day's workout to be fully prepared. The rest is automatic.
Liederman also talked about feeling energized and refreshed after training. I've found that with my very brief and focused training sessions, that's how I feel about 10 to 15 minutes after a session. So, even though I'm finishing each session with a very hard interval protocol, the feeling of exhaustion only lasts for a few minutes. Sessions that leave a person absolutely drained, let alone, incoherent, for 8 to 10 hours afterward just do not make sense. Such responses from a session suggests a person has greatly overextended his or her capabilities, is in an immunocompromised state for hours, and probably means it will be days before recovery will be complete. It also makes normal activities during the rest of the day very difficult. The "bodybuilding lifestyle" should focus on being fit, strong, and productive to pursue life, not to lounge around a gym all day or fall into a deep sleep after training so as to recover from the ordeal.
Click Here For Your Free Over 40 Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine Subscription
Disclaimer
The information presented on this website is intended to be used for educational purposes only. Please consult with your own physician or health care practitioner regarding any suggestions and recommendations made.