Recovery

When it comes to building muscle and the ultimate physique you desire there are many factors that come into play.  Going into the gym day in and day out without any type of proper recovery can lead you to over-training.  Your body needs time to recover.  So many people think that if they go to the gym everyday, they'll reach their goal quicker.  This type of mindset appears to make logical sense but, this is not the way to properly build muscle.

You build muscle when you are out of the gym.

Most people don't know that it is when you are out of the gym, you grow.  Recovery is so important to achieving your physique goals.  Do you know that when you are in the gym crushing it as hard as you can, you actually are tearing the muscle and getting smaller.  Getting smaller?  I used to think that by going to the gym you should be getting bigger.  You are actually getting smaller because you are breaking down the muscle.  It's when you recover that you start to build muscle.  Here are some methods to properly recover from your workout

1.  BCAA  BCAA are Branch Chain Amino Acids that are super beneficial to your recovery.  They
help repair muscle when they are broken down.  Try taking at leas 20g during your workout.  You
can take it in pill form or powder form during your workout.

2.  FISH OILS  Fish oils are great to speed up the process of your recovery.  They are considered to
be healthy fats that reduce inflammation.  Take these after your workout and before you go to bed.  Fats
increase testosterone and we all know that testosterone is responsible for muscle growth.

3.  COLD SHOWERS.  Why do you think that athletes soak themselves in an ice bath or a baseball
pitcher rests his elbow in an ice bath?  Cold Showers reduce inflammation and the swelling of your
muscles.  When you take a cold shower your muscles tighten up leaving you feeling refreshed and
ready to get back in the gym.

4.  Green's Product.  Greens products are great if you don't have time to cook a lot of veggies.  Do
you know that after you work out your body becomes very acidic?  When you take a greens product after your workout you alkaline your body and reduce that acidity resulting in a speedy recovery.

5. REST This is a big one that most people screw up. Sometimes more is not the answer. Haven't you heard that less is often times more? Your body needs a lot of rest and you should be at least sleeping for 7-8 hours a night. Working out for 12 weeks consecutively, you should take a week off. For every 6 weeks you should take 3-4 days off. Your workout split could be 3 days on 1 day off, 2 days on and 1 day off. If this doesn't work for you the best thing to do is too listen to your body. Everyone is different. Some recover faster than others. If you are not ready to hit the gym and you are still worn out or sore, don't go. You need to recover longer.

I hope this helps and keep crushing your goals.

Tim