LLT
LMT
ULT
UMT
GPR
GAR
LPR
LAR
HISS
HIIT
SISS
SIIT
Work-In
Recovery Day

[NL] 4Q At-Home Recovery Day

Work-In
Recovery Day
LLT
LMT
ULT
UMT
GPR
GAR
LPR
LAR
HISS
HIIT
SISS
SIIT

The mentality of "go big or go home" and the current ethos in the fitness community believing we should always be doing "high-intensity training" to see improvement, are both fallacies.

What ultimately limits the results you get from your workouts is often not the exercises, sets, reps, or weight you lift in the gym. It is the other 23-hours in the day when you are not in the gym. That is because your body does not get stronger, more fit, leaner, or better conditioned while you are training. The changes you want to see only happen through the process of recovery, which takes place in the hours and days after your workout is over.

Similarly to training, recovery programming needs to follow a systematic approach whereby the prescription chosen best helps put our body in a position to accept the next training load.

With that being said, today's recovery day is pertinent to your overall training program, and should be considered another important piece in the puzzle, for improving your overall health and performance.

Recovery Blocks

[NL] Early Morning: Meditation
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Meditation has numerous benefits such as improving one's sleep, enhancing focus and self-awareness, reducing aggression, depression and anxiety, improving one's mood, increasing parasympathetic tone, and reducing stress levels.

The goal of meditation is to be mindful and to "think about nothing". This takes practice. If you feel yourself wander, recognize it, and then bring your attention back to the present moment.

GPR
Meditation: Forest
This can be a guided experience. Choose a comfortable position to meditate in. Focus on your body, breaths, loving thoughts, gratitude etc
Set Time
1 3+ minutes h:m:s

[NL] Mid-Morning: Quick Massage & Stretch
Giant Set x 1

Find 5-minutes in your morning to quickly address two areas of the body (i.e. hips and mid-back) that often hold tightness; therefore, potentially negatively influencing the rest of how your body moves and feels (i.e. your low-back, knees, ankles/feet, shoulders and more!).

Side note: If you were to perform this mini-set every day of the week, you will have accrued 35+ minutes to helping restore optimal function. Small steps in the right direction often adds up to bigger and more significant results.

LAR
Self-Massage: Glutes
time 2 minutes per side
"How-to" self-massage for the glutes/posterior hip.
Set Time
1 2 minutes per side h:m:s
LAR ULT
Seated 90-90 Stretch
time 1 minute per side
Stretch for the hips
Set Time
1 1 minute per side h:m:s
LAR
Self-Massage: T-Spine
time 1-2 minutes
"How-to" self-massage for the Thoracic Spine (mid-upper region of back).
Set Time
1 1-2 minutes h:m:s
LAR UMT
T Spine Mobility Thread The Needle Reach
reps 10 per side
Tempo controlled
Stretches out the shoulders and torso relative to the hips.
Set Reps Tempo
1 10 per side Controlled

[NL] Early Afternoon: Nature Walk (And Talk)
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Walking at a leisure pace (think 4 km per hour) helps promote the flow of blood back to the heart, stimulates cognition, and can reduce your stress levels.

If possible, seek out nature (think trails versus the road), and invite a friend. Our well-being and performance is predicated on our physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains all being taken care of. Going for a walk with a friend can further enhance your cognitive, emotional, and social domains; therefore, also helping improve your physical health.

GAR ULT
Nature Walk
Set Time Intensity
1 20+ minutes h:m:s Comfortable RPE

There is no real time limit on this - if you're outside and enjoying time with a friend, great.

[NL] Evening: Leg Elevation for Circulation
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The purpose of circulation during recovery is to help facilitate the clearance of metabolic waste products during exercise. This process takes time and is one of the reasons the heart rate is elevated long after exercise has ceased. Elevating the legs is a passive strategy that you can employ to maintain, or possibly improve, circulation without elevating the heart rate (i.e. recover faster!).

LPR ULT
Recovery: Elevate Feet
Lie on your back in a comfortable position and elevate your feet. Hold this position for a 5 minutes. then get up move around and return to the position. Do this protocol for 2-4 times.
Set Time
1 3+ minutes h:m:s
2 3+ minutes h:m:s

Keep your legs elevated on the wall until your feet just begin to fall asleep.

Lower your legs to the ground and wait until the feet are no longer asleep before starting the second set.

Feel free to perform more sets if time permits.

This is also a good time to fit in any form of guided meditation.

[NL] Throughout the day: 4-7-8 Breathing Protocol
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There are numerous benefits to proper breathing:
- allows for proper movement of muscles and articulations
- massages internal organs
- promotes parasympathetic shift

Slow and deep diaphragmatic breathing is associated with the stimulation of the Vagus Nerve and triggering a parasympathetic response.

Implement the 4-7-8 breathing protocol several times throughout your day. With consistency, over time your nervous system will shift to being more parasympathetic dominant.

Protocol:
Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, slowly exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat 4 times to start.

While exhaling, place your tongue in the ‘yogic position’ (i.e. the roof of your mouth, just behind your teeth where you feel a bump).

GAR
[NL] 4-7-8 Breathing
Slow and deep diaphragmatic breathing is associated with the stimulation of the Vagus Nerve and triggering a parasympathetic response. Implement the 4-7-8 breathing protocol several times throughout your day. With consistency, over time your nervous system will shift to being more parasympathetic dominant. Protocol: Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, slowly exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat 4 times to start. While exhaling, place your tongue in the 'yogic position' (i.e. the roof of your mouth, just behind your teeth where you feel a bump). I recommend performing this any time you start to feel anxious, nervous, or stressed.
Set Time
1 4 cycles of breath h:m:s

I recommend performing this any time you start to feel anxious, nervous, or stressed.