Fire and Ice

The Ultimate Recovery Guide: 7 Hacks You Have to Try

Recovery is an essential element of fitness. We all know it’s good for us…however, when it comes to carving out the time and space to do so, it’s easy to put recovery practices on the back burner. 

And we are not just talking about “rest” days. Proper rest, mobility, oxidative stress reduction and quality nutrition are just some (of many) tactics that comprise “recovery.”

In fact, did you know among the top level CrossFit Games athletes, Olympic champions, Tour de France and Boston marathon winners one of the key separators between those that end up on the podium versus those who don’t often comes down to their recovery—sleep, nutrition, muscle and fitness optimization. They are all fit and amazing athletes, yet only the most recovered survive (and thrive).

  • Rich Froning incorporates “active recovery” days into his training schedule and cold plunges regularly. So does tennis star Serena Williams.

  • Swimmer Michael Phelps was notorious for consuming over 6,000 calories every day to fuel and recover his muscles from intense workouts.

  • Steph Curry prioritizes sleep, trying to get at least 8 hours of rest every night and cutting screen use in the evenings.

  • Between intense workouts, Fittest Woman on Earth, Tia-Clair Toomey, regularly uses her Hyper Volt massager, takes supplements, ends the day with her Normatec boots which massage her legs while she watches TV and often hits the sauna.

In short, If you want to up level your total well-being, dialing in your personal recovery tactics is one of the fastest paths.  

While you may not be training for the CrossFit Games, in case you need some inspiration for optimizing your fitness and recovery, here’s an overview of 7 Recovery Hacks offered via CrossFit Central to help you and your workouts go from “good to great”.

7 Recovery Hacks Recommended at CrossFit Central

#1. Deep Tissue Work 

“Deep tissue work”: Active Release Therapy (ART), myo-fascial release and dry needling) along with “mobility work” (like lacrosse ball and foam rolling), is one of our favorite things to recommend to increase blood flow to sore muscles and reduce soreness, recover from injuries, rebuild torn muscle fibers and aid in muscle strengthening. 

The best time to do the deep tissue work is post workout, ideally directly after. According to a study in the Journal of Athletic Training this can reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMs) by a whopping 30-percent. 

CrossFit Central Hack: Book a Body Work Appointment & Schedule Mobility

If you are looking for a “body worker” to help you work through some tight kinks, injuries or prevent injuries in the future, we love Next Level Chiropractic and Airrosti. As for mobility tools and resources, check out ROMWOD for daily recovery videos to optimize your range of motion, and stash a good ol’ lacrosse ball in your gym bag, car, backpack, nightstand and anywhere else you think may be at arm’s reach. 

#2. Sauna

Sweating in the Sauna has been linked to numerous health benefits, including reduced all around inflammation and disease (from high blood pressure and heart disease to decreased depression, anxiety, arthritis, headaches, flu—you name it), as well as enhanced fitness recovery and muscle tissue repair.

For one, sauna sweat purges toxins out of your body and tissues, allowing you to feel better post-workout. Sauna sweat also enhances the muscle recovery process by increasing blood circulation and carrying oxygen-rich blood to oxygen-depleted muscles,  decreasing inflammatory cytokines and boosting immune function. Heat also allows muscles to relax better, thus relieving muscle tension.

CrossFit Central Hack: Fire & Ice

Join us for Fire & Ice. Email us at info@crossfitcentral.com to check out a session. Or invest in a home sauna like Sunlighten. 

#3. Ice Baths

A cold dunk (in approximately 60o F or lower) is massively stimulating for tissue and mitochondrial regeneration. Your mitochondria are the ‘powerhouses’ of your cells.  Which is why “Fire” (sauna) is always followed by “Ice” (ice bath) in our Fire and Ice sessions here at CC. The sudden plunge into cold water (or use of a cold shower) causes stability in blood pressure and also makes skin and the blood vessels constrict rapidly—helping seal the deal of all the detoxing and tissue healing your body did in the sauna. 

CrossFit Central Hack: Fire & Ice

Join us for Fire & Ice, hop into Barton Springs or try doing a hot-cold therapy session at home (hot shower followed by 10 to 30 seconds of cold water; repeat several times). Email us at info@crossfitcentral.com to check out a session.

#4. Breath Work 

You can go three weeks without food, three days without water, but only a few minutes without breath. Our breath is a nutrient that fuels recovery through the delivery of oxygen to recover from oxidative stress. So how are you breathing? 

You too can test your breath rate to help determine the level of oxidative stress your body is under regularly. 

Time yourself for 1 minute and see how many breaths you take. The ideal breath rate, at rest, is five to seven breaths per minute.  This ideal breath rate signals the parasympathetic state, in which you “rest and digest,” as opposed to the sympathetic—or fight-or-flight—mode. 

Unfortunately, the average breath rate in adults today is between 12 to 20 breaths—signaling to our body “May day! May day! I’m running from a bear!” at all times…

In fact, did you know that your autonomic nervous system—your stress response system— doesn’t know the difference between running from a bear versus taking rapid, shallow breaths at your desk?  Your nervous system and cortisol—stress hormone—interprets all forms of stress the same!

Common signs of improper breathing include: 

  • Inhaling with your chest

  • Mouth breathing and rapid short breaths

  • Tight shoulders and upper neck muscles, along with slouching

  • Frequent yawning

  • High resting breath rate (over 12 breaths per minute)

  • Not-expanding your rib cage when you breathe

On the other hand, proper breathing looks like diaphragmatic belly breathing—not chest breathing or breathing that involves shoulder movement.

If you fully expand your rib cage by taking a deep breath, you should see your belly rise. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose or mouth.  Ideally, at rest, inhale for five to 10 seconds in through your nose and exhale for the same length of time—out through your nose or mouth; or if you’re looking to do short bursts of “breath work” to encourage workout recovery, we suggest incorporating Wim Hof breathing into your routine—a method of breathing that aids in faster recovery from physical exertion, better sleep, reduced stress and improved all around fitness performance. 

CrossFit Central Hack: Wim Hof Breathing

Step 1: Get Comfortable

Assume a meditation posture: sitting, lying down — whichever is most comfortable for you. Make sure you can expand your lungs freely without feeling any constriction.

Step 2: 30-40 Deep Breaths

Close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Be conscious of your breath, and try to fully connect with it. Inhale deeply through the nose or mouth, and exhale unforced through the mouth. Fully inhale through the belly, then chest and then let go unforced. Repeat this 30 to 40 times in short, powerful bursts. You may experience light-headedness, and tingling sensations in your fingers and feet. These side effects are completely harmless.

Step 3: The Hold

After the last exhalation, inhale one final time, as deeply as you can. Then let the air out and stop breathing. Hold until you feel the urge to breathe again.

Step 4: Recovery Breath

When you feel the urge to breathe again, draw one big breath to fill your lungs. Feel your belly and chest expanding. When you are at full capacity, hold the breath for around 15 seconds, then let go. That completes round number one. This cycle can be repeated 3 to 4 times consecutively. After having completed the breathing exercise, take your time to bask in the bliss. This calm state is highly conducive to meditation — don't hesitate to combine the two.

#5. Sleep Optimization

Like breath, we believe sleep is a nutrient too. Just one night of less than 6 hours of sleep yields a 40% drop in your body’s blood sugar stability and distorts your body’s natural production of cortisol (a stress hormone). Studies show, after sleep deprivation, subjects tend to have higher levels of cortisol later in the day, a time when it should be tapering off to prepare the body for rest.

What does this mean for you? Fatigue, feeling “hangry”, sluggish exercise and mental performance, nighttime insomnia, weight loss or muscle gain resistance, reduced immune function, hormone imbalances and more.  

CrossFit Central Hack: Be Deliberate with your Bedtime Routine

Aim to sleep seven to eight hours each night.
If you struggle with insomnia or quality sleep, try these hacks at bedtime. 

  • Sleep in a in a cool room (68-degrees or below)

  • Make it pitch black. Use blackout curtains or sleep with a contoured eye mask

  • Use blue blocker glasses at night and remove electronics and lights from the bedroom

  • Shut off screens one to two hours before bed, and during sleep, put your phone in another room or put it in airplane mode

  • Eat a small protein snack before bed if you ate an early dinner (try bone broth, additive-free protein powder, leftover protein, collagen protein bites, a scrambled egg, etc.)

  • Drink 1 cup of Bedtime or Sleepy Time tea.

#6. Nutrition Optimization

We are what we eat. Or rather, we perform and feel like what we eat. Here at CrossFit Central, we believe nutrients are an essential key to fast-tracking recovery—no particular diet necessary. Simply put: eat real food.  

CrossFit Central Hack: Nutrition Blueprint Guide

All members have open access to our Nutrition Blueprint Guide with all the details for CrossFit nutrition. We also have an amazing program called “LIFTOFF Body” and offer 1:1 nutrition coaching. 

#7. HRV Tracking

Have you ever wondered why some days you feel fitter, stronger, faster or healthier overall?  Look no further than your “HRV” (Heart Rate Variability) for the answer.

Heart Rate Variability is a health assessment metric that tells you how stressed your body is or not.

Stress affects EVERYTHING in our health.

For example: Go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5AM to workout under slept? Stress. Drank one too many glasses of wine and feel a little sluggish the next day? Stress. Regularly eat foods, like gluten or dairy, that you are intolerant to? Stress.

Although stress is inevitable in life (EVERYONE experiences it), the toll stress takes on your body is all about the compound effect: the more stressed out you are, the less healthy you feel.

Enter: plateaus in your squat, clean and deadlift, stubborn body fat that won’t go away (no matter how clean you eat) or the inability to gain muscle for the life of you!

Heart rate variability is a “stress check-in” measurement you can take every day to help you keep your body in the green—less stressed—so you can feel better overall. 

Basically, HRV shows how “stressed” or “relaxed” and strong your body’s autonomic nervous system is. 

Heart rate variability is exactly what it sounds like: the variability (variety) in intervals between heart beats, or basically the amount of time between heart beats. 

Ideally, we want a Higher HRV (more variability or longer time between heart beats).  The higher our HRV, the more likely our cortisol levels (stress hormones) are “healthy.”

Low HRV means you are in “fight or flight” mode. (relative to an individuals standard HRV.) We actually want it lower at work out time. HRV can be used as a daily check-in with the body to determine its readiness to tolerate stress on a given day.

Thanks to technology, you can track your HRV at home with a heart rate monitor or device, and daily log. Using HRV regularly is an excellent way to optimize recovery (so you know when to push harder or take it easy). 

CrossFit Central Hack: WHOOP Band

We recently partnered with Whoop Band, a HRV testing device, for all our athletes to use so you can get the MOST out of your workouts (both inside and outside the gym). 

The Whoop band seamlessly fits on your wrist, tracking your HRV throughout the day (and doesn’t get in the way of cleans, front squats, pull-ups or any other important work you need to do).            

Join our Whoop Team!

Get your WHOOP band + one month free when you become a member and join our team.

Already have a WHOOP Member? Join our CrossFit Central WHOOP Group! Enter Code: COMM-886299