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The Truth About Recovery Methods
Do They Really Work?
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Recovery methods are a hot topic in fitness circles. From ice baths to red light therapy, everyone seems to have a favourite method. But are these recovery methods really worth the hype?
I find the whole narrative around recovery fascinating. Lots of people want to talk about what they are doing for their recovery. Whether it's ice baths, sauna, contrast therapy, red light therapy, cupping, massage, foam rolling, cryotherapy, compression boots, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, active recovery, massage guns.
Even as I wrote that list, I was amazed how many things I could name, and also how new most are and how popular they have become in recent years.
The Pillars of Recovery
It's quite interesting that these things make people/brands loads of money (but that's not where I'm going with this). Every single one of those has limited value when stacked up against the pillars of sleeping enough, eating appropriately and training appropriately.
Those simple (I didn't say easy by the way) things are the key to being able to train hard and train frequently and ina manner that gets you continuing progress toward a goal, which is why we are all here isn't it?
The Stress Bucket Analogy
Probably the best way to look at all this is to look at the idea of the stress bucket. The bucket constantly has water being poured into it (whether that be stress from life or from training) and at the same time it has a tap letting it out (this is our body naturally recovering healing, resting and adapting to what we have done).
We need some stress to get create adaptations to make us get stronger, fitter, faster, more resilient. A lack of stress leaves people with weak bones/joints and susceptible to a multitude of health conditions, especially in later life.
The Limitations of Recovery Methods
If we go back to our huge list of recovery protocols, all of them provide some help with managing the stress bucket.
In the grand scheme of things these recovery options are all equivalent to bailing your bucket with a thimble.Regardless of the effort the outcome of recovery work can only go so far. So, is your effort with the thimble worth it? Especially the case when you could instead apply that effort to maybe getting more sleep, appropriate food and training at an intensity you can handle.
Focus on the Basics
Addressing those things out will have the effect of putting a wider tap on the bottom of the bucket. You derive a huge passive benefit from them, and you eliminate the need and effort required to engage in any of the active strategy's listed above.
This is the nature of the beast, we all have personal bias, and with that we shouldn't dismiss the power of placebo, but consider that for the most part all these recovery methods are very new, whilst the simple boring stuff is how every animal on the planet including us has "recovered"for all of time.
Personal Experience
I also write this from a place of having tried pretty much all of them in some form or another. In the end, after nearly 20 years of lifting weights and training, I actually found that I was getting stressed faffing about worrying over my recovery. I was trying to fit all these extras things in, compared with just getting my head down for a nap, enjoying preparing and eating good food and making sure I train at an intensity and in a manner where I feel pretty good to go again the next day.
Simplifying Recovery
This is how I look at recovery these days, I try not to overthink it. Sleep as much as you can, eat pretty well and when it comes to training push relatively hard consistently. If you have overdone it, dial back training for a bit.
Final Thoughts
So where does this leave us? My advice would be, don't major in the minors. If you really think something benefits you, fine have at it, but don't stress yourself out over it and remember that it's ok to be a bit beaten up and not recovered because you have to crack a few eggs to make the omelette.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Hard Work
.jpg)
ENGINE
No, running this week as we focus on some longer erg pieces; this can be done with a partner or solo. It’s your choice!
GYMNASTICS
This week, we’ll go upside down with handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand push-ups. We’ll then finish with overhead strength work.
HYROX
NO CLASS THIS WEEK DUE TO THE ENDURANCE TRAINING CAMP!
MOBILITY
Hip rotation & strengthening activating the stabilisers will be the primary focus of this session. We will also be looking at how to create postural changes to help those rounded upper thoracic.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, in pure strength, we are progressing the loading on the paused bench press, building on last week, followed by some upper body pulling strength work. Wednesday, we are back on the low box squat, along with some hamstring accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we focus on squat clean in weightlifting, with a fun complex followed by some pulls!
Monday Ride
A skills and fitness based ride at the BikeDXB track in Dubai. Some simply structured intervals to enhance cycling ability.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. This run is currently gearing run fitness towards the incoming half marathons. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Training Weekend!
We're at Jebel Jais this weekend for our annual Jais Training weekend. If you're interested to know more please email us here.
Location: Jebel Jais
Sunday - Training Weekend!
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Tempo
PM Session only: This evening we will be holding tempo pace for 5mins. Tempo should feel liks a 7/10 effort. After each 5 mins you will have 2 mins easy, which can be a gentle jog or walk. Repeat 5x rounds.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. Today we will be running 800m repeats, and fluctuating between 3km and 5km pace.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
If you didn't run track, today we have some speed work for you. Today there is 1km and 400m efforts. We will have cones set out for you, so you do not need to worry about tracking the distance on your watch.
Friday
Brief time: 5:54am
Start Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will have bridge repeats for those who want elevation, and tempo for those who want to push the pace on the flat surface. The choice is yours. (If you are running Two Oceans, we recommend the hills option).
Saturday
Time: 08:29am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
This weekend we will be in RAK for the IFE Training Camp. There will be a long run this morning on Jebel Jais, and an evening Shake-Out run. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Sunday
Time: 08:44am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
Today in RAK we will be doing hill repeats on Jebel Jais. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Monday:
We kick off the new week with some upper body pressing as we build over 6 rounds in the Push Jerk. Ski, DB Thrusters and Burpees in a workout where you earn your rest by how hard work. We are looking for you to get around 1 minute of rest each round. Will you be able to keep it consistent over the 10 rounds?
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 5 Touch and Go Push Jerk
Conditioning:
Every 3:00 x 10 Rounds
250/200m Ski
8 Double DB Thrusters
6 Burpees
Tuesday:
Focusing on Barbell Cycling in the strength with Hang Power Cleans before we fire up the posterior chain with some Tempo Romanian Deadlifts. The conditioning for today is a 5-min effort with 3-min rest. The first AMRAP will bring some fire to your legs and lungs before we hit two high-skill movements in the second AMRAP, which will test your grip and shoulders!
Strength:
A) Every 90secs x 5 - 6 TnG Hang Power Cleans
B) Every 90secs x 3 - 6 RBLs with a Tempo of 30X1
Conditioning:
2 Rounds
5 min AMRAP
10 Box Jump Step Down
15 Russian KB Swings
Rest 3 mins
5 min AMRAP
12 Toes To Bar
30 Double Unders
Rest 3 mins
Wednesday:
Executing the Gymnastic Skill of Pull-Ups under fatigue from sprints on the rower! In Part B, we get some volume in wall balls, simple work but effective gains! We then carry over the learnings from the strength into an equal work rest conditioning piece. Will you hit the same wall balls each round?
Strength:
Every 90secs x 10 Rounds
A) 9/6 Cal Row + 15secs of Pull Ups
B) 45secs Wall Balls
Conditioning:
2:30min of Work and 2:30min of Rest x 4
15/12/9 Pull-ups
300/250m row
AMRAPS wall balls
Thursday:
Leg Day!!! Front Squats building up to heavy singles! Then we hit an Open Repeat of 11.4 and put all that OHS work to the test in a workout!
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 2:2:2:1:1:1 Fron Squat
Conditioning:
Open Workout 11.4
60-bar facing burpee
30 OHS 55/45kg
10 Muscle-ups
Friday:
What better for a Friday than upper bodybuilding strength, Incline Bench, Rows and some Dumbell Raises before we get stuck into some Therapy with a Chipper style workout, which will leave you sweaty and tired!
Recovery methods are a hot topic in fitness circles. From ice baths to red light therapy, everyone seems to have a favourite method. But are these recovery methods really worth the hype?
I find the whole narrative around recovery fascinating. Lots of people want to talk about what they are doing for their recovery. Whether it's ice baths, sauna, contrast therapy, red light therapy, cupping, massage, foam rolling, cryotherapy, compression boots, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, active recovery, massage guns.
Even as I wrote that list, I was amazed how many things I could name, and also how new most are and how popular they have become in recent years.
The Pillars of Recovery
It's quite interesting that these things make people/brands loads of money (but that's not where I'm going with this). Every single one of those has limited value when stacked up against the pillars of sleeping enough, eating appropriately and training appropriately.
Those simple (I didn't say easy by the way) things are the key to being able to train hard and train frequently and ina manner that gets you continuing progress toward a goal, which is why we are all here isn't it?
The Stress Bucket Analogy
Probably the best way to look at all this is to look at the idea of the stress bucket. The bucket constantly has water being poured into it (whether that be stress from life or from training) and at the same time it has a tap letting it out (this is our body naturally recovering healing, resting and adapting to what we have done).
We need some stress to get create adaptations to make us get stronger, fitter, faster, more resilient. A lack of stress leaves people with weak bones/joints and susceptible to a multitude of health conditions, especially in later life.
The Limitations of Recovery Methods
If we go back to our huge list of recovery protocols, all of them provide some help with managing the stress bucket.
In the grand scheme of things these recovery options are all equivalent to bailing your bucket with a thimble.Regardless of the effort the outcome of recovery work can only go so far. So, is your effort with the thimble worth it? Especially the case when you could instead apply that effort to maybe getting more sleep, appropriate food and training at an intensity you can handle.
Focus on the Basics
Addressing those things out will have the effect of putting a wider tap on the bottom of the bucket. You derive a huge passive benefit from them, and you eliminate the need and effort required to engage in any of the active strategy's listed above.
This is the nature of the beast, we all have personal bias, and with that we shouldn't dismiss the power of placebo, but consider that for the most part all these recovery methods are very new, whilst the simple boring stuff is how every animal on the planet including us has "recovered"for all of time.
Personal Experience
I also write this from a place of having tried pretty much all of them in some form or another. In the end, after nearly 20 years of lifting weights and training, I actually found that I was getting stressed faffing about worrying over my recovery. I was trying to fit all these extras things in, compared with just getting my head down for a nap, enjoying preparing and eating good food and making sure I train at an intensity and in a manner where I feel pretty good to go again the next day.
Simplifying Recovery
This is how I look at recovery these days, I try not to overthink it. Sleep as much as you can, eat pretty well and when it comes to training push relatively hard consistently. If you have overdone it, dial back training for a bit.
Final Thoughts
So where does this leave us? My advice would be, don't major in the minors. If you really think something benefits you, fine have at it, but don't stress yourself out over it and remember that it's ok to be a bit beaten up and not recovered because you have to crack a few eggs to make the omelette.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Hard Work
Monday Ride
A skills and fitness based ride at the BikeDXB track in Dubai. Some simply structured intervals to enhance cycling ability.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. This run is currently gearing run fitness towards the incoming half marathons. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Training Weekend!
We're at Jebel Jais this weekend for our annual Jais Training weekend. If you're interested to know more please email us here.
Location: Jebel Jais
Sunday - Training Weekend!
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Tempo
PM Session only: This evening we will be holding tempo pace for 5mins. Tempo should feel liks a 7/10 effort. After each 5 mins you will have 2 mins easy, which can be a gentle jog or walk. Repeat 5x rounds.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. Today we will be running 800m repeats, and fluctuating between 3km and 5km pace.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
If you didn't run track, today we have some speed work for you. Today there is 1km and 400m efforts. We will have cones set out for you, so you do not need to worry about tracking the distance on your watch.
Friday
Brief time: 5:54am
Start Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will have bridge repeats for those who want elevation, and tempo for those who want to push the pace on the flat surface. The choice is yours. (If you are running Two Oceans, we recommend the hills option).
Saturday
Time: 08:29am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
This weekend we will be in RAK for the IFE Training Camp. There will be a long run this morning on Jebel Jais, and an evening Shake-Out run. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Sunday
Time: 08:44am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
Today in RAK we will be doing hill repeats on Jebel Jais. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Monday:
We kick off the new week with some upper body pressing as we build over 6 rounds in the Push Jerk. Ski, DB Thrusters and Burpees in a workout where you earn your rest by how hard work. We are looking for you to get around 1 minute of rest each round. Will you be able to keep it consistent over the 10 rounds?
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 5 Touch and Go Push Jerk
Conditioning:
Every 3:00 x 10 Rounds
250/200m Ski
8 Double DB Thrusters
6 Burpees
Tuesday:
Focusing on Barbell Cycling in the strength with Hang Power Cleans before we fire up the posterior chain with some Tempo Romanian Deadlifts. The conditioning for today is a 5-min effort with 3-min rest. The first AMRAP will bring some fire to your legs and lungs before we hit two high-skill movements in the second AMRAP, which will test your grip and shoulders!
Strength:
A) Every 90secs x 5 - 6 TnG Hang Power Cleans
B) Every 90secs x 3 - 6 RBLs with a Tempo of 30X1
Conditioning:
2 Rounds
5 min AMRAP
10 Box Jump Step Down
15 Russian KB Swings
Rest 3 mins
5 min AMRAP
12 Toes To Bar
30 Double Unders
Rest 3 mins
Wednesday:
Executing the Gymnastic Skill of Pull-Ups under fatigue from sprints on the rower! In Part B, we get some volume in wall balls, simple work but effective gains! We then carry over the learnings from the strength into an equal work rest conditioning piece. Will you hit the same wall balls each round?
Strength:
Every 90secs x 10 Rounds
A) 9/6 Cal Row + 15secs of Pull Ups
B) 45secs Wall Balls
Conditioning:
2:30min of Work and 2:30min of Rest x 4
15/12/9 Pull-ups
300/250m row
AMRAPS wall balls
Thursday:
Leg Day!!! Front Squats building up to heavy singles! Then we hit an Open Repeat of 11.4 and put all that OHS work to the test in a workout!
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 2:2:2:1:1:1 Fron Squat
Conditioning:
Open Workout 11.4
60-bar facing burpee
30 OHS 55/45kg
10 Muscle-ups
Friday:
What better for a Friday than upper bodybuilding strength, Incline Bench, Rows and some Dumbell Raises before we get stuck into some Therapy with a Chipper style workout, which will leave you sweaty and tired!
ENGINE
No, running this week as we focus on some longer erg pieces; this can be done with a partner or solo. It’s your choice!
GYMNASTICS
This week, we’ll go upside down with handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand push-ups. We’ll then finish with overhead strength work.
HYROX
NO CLASS THIS WEEK DUE TO THE ENDURANCE TRAINING CAMP!
MOBILITY
Hip rotation & strengthening activating the stabilisers will be the primary focus of this session. We will also be looking at how to create postural changes to help those rounded upper thoracic.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, in pure strength, we are progressing the loading on the paused bench press, building on last week, followed by some upper body pulling strength work. Wednesday, we are back on the low box squat, along with some hamstring accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we focus on squat clean in weightlifting, with a fun complex followed by some pulls!
Recovery methods are a hot topic in fitness circles. From ice baths to red light therapy, everyone seems to have a favourite method. But are these recovery methods really worth the hype?
I find the whole narrative around recovery fascinating. Lots of people want to talk about what they are doing for their recovery. Whether it's ice baths, sauna, contrast therapy, red light therapy, cupping, massage, foam rolling, cryotherapy, compression boots, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, active recovery, massage guns.
Even as I wrote that list, I was amazed how many things I could name, and also how new most are and how popular they have become in recent years.
The Pillars of Recovery
It's quite interesting that these things make people/brands loads of money (but that's not where I'm going with this). Every single one of those has limited value when stacked up against the pillars of sleeping enough, eating appropriately and training appropriately.
Those simple (I didn't say easy by the way) things are the key to being able to train hard and train frequently and ina manner that gets you continuing progress toward a goal, which is why we are all here isn't it?
The Stress Bucket Analogy
Probably the best way to look at all this is to look at the idea of the stress bucket. The bucket constantly has water being poured into it (whether that be stress from life or from training) and at the same time it has a tap letting it out (this is our body naturally recovering healing, resting and adapting to what we have done).
We need some stress to get create adaptations to make us get stronger, fitter, faster, more resilient. A lack of stress leaves people with weak bones/joints and susceptible to a multitude of health conditions, especially in later life.
The Limitations of Recovery Methods
If we go back to our huge list of recovery protocols, all of them provide some help with managing the stress bucket.
In the grand scheme of things these recovery options are all equivalent to bailing your bucket with a thimble.Regardless of the effort the outcome of recovery work can only go so far. So, is your effort with the thimble worth it? Especially the case when you could instead apply that effort to maybe getting more sleep, appropriate food and training at an intensity you can handle.
Focus on the Basics
Addressing those things out will have the effect of putting a wider tap on the bottom of the bucket. You derive a huge passive benefit from them, and you eliminate the need and effort required to engage in any of the active strategy's listed above.
This is the nature of the beast, we all have personal bias, and with that we shouldn't dismiss the power of placebo, but consider that for the most part all these recovery methods are very new, whilst the simple boring stuff is how every animal on the planet including us has "recovered"for all of time.
Personal Experience
I also write this from a place of having tried pretty much all of them in some form or another. In the end, after nearly 20 years of lifting weights and training, I actually found that I was getting stressed faffing about worrying over my recovery. I was trying to fit all these extras things in, compared with just getting my head down for a nap, enjoying preparing and eating good food and making sure I train at an intensity and in a manner where I feel pretty good to go again the next day.
Simplifying Recovery
This is how I look at recovery these days, I try not to overthink it. Sleep as much as you can, eat pretty well and when it comes to training push relatively hard consistently. If you have overdone it, dial back training for a bit.
Final Thoughts
So where does this leave us? My advice would be, don't major in the minors. If you really think something benefits you, fine have at it, but don't stress yourself out over it and remember that it's ok to be a bit beaten up and not recovered because you have to crack a few eggs to make the omelette.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Hard Work
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Tempo
PM Session only: This evening we will be holding tempo pace for 5mins. Tempo should feel liks a 7/10 effort. After each 5 mins you will have 2 mins easy, which can be a gentle jog or walk. Repeat 5x rounds.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. Today we will be running 800m repeats, and fluctuating between 3km and 5km pace.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
If you didn't run track, today we have some speed work for you. Today there is 1km and 400m efforts. We will have cones set out for you, so you do not need to worry about tracking the distance on your watch.
Friday
Brief time: 5:54am
Start Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will have bridge repeats for those who want elevation, and tempo for those who want to push the pace on the flat surface. The choice is yours. (If you are running Two Oceans, we recommend the hills option).
Saturday
Time: 08:29am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
This weekend we will be in RAK for the IFE Training Camp. There will be a long run this morning on Jebel Jais, and an evening Shake-Out run. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Sunday
Time: 08:44am
Location: Check WhatsApp and TrainingPeaks
Session: RAK Training Camp
Today in RAK we will be doing hill repeats on Jebel Jais. All details will be shared in the WA group.
Monday:
We kick off the new week with some upper body pressing as we build over 6 rounds in the Push Jerk. Ski, DB Thrusters and Burpees in a workout where you earn your rest by how hard work. We are looking for you to get around 1 minute of rest each round. Will you be able to keep it consistent over the 10 rounds?
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 5 Touch and Go Push Jerk
Conditioning:
Every 3:00 x 10 Rounds
250/200m Ski
8 Double DB Thrusters
6 Burpees
Tuesday:
Focusing on Barbell Cycling in the strength with Hang Power Cleans before we fire up the posterior chain with some Tempo Romanian Deadlifts. The conditioning for today is a 5-min effort with 3-min rest. The first AMRAP will bring some fire to your legs and lungs before we hit two high-skill movements in the second AMRAP, which will test your grip and shoulders!
Strength:
A) Every 90secs x 5 - 6 TnG Hang Power Cleans
B) Every 90secs x 3 - 6 RBLs with a Tempo of 30X1
Conditioning:
2 Rounds
5 min AMRAP
10 Box Jump Step Down
15 Russian KB Swings
Rest 3 mins
5 min AMRAP
12 Toes To Bar
30 Double Unders
Rest 3 mins
Wednesday:
Executing the Gymnastic Skill of Pull-Ups under fatigue from sprints on the rower! In Part B, we get some volume in wall balls, simple work but effective gains! We then carry over the learnings from the strength into an equal work rest conditioning piece. Will you hit the same wall balls each round?
Strength:
Every 90secs x 10 Rounds
A) 9/6 Cal Row + 15secs of Pull Ups
B) 45secs Wall Balls
Conditioning:
2:30min of Work and 2:30min of Rest x 4
15/12/9 Pull-ups
300/250m row
AMRAPS wall balls
Thursday:
Leg Day!!! Front Squats building up to heavy singles! Then we hit an Open Repeat of 11.4 and put all that OHS work to the test in a workout!
Strength:
Every 2mins x 6 - 2:2:2:1:1:1 Fron Squat
Conditioning:
Open Workout 11.4
60-bar facing burpee
30 OHS 55/45kg
10 Muscle-ups
Friday:
What better for a Friday than upper bodybuilding strength, Incline Bench, Rows and some Dumbell Raises before we get stuck into some Therapy with a Chipper style workout, which will leave you sweaty and tired!
ENGINE
No, running this week as we focus on some longer erg pieces; this can be done with a partner or solo. It’s your choice!
GYMNASTICS
This week, we’ll go upside down with handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand push-ups. We’ll then finish with overhead strength work.
HYROX
NO CLASS THIS WEEK DUE TO THE ENDURANCE TRAINING CAMP!
MOBILITY
Hip rotation & strengthening activating the stabilisers will be the primary focus of this session. We will also be looking at how to create postural changes to help those rounded upper thoracic.
PURE STRENGTH
Monday, in pure strength, we are progressing the loading on the paused bench press, building on last week, followed by some upper body pulling strength work. Wednesday, we are back on the low box squat, along with some hamstring accessory work.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we focus on squat clean in weightlifting, with a fun complex followed by some pulls!
Monday Ride
A skills and fitness based ride at the BikeDXB track in Dubai. Some simply structured intervals to enhance cycling ability.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. This run is currently gearing run fitness towards the incoming half marathons. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Training Weekend!
We're at Jebel Jais this weekend for our annual Jais Training weekend. If you're interested to know more please email us here.
Location: Jebel Jais
Sunday - Training Weekend!
Recovery methods are a hot topic in fitness circles. From ice baths to red light therapy, everyone seems to have a favourite method. But are these recovery methods really worth the hype?
I find the whole narrative around recovery fascinating. Lots of people want to talk about what they are doing for their recovery. Whether it's ice baths, sauna, contrast therapy, red light therapy, cupping, massage, foam rolling, cryotherapy, compression boots, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, active recovery, massage guns.
Even as I wrote that list, I was amazed how many things I could name, and also how new most are and how popular they have become in recent years.
The Pillars of Recovery
It's quite interesting that these things make people/brands loads of money (but that's not where I'm going with this). Every single one of those has limited value when stacked up against the pillars of sleeping enough, eating appropriately and training appropriately.
Those simple (I didn't say easy by the way) things are the key to being able to train hard and train frequently and ina manner that gets you continuing progress toward a goal, which is why we are all here isn't it?
The Stress Bucket Analogy
Probably the best way to look at all this is to look at the idea of the stress bucket. The bucket constantly has water being poured into it (whether that be stress from life or from training) and at the same time it has a tap letting it out (this is our body naturally recovering healing, resting and adapting to what we have done).
We need some stress to get create adaptations to make us get stronger, fitter, faster, more resilient. A lack of stress leaves people with weak bones/joints and susceptible to a multitude of health conditions, especially in later life.
The Limitations of Recovery Methods
If we go back to our huge list of recovery protocols, all of them provide some help with managing the stress bucket.
In the grand scheme of things these recovery options are all equivalent to bailing your bucket with a thimble.Regardless of the effort the outcome of recovery work can only go so far. So, is your effort with the thimble worth it? Especially the case when you could instead apply that effort to maybe getting more sleep, appropriate food and training at an intensity you can handle.
Focus on the Basics
Addressing those things out will have the effect of putting a wider tap on the bottom of the bucket. You derive a huge passive benefit from them, and you eliminate the need and effort required to engage in any of the active strategy's listed above.
This is the nature of the beast, we all have personal bias, and with that we shouldn't dismiss the power of placebo, but consider that for the most part all these recovery methods are very new, whilst the simple boring stuff is how every animal on the planet including us has "recovered"for all of time.
Personal Experience
I also write this from a place of having tried pretty much all of them in some form or another. In the end, after nearly 20 years of lifting weights and training, I actually found that I was getting stressed faffing about worrying over my recovery. I was trying to fit all these extras things in, compared with just getting my head down for a nap, enjoying preparing and eating good food and making sure I train at an intensity and in a manner where I feel pretty good to go again the next day.
Simplifying Recovery
This is how I look at recovery these days, I try not to overthink it. Sleep as much as you can, eat pretty well and when it comes to training push relatively hard consistently. If you have overdone it, dial back training for a bit.
Final Thoughts
So where does this leave us? My advice would be, don't major in the minors. If you really think something benefits you, fine have at it, but don't stress yourself out over it and remember that it's ok to be a bit beaten up and not recovered because you have to crack a few eggs to make the omelette.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Hard Work
Recovery methods are a hot topic in fitness circles. From ice baths to red light therapy, everyone seems to have a favourite method. But are these recovery methods really worth the hype?
I find the whole narrative around recovery fascinating. Lots of people want to talk about what they are doing for their recovery. Whether it's ice baths, sauna, contrast therapy, red light therapy, cupping, massage, foam rolling, cryotherapy, compression boots, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, active recovery, massage guns.
Even as I wrote that list, I was amazed how many things I could name, and also how new most are and how popular they have become in recent years.
The Pillars of Recovery
It's quite interesting that these things make people/brands loads of money (but that's not where I'm going with this). Every single one of those has limited value when stacked up against the pillars of sleeping enough, eating appropriately and training appropriately.
Those simple (I didn't say easy by the way) things are the key to being able to train hard and train frequently and ina manner that gets you continuing progress toward a goal, which is why we are all here isn't it?
The Stress Bucket Analogy
Probably the best way to look at all this is to look at the idea of the stress bucket. The bucket constantly has water being poured into it (whether that be stress from life or from training) and at the same time it has a tap letting it out (this is our body naturally recovering healing, resting and adapting to what we have done).
We need some stress to get create adaptations to make us get stronger, fitter, faster, more resilient. A lack of stress leaves people with weak bones/joints and susceptible to a multitude of health conditions, especially in later life.
The Limitations of Recovery Methods
If we go back to our huge list of recovery protocols, all of them provide some help with managing the stress bucket.
In the grand scheme of things these recovery options are all equivalent to bailing your bucket with a thimble.Regardless of the effort the outcome of recovery work can only go so far. So, is your effort with the thimble worth it? Especially the case when you could instead apply that effort to maybe getting more sleep, appropriate food and training at an intensity you can handle.
Focus on the Basics
Addressing those things out will have the effect of putting a wider tap on the bottom of the bucket. You derive a huge passive benefit from them, and you eliminate the need and effort required to engage in any of the active strategy's listed above.
This is the nature of the beast, we all have personal bias, and with that we shouldn't dismiss the power of placebo, but consider that for the most part all these recovery methods are very new, whilst the simple boring stuff is how every animal on the planet including us has "recovered"for all of time.
Personal Experience
I also write this from a place of having tried pretty much all of them in some form or another. In the end, after nearly 20 years of lifting weights and training, I actually found that I was getting stressed faffing about worrying over my recovery. I was trying to fit all these extras things in, compared with just getting my head down for a nap, enjoying preparing and eating good food and making sure I train at an intensity and in a manner where I feel pretty good to go again the next day.
Simplifying Recovery
This is how I look at recovery these days, I try not to overthink it. Sleep as much as you can, eat pretty well and when it comes to training push relatively hard consistently. If you have overdone it, dial back training for a bit.
Final Thoughts
So where does this leave us? My advice would be, don't major in the minors. If you really think something benefits you, fine have at it, but don't stress yourself out over it and remember that it's ok to be a bit beaten up and not recovered because you have to crack a few eggs to make the omelette.
Fun - HONESTY - Simplicity - Smash Life - Hard Work
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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