Recovery Workout Suggestions

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
107,022
67,647
Pittsburgh
I'm one of the many around here that over train and don't get enough rest/recovery. I just love working out and hate taking days off. I've logged my workouts for an entire year and week-to-week the common denominator is that i'm definitely over-training. I've added some deload days/recovery workouts to my week, but nothing seems to want to stick.

I've foam rolled, which I find to be pretty silly. I've read a lot of research and nothing confirms that it actually does anything. I've loved active stretching/walking on offdays, but in the winter it's tough to walk because it's freezing.

What do you do for recovery/deload workouts and what works for you?
 

FLYLine27*

BUCH
Nov 9, 2004
42,410
14
NY
I'm one of the many around here that over train and don't get enough rest/recovery. I just love working out and hate taking days off. I've logged my workouts for an entire year and week-to-week the common denominator is that i'm definitely over-training. I've added some deload days/recovery workouts to my week, but nothing seems to want to stick.

I've foam rolled, which I find to be pretty silly. I've read a lot of research and nothing confirms that it actually does anything. I've loved active stretching/walking on offdays, but in the winter it's tough to walk because it's freezing.

What do you do for recovery/deload workouts and what works for you?

I'm in the same boat as you. I rarely ever take more than 1 day off in a row and the longest I go without working out might be 5 days when i'm away on vacation once a year.

Though I actually took 6 days off before starting the Body Beast workout. That was really hard because I had all this extra time and I didn't know what to do :laugh:
 

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
107,022
67,647
Pittsburgh
- Chest/Tris - heavy db bench 4x 4-6 reps, incline 3x8, flies 3x8, 2 tri exercises 3x8, push ups, and burnout bench set x2.

- Back/shoulders - UPR/shrugs 4x8, 1 shoulder press (tons of variations of shoulder press I switch them in/out each week for variation) 3x8, 3-4 different variations of arm raises/delt raises to target shoulder (Same as press.. rotate some in/out based on variation), t-bar or db pulls, lat pull down, pull ups 3x8 for all. Pullups to failure.

- legs - squat, deadlift, lunges, and a lot of sports agility (box jumps, ladder, hurdles, etc)

- 2-3 days of HIIT - anything from shaun t insanity workouts to a sports training class for HIIT.


It ends up being 6 workouts a week and i typically play hockey or tennis 2-3 days a week, maybe even some basketball after lifting. 6-9 is waaaaay too much. Hockey/Tennis I don't consider really a workout, yet more of an activity, but I do play at a high level so it is.
 

Ozz

Registered User
Oct 25, 2009
9,459
673
Hockeytown
Do you want a "recovery workout" or do you want to give your body real time to just rest and get a BREAK? Take some time off from the gym, period. You won't implode.

I don't like hearing that you feel you're over training, yet want to fix that by coming up with a workout or cardiovascular session to rectify it.

People make mountains into molehills when it comes to talking about taking a week or so off. It's absolutely ridiculous. Then again, trouble is most people who frequent the gym wouldn't know a thing about linear progression in strength and/or muscle gains anyway so I'm not surprised.

Anyone can take a couple days off, or do a week or so of light workouts (they could help, but are not going to save you from anything you'd see from skipping them all together), and still feel okay. Times like this I liken to when folks say getting ripped is easy (yet barely weigh 170), getting big is easy (don't even have 16" arms, 44" chest, 23" leg), gaining Strength is easy (how much have you added to your lifts this year?), and so on. Point is, the people always making gains understand that a step back allows for more forward. Just look at all the people in the gym who always look the same. That's another tangent I could go on, but if they all knew what they had to do for the gains they wanted they wouldn't look the same perpetually.

Now, I say this coming from a bodybuilding background where if you're not burning fat or building muscle you're trying to even out one muscle here, one muscle there for symmetry purposes. If it's not one thing it's another, and the entire point is literally SEEING progress. If you're not THAT into it and just feel tired, that's cool! If you don't want to really get much leaner, bigger, stronger etc. That's cool too. The less you want to change your body the less important proper, adequate rest is. You can still rejuvenate without "going overboard" on rest and seemingly sabotaging everything in your mind. But, I still and always do recommend doing so. In for a penny, in for a dollar, be ecstatic with 75 cents worth of progress.
 

Havre

Registered User
Jul 24, 2011
8,459
1,733
- Chest/Tris - heavy db bench 4x 4-6 reps, incline 3x8, flies 3x8, 2 tri exercises 3x8, push ups, and burnout bench set x2.

- Back/shoulders - UPR/shrugs 4x8, 1 shoulder press (tons of variations of shoulder press I switch them in/out each week for variation) 3x8, 3-4 different variations of arm raises/delt raises to target shoulder (Same as press.. rotate some in/out based on variation), t-bar or db pulls, lat pull down, pull ups 3x8 for all. Pullups to failure.

- legs - squat, deadlift, lunges, and a lot of sports agility (box jumps, ladder, hurdles, etc)

- 2-3 days of HIIT - anything from shaun t insanity workouts to a sports training class for HIIT.


It ends up being 6 workouts a week and i typically play hockey or tennis 2-3 days a week, maybe even some basketball after lifting. 6-9 is waaaaay too much. Hockey/Tennis I don't consider really a workout, yet more of an activity, but I do play at a high level so it is.

Just so I understand this correctly:

Lifting weights: 3-4 times a week
HIIT: 2-3 times a week
Hockey/tennis: 2-3 times a week
Basketball: Occasionally
 

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
107,022
67,647
Pittsburgh
Do you want a "recovery workout" or do you want to give your body real time to just rest and get a BREAK? Take some time off from the gym, period. You won't implode.

I don't like hearing that you feel you're over training, yet want to fix that by coming up with a workout or cardiovascular session to rectify it.

People make mountains into molehills when it comes to talking about taking a week or so off. It's absolutely ridiculous. Then again, trouble is most people who frequent the gym wouldn't know a thing about linear progression in strength and/or muscle gains anyway so I'm not surprised.

Anyone can take a couple days off, or do a week or so of light workouts (they could help, but are not going to save you from anything you'd see from skipping them all together), and still feel okay. Times like this I liken to when folks say getting ripped is easy (yet barely weigh 170), getting big is easy (don't even have 16" arms, 44" chest, 23" leg), gaining Strength is easy (how much have you added to your lifts this year?), and so on. Point is, the people always making gains understand that a step back allows for more forward. Just look at all the people in the gym who always look the same. That's another tangent I could go on, but if they all knew what they had to do for the gains they wanted they wouldn't look the same perpetually.

Now, I say this coming from a bodybuilding background where if you're not burning fat or building muscle you're trying to even out one muscle here, one muscle there for symmetry purposes. If it's not one thing it's another, and the entire point is literally SEEING progress. If you're not THAT into it and just feel tired, that's cool! If you don't want to really get much leaner, bigger, stronger etc. That's cool too. The less you want to change your body the less important proper, adequate rest is. You can still rejuvenate without "going overboard" on rest and seemingly sabotaging everything in your mind. But, I still and always do recommend doing so. In for a penny, in for a dollar, be ecstatic with 75 cents worth of progress.

I try to take 2 out of 7 days off, but typically on those off days, i'll play hockey (adult A league) late at night. So after work, I come home and stretch and just relax. In the summer i'll go on a very calm and relaxing walk. Sometimes in the winter i'll nap for 45 minutes.

I feel when I take a full day off, I just feel terrible. Even if I'm 100% eating healthy. The next day at work I just feel the need to work out and hate sitting at my desk.

I probably should have given the following information: I don't want to replace them with a full cardio workout or anything like that, just a nice simple recovery workout (stretching, something) so I am not just sitting around doing nothing. I hate sitting around doing nothing. I sit all day at work with some minimal standing/walking. I have a sit/stand desk which is nice, but I just hate sitting there all day. I also have a flex schedule so I work 10 hour days at the office and have fri/sat/sun off. So 10 hours of sitting/standing sedentary work drives me nuts.
 

Ozz

Registered User
Oct 25, 2009
9,459
673
Hockeytown
I try to take 2 out of 7 days off, but typically on those off days, i'll play hockey (adult A league) late at night. So after work, I come home and stretch and just relax. In the summer i'll go on a very calm and relaxing walk. Sometimes in the winter i'll nap for 45 minutes.

I feel when I take a full day off, I just feel terrible. Even if I'm 100% eating healthy. The next day at work I just feel the need to work out and hate sitting at my desk.

I probably should have given the following information: I don't want to replace them with a full cardio workout or anything like that, just a nice simple recovery workout (stretching, something) so I am not just sitting around doing nothing. I hate sitting around doing nothing. I sit all day at work with some minimal standing/walking. I have a sit/stand desk which is nice, but I just hate sitting there all day. I also have a flex schedule so I work 10 hour days at the office and have fri/sat/sun off. So 10 hours of sitting/standing sedentary work drives me nuts.

I understand and I've been there too. Never underestimate the power of actual time OFF. Put that attention to another hobby if you can, soon you won't feel like you can't get lifting off your mind. Then as soon as you're getting the hang of "not lifting", it'll be time to start up again. Always happens to me; mentally I might not be ready to get going again but physically my body is prepared to kick major ass.


I count my hockey days as Cardio, and since I usually play 3 nights in a row I barely get to do a leg workout anymore since I have no recovery time. When I take time off I do continue to play hockey, but lifting is absolutely off my mind. Does me well, and since our seasons are short I get a week a few times per year where I don't skate at all. If I can combine that with most of a week off from lifting too, despite feeling like a schlub it gives my body what it could use. You sound like you are able to act like a machine and just go go go. I am the same way, but I pay for it after I'm done with the fun stuff. I just get so lethargic throughout the day at work, but if I had to skate or lift I'd hit another gear easily. Then back to exhausted. These little breaks help that. It's not about not being able to keep going, but helping your body rest from always having to. My wife used to bodybuild and play soccer, and even she thinks I'm insane with how much I still do despite being 10 years older from when we met. But we seem alike in that we can handle it. I skate with others in B league who can't handle 2x per week and don't even lift either. Then I know guys who do nothing but skate A level 3x per week. Yikes, give me a barbell.

Again it mostly depends what you're doing in the gym. There's getting a good workout in, and then there's serious lifting. If you're not on the wild end of the spectrum then my words are less important, but still it couldn't hurt. You never know, you could feel way better once you get back if you took a nice vacation.

Just keep it in mind, hopefully you're never forced to take that kind of time off (injury) to see.

If you want an easy workout to keep juices flowing without much effort, just do a full body routine a couple times per week. Legs/back/chest/delts/arms in that order, work abs/calves/traps in however you like. Do a few circuit rounds ranging from 15, 12, 8-10, or if you want 10, 8, 5-6. Whatever you do leave 2-3 reps in the tank for most or all so you're not pushing too hard. No use doing that for your purpose. Get a good sweat, get the joints all lubed up, get a pump, stay happy. I used to do similar activity on my 2-week "cruise" periods during DC Training. Now there's an idea, get into that lifting program and by the time you need to take a break you'll be dying for time off ;)
 

UnrealMachine

Registered User
Jul 9, 2012
4,580
2,075
Pittsburgh, USA
I'm living the Colorado lifestyle as well:

Cycling: 6-7 days/week (alternate between very hard and very easy workouts each day)
Lifting: 4 days/week
Acro-Yoga: 1-2 days/week
Rock climbing: 2-3 days/week (just added this back into the rotation)

Like Cole, I simply dislike having rest days. I imagine that a lot of this is the therapeutic effect exercise has on me both physically and mentally. Regular exercise makes me a steady individual. I don't have high highs or low lows, and that's the way I like it. I'm also a goal-oriented person in general so exercise is the ultimate protocol in that regard.

Back to the original question, high cadence + low speed/power cycling workouts for 1hr are my ultimate recovery tool. It allows me to recover from a very hard workout the day before and be ready for another the following day. It has been crucial to my success this offseason and I perform better the following days than I do with a total rest day (based on the few times I tried the latter).
 

ColePens

RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Mar 27, 2008
107,022
67,647
Pittsburgh
So Ozz is 100000% correct in all the research I've read regarding rest. I get that. But UM brought up something that keeps me ignoring rest. I love being in that pocker of not too high and not too low. It keeps me steady and I feel more energetic from it. I feel like I have my worst workouts after taking a day off and feeling like I need to workout so bad.

So now back to the original idea - what the **** can I do for a very light recovery workout? More stretching? Walking? Should Ozz hit me with a shovel so I finally rest? :laugh:
 

Kitten Mittons

Registered User
Nov 18, 2007
48,903
80
I feel you man. When I get into a rhythm, I just escalate it more and more - no days off, double days, etc.; and then I'm injured or my body just quits on me and I can't even even the most basic workouts. One of the contributing factor is I under-eat by a significant amount during my workout days and it eventually catches up to me.

I've been using my Wednesdays a recovery day - it's mid-week so it's perfect. I do yoga during the day and eat as much as I can (not necessarily junk, just large quantities of whatever).

It definitely helps when I do it right (aka don't workout and actually eat in surplus).
 

Wood Stick

Registered User
Dec 25, 2015
1,788
6
I was going too long without meals recently by the time I went to the gym so I just purchased like 70 protein bars to take an hour before the gym or so. I under ate yesterday after a few days off (gym system was ****ed) on my heavy bench day. I felt it right away. Strength was really, really disappointing.
 

Havre

Registered User
Jul 24, 2011
8,459
1,733
OK. In terms of volume I don't necessarily think that is over-training. You are probably spending too much time in zone 4 and 5, but other than that you should be fine (not a big fan of your split, but that comes down to personal preferences and is a bit off topic).

How about yoga? Excellent for mobility and surprisingly tough for beginners. I feel tired right after 1 hour of yoga. Perfect IMO as recovery and as an energy boost for the next day. It requires a bit of an investment though. Yoga isn't fun until you start to master some of the position (at least somewhat - I'm not exactly "good").
 

Ozz

Registered User
Oct 25, 2009
9,459
673
Hockeytown
So Ozz is 100000% correct in all the research I've read regarding rest. I get that. But UM brought up something that keeps me ignoring rest. I love being in that pocker of not too high and not too low. It keeps me steady and I feel more energetic from it. I feel like I have my worst workouts after taking a day off and feeling like I need to workout so bad.

So now back to the original idea - what the **** can I do for a very light recovery workout? More stretching? Walking? Should Ozz hit me with a shovel so I finally rest? :laugh:

I know how you feel, I touched on that earlier.

When I finally get out there for a PIT game, I'll bring a shovel if you want ;) Stretching, some will argue, isn't as helpful as you might think. I mentioned DC Training earlier, and it's likely no one has heard of that before. It's a routine that involves heavy stretching for the purpose of creating micro-tears in the muscle beyond what the weights themselves do. It's brutal. Point being, stretching "can" be much rougher than one might expect. Of course, that's easy to keep in check. But it also may not be helpful at all for your purposes.

Like I said earlier as well, if you must do something try a fast-paced full-body routine that warms you up but doesn't make you struggle. Do some things you rarely or never do, just for fun. At the end of the day, and the power lifting guys often say, such a workout does nothing for your overall future. Then on the other hand they'll say, since that's the case, why bother. Take the extra rest and hit it harder when you come back. If you lift heavy chances are your joints, tendons, etc. could use a break and you'd probably never even think of that. Remember, our bodies repair and rebuild when we're NOT beating it down.
 

RustyCat

Registered homie
Dec 29, 2014
2,603
3,122
Winnipeg
Sometimes take a day off, straight up. Most other times it is either a yoga session or Qi Gong for recovery workouts. That way my body can be rested, yet connected, at all times throughout the week.
 

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