Recovery
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is a MUST! Forget the saying "you can't out train a bad diet" although yes, a true statement, you cannot be a true BADASS without the proper fuel! Food fuels the human body and in order to perform at an optimal level one must know exactly what, and how much they are consuming. We aim to keep food intake levels high enough to support a large amount of training volume, but not in excess to store body fat (sounds familiar right!)
In order to have a real understanding of how much we are consuming an athlete must weigh and measure his/her food for at least two weeks to find their baseline intake levels. We recommend as a baseline for athletes to consume:
- 1 - 1.2g of protein per lb of body weight
- 1 - 1.5g of carbohydrates per lb of body weight (varies based on daily training volume)
- .4 - .5g of fat per lb of body weight
These baseline macro nutrient needs should be obtained through eating WHOLE FOODS! The bulk of carbohydrate intake should be around the time of training with a focus on post workout. We are not ones to preach Paleo or primal eating, but yes, you should be not be eating CRAP!
Eat:
- lean protein
- all veggies
- healthy fats
- fruit
- rice, potatoes, and quality grains to meet carbohydrate levels
If once and a while you want to interchange cookies or doughnuts instead of rice or potatoes, go for it! Be human! BUT, keep in mind, your daily macro intake still needs to remain the same.
Supplements
The word supplement is just that! All supplements should come second to a healthy diet. Some supplements that we recommend taking in help increase both performance and recovery time are:
- Whey Protein
- Creatine Monohydrate
- BCAA's
- Carb/Dextrose Powders
- Fish Oil/Omega 3
Sleep/Stretching/Prehab
- Aim to get 8 hours of quality sleep a a day total.
- Keep non physical stress levels to a minimum or best of your abilities.
- Make sure to actively prehab any problem areas and take at least 20 minutes a day to warm up and double for mobility and recovery.
- Make sure to take advantage of tools such as Floss Bands, Lax balls, Foam Rollers, and mobility sticks to keep active blood flow to soft tissues.
- Keeping soft tissue (muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs) healthy is the key to staying injury free. Below is a link with quality stretches that are used by AV athletes on a daily basis.