Hey brahs, recovery for mass

[Jxstatic]

Now I know everyone is different, but what is your ritual when shooting for mass?

I've been hitting legs very hard for the last few workouts but I don't feel that I've been recovering as efficiently as possible. I want to make the most of my workouts and I know that all gains are made between workouts so you tell me... What would you change about my ritual?

-Workout hard has hell, Shock-therapy pre-workout ~ 15 mins before workout, and storm for my post workout as soon as I get to my car,(2 or 3 mins)after the workout.

I drive home, as soon as I get home I fix me up a heaping protein shake and sip on some water for the rest of the day. Depending on when my workout is.. I'll eat protein rich meals for the remainder of the day and strive to relax as much as possible. The day after the workout I'm often sore so I take it easy, maybe some light cardio or some bball. Continuously stretching out the lactic acid as often as possible. Maybe drink another protein shake if I feel that it will aid me. Also, protein rich meals all day following the workout day. 2 days after the workout I'm usually pretty relaxed with minimal soreness and that's when I start thinking about hitting that area again. I usually wait untill the 3rd day after that workout to go back and hit it again to start all over.

Now I'm shooting for strength in my workouts but as far as recovery goes, I'm going for mass.

Please chip in on what you think I should change about my recovery. I consider it the most important aspect of strength training and it's very important that I make the most of it!

[SquatTilYouDrop]

You just may need more recovery time between workouts.
Maybe think about restructuring your workout and adding more rest days.

[Jxstatic]

Originally Posted by SquatTilYouDrop

You just may need more recovery time between workouts.
Maybe think about restructuring your workout and adding more rest days.

I can see where that would aid recovery but also.. I'm looking at working as hard as I can over a certain amount of time... Track season starts in March and I want to work my ass off and be ready beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt, to beat what ever competition. If you truly believe that an extra rest day would be more beneficial for strength+mass over a long period of time then I would most certainly make that adjustment. But please consider the time that I have to work with and exactly how much I'd like to get done before that time is up.

I have no set goal on squat, the most important aspect of my gains is in the gradual increase of ease through-out my workouts. The easier it is for me to move weight in the gym, the easier it will be for me to throw weight from the ring.

[Drekkor]

Friends don't let friends use the term 'brah'.

[J.L.C.]

Maybe some carbs somewhere in your diet would help recovery and mass gainz...

[PVedda56]

how far do you live from your gym, you need protein at most 30 min after workout. You have to eat good before the gym too, like oats and protein, rice. Do everything possible to recover faster, take in more protein than you think you need, too much protein is never a bad thing, eat bananas take a muti, creatine, bcaa's. Than just play it by ear. you don;t need a schedule to tell you when your body can lift. if your lifts are getting stronger, then your taking enough rest.

[Jxstatic]

Thanks for the input guise, looks like i've got the basics down.

Originally Posted by Drekkor

Friends don't let friends use the term 'brah'.

Yeah I agree, I'd never confuse a friend with a brah or a brah with a friend, and I'd never refer to either in the opposite form.

Thanks for lookin' out brah

[The_Animal11]

Originally Posted by Jxstatic

Yeah I agree, I'd never confuse a friend with a brah or a brah with a friend, and I'd never refer to either in the opposite form.

Thanks for lookin' out brah

i think he actually means ya shouldnt say it, ever

[footballfan123]

My anatomy teacher (former professional powerlifter) told me that a cold shower immediately after you workout stops from damage to occuring in your muscles, cleans out the latic acid and triggers immediate reconstuction of tissue. Any1 remember Everett from the St. Louis rams? He recovered so well and the damage was so limited because he was given a freezing saline shot minutes after he got hit that limited swelling to prevent damage. Anyway.... a freezing cold shower right after you lift helps a TON. I do it all the time, you just have to get used to the cold. A little tip, you gonna want to breathe heavy when you get under the water, but control your breathing and it will make it better.

[chazzy1864]

Originally Posted by Drekkor

Friends don't let friends use the term 'brah'.

Originally Posted by The_Animal11

i think he actually means ya shouldnt say it, ever

+1 i honestly can't take a statement seriously when it is punctuated with brah. Something about it.

[Jxstatic]

I was just messing about the brah usage, I never use it in real life unless I'm mocking a ***got, and I use it online to draw attention.

As for the cold shower... is there a time after your final set that you can reach before an ice shower would become obsolete? for example... is 5 minutes after your workout too long to wait? what about 15?

[footballfan123]

Originally Posted by Jxstatic

I was just messing about the brah usage, I never use it in real life unless I'm mocking a ***got, and I use it online to draw attention.

As for the cold shower... is there a time after your final set that you can reach before an ice shower would become obsolete? for example... is 5 minutes after your workout too long to wait? what about 15?

No i really dont think so. I would just do it as soon as you finish up. I just shower at the gym and just soon as im done lifting just go to the locker room and jump in the shower. It may not be as effective after a while, but i would probably give you at least a 20 minute window before it starts losing its effectiveness. But I have skipped doin these showers sometimes and there is definitely a noticeable difference in the soreness on days when I take an ice shower and days that i dont. Meaning I am less sore when I take them.

[HitItHard]

Originally Posted by footballfan123

My anatomy teacher (former professional powerlifter) told me that a cold shower immediately after you workout stops from damage to occuring in your muscles, cleans out the latic acid and triggers immediate reconstuction of tissue. Any1 remember Everett from the St. Louis rams? He recovered so well and the damage was so limited because he was given a freezing saline shot minutes after he got hit that limited swelling to prevent damage. Anyway.... a freezing cold shower right after you lift helps a TON. I do it all the time, you just have to get used to the cold. A little tip, you gonna want to breathe heavy when you get under the water, but control your breathing and it will make it better.

but dude the whole point of lifting IS to damage muscles... thats what IT IS. its the tearing of muscle fibers.

[The_Animal11]

Originally Posted by HitItHard

but dude the whole point of lifting IS to damage muscles... thats what IT IS. its the tearing of muscle fibers.

that was gunna be my response

[KristijanM]

Pre and Post workout meals look fine.

Question:
Are you getting enough sleep?

-Kristijan

[chazzy1864]

The real benefit of a cold shower, is to contrast it with hot. Many pro football players use the ice and hot baths, back to back. Repeatedly switching every couple of minutes. It was a process started in the Eastern Bloc. Now since most of us don't have two bath tubs in the same bathroom, and I'm sure we won't be filling one of them up with ice cubes, I would suggest, when you take your post workout shower (whenever that may be). Alternate the temperatures. It shouldn't scald the skin, but you should be grimacing while doing this. Soak in each temperature for about a minute, and alternate back and forth for upwards of 10 minutes or so. The reason this is good, is the constant temperature changes really gets the blood flowing through your body, helping to shuttle nutrients into the muscles.

[footballfan123]

Originally Posted by HitItHard

but dude the whole point of lifting IS to damage muscles... thats what IT IS. its the tearing of muscle fibers.

Yes i know, im not an idiot. But things like lactic acid buildup and other cell waste that builds up only hinders your ability to reconstruct your muscle tissue. you cant start to repair muscle until all that ****s out of there.

Originally Posted by chazzy1864

The real benefit of a cold shower, is to contrast it with hot. Many pro football players use the ice and hot baths, back to back. Repeatedly switching every couple of minutes. It was a process started in the Eastern Bloc. Now since most of us don't have two bath tubs in the same bathroom, and I'm sure we won't be filling one of them up with ice cubes, I would suggest, when you take your post workout shower (whenever that may be). Alternate the temperatures. It shouldn't scald the skin, but you should be grimacing while doing this. Soak in each temperature for about a minute, and alternate back and forth for upwards of 10 minutes or so. The reason this is good, is the constant temperature changes really gets the blood flowing through your body, helping to shuttle nutrients into the muscles.

^^^This is really good too. Im told its called the hot-cold treatment (creative name, right?) and is also really effective. I forget where i heard this or read it somewhere, but I think I heard that if you bring your temperature down a lil and then let your body heat itself up, its better for you. but idk if im remembering that correctly. But still, the hot-cold treatment is also very effective.

[The_Suave]

Originally Posted by footballfan123

^^^This is really good too. Im told its called the hot-cold treatment.

The proper treatment name is a Contrast Shower .

All you do is get in a shower, make it cool at first for a minute. Then make it nice and hot (as much as you can tolerate) for another minute, then turn the hot water completely off so it's ice cold. Stand there for a minute, feel your heart rip out of your chest then put the hot water back on.

Repeat hot/cold about 5 times and make sure you end on cold, get out and towel yourself off. I just had one now after doing upper body and I feel unreal, and it's no where near as bad as it sounds either, it's only a hell of a shock for the first 2 - 3 minutes, then after that it's tolerable.

You can take them at any time aswell, but I read in a medical journal a while back (I'll dig it up, it was in the google scholar search) that it's best to take them within an hour of training as that's when your body needs it the most (same as a post workout meal).

What's your carb intake like aswell? How much carbs a day do you eat? You seem to talk a lot about protein but not much more...

[Greg1975]

Originally Posted by Drekkor

Friends don't let friends use the term 'brah'.

It's OK if he's from Hawaii, give him the benefit of the doubt.

[footballfan123]

Originally Posted by The_Suave

The proper treatment name is a Contrast Shower .

All you do is get in a shower, make it cool at first for a minute. Then make it nice and hot (as much as you can tolerate) for another minute, then turn the hot water completely off so it's ice cold. Stand there for a minute, feel your heart rip out of your chest then put the hot water back on.

Repeat hot/cold about 5 times and make sure you end on cold, get out and towel yourself off. I just had one now after doing upper body and I feel unreal, and it's no where near as bad as it sounds either, it's only a hell of a shock for the first 2 - 3 minutes, then after that it's tolerable.

You can take them at any time aswell, but I read in a medical journal a while back (I'll dig it up, it was in the google scholar search) that it's best to take them within an hour of training as that's when your body needs it the most (same as a post workout meal).

What's your carb intake like aswell? How much carbs a day do you eat? You seem to talk a lot about protein but not much more...

Thanks for telling me its called a contrast shower so i dont sound so stupid saying hot-cold treatment anymore. But I swear by this now because it is so effective.

[Jxstatic]

Originally Posted by footballfan123

Thanks for telling me its called a contrast shower so i dont sound so stupid saying hot-cold treatment anymore. But I swear by this now because it is so effective.

Wow! I took one of these today after push mowing a steep ditch in the 100+ degree, 95%+ humidity atmosphere. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to finish but eventually I did and as soon as I got home I turned the water as cold as it got. I could feel everything in my body shift speed, it was pretty cool. I think I'm gonna go back to the gym tomorrow feeling just fine.

Thanks for all the advice and input guys.