The fact that you’re in the gym and working out shows that you’re assigning some sort of priority toward your physical health. The fact you’ve chosen to see to that priority following CrossFit’s methodology implies you understand the benefits of performing constantly varied, functional movements at high intensity.
As you get stronger and faster, rather than get comfortable in your exercise or training, you actually push harder. And here’s where the stuff you do outside of your training sessions becomes more important – is what you’re doing when you’re not at the gym supporting your training goals?
Taking your recovery as seriously as your workouts might sound like overkill, but if you workout with a lot of intensity, you owe it to yourself to recover with that same energy.
What do we mean by “recovery”? There’s sort of two aspects to it. The first is that we’re recouping what we spent in training – so reducing fatigue and regaining range of motion. And the second is adaptation from the exercise, known as supercompensation – so your performance has actually improved compared to what it was before training.
There’s SO MUCH online aimed at helping you achieve supercompensation, all endorsed by your favourite athletes and fitness influencers, but the choice between the tech, the supplements, and the wearable gadgets gets overwhelming, and confusing. There’s actually three non-negotiables that we recommend at CrossFit DireWolf, and they’re pretty simple.
Post-exercise static stretching
“Back in the day”, the aim of having a stretch after class was to prevent muscle soreness or reduce DOMS. Modern research actually shows that stretching has little to no positive effect on reducing muscle soreness 1-7 days after exercise, but is great for at first reducing blood flow and then significantly increasing it after the stretch, which may facilitate recovery.
Static stretching appears to be an effective means for improving flexibility to reduce risk of injury, improve posture, and keep moving well through a fuller range of motion. It also increases Parasympathetic Nervous System activity – the body’s ‘rest and digest’ response – promoting relaxation. It’s also a really nice way to unwind with your class mates after a tough workout!
Eating well to fuel your body
A well-balanced diet provides you with energy, and the nutrients you need for growth and repair. Fresh fruit and veggies should make up around a third or more of what you consume in a day, with high fibre, wholegrain carbs like oats, skin-on potato, brown and wild rice, wholemeal bread, brown pasta, muesli. Good protein sources include chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, and lentils, and drinking plenty of water keeps your body working properly in general.
Eating well means enjoying your food and having plenty of variety in your diet. No one eats perfectly 100% of the time, but keep the highly processed junk food to a minimum, and you’re on the right track.
Sleeping enough, and sleeping well
The recommended amount of sleep is between seven and nine hours a night for adults. Any less and it could spell health problems. Just like attending a CrossFit class regularly, you can get into good habits to encourage quality sleep by going to bed at a set time each night, setting an alarm for the same time each morning, and reducing screen-time on the run up to bed.
Growth hormone production and blood flow increases when you’re asleep, and instead of that being used by the brain, which is less active while you’re sleeping, it gets redirected to restore energy and rebuild muscles.
Get the basics right
If you want to track the calories you burn and monitor your “sleep health” with apps and gizmos, get into your muscles with massage guns and foam rollers, or jump into an ice bath or plunge pool, by all means have at it. But make time to stretch, eat your vegetables, and go to bed on time too, will ya?