What are the signs of slow recovery?

[AD1985]

I see this being posted often as an issue with aging. How can you guys tell if you haven't recovered enough? Do you feel beat up the next day, or do you have to go to the gym to realize you're not at 100%?

[grubman]

I see this being posted often as an issue with aging. How can you guys tell if you haven't recovered enough? Do you feel beat up the next day, or do you have to go to the gym to realize you're not at 100%?

You will learn how your body reacts and recovers with time and experience. This is why people always suggest structured proven beginner programs...as they are the first step in a fundamental process of learning about your own body.

Too many people use "lack of recovery" as an excuse to be lazy. The body can do a whole lot more than the majority of people are willing to give it credit for. That's one of the reasons why there are so many people that actually work out who constantly complain about lack of progress.

[Edit] Your posts on the forum seem to be obsessed with aging. Are you writing a paper? If this is about yourself, and you are only 31...stop worrying and start lifting, your a pup with 2 more decades of lifting before you need to start worrying about age really effecting your workouts.

[Cantplankwell]

For me, I got into this real late, very late 40s. I train more for athletics, strength, fat-control...not a bodybuilder. Not the best genetics for gains that way anyway.

What I have noticed with myself, may not pertain to others.

Lack of progress under the bar
Not caring whether I get out and lift
Feeling depleted...Lack of sleep, despite trying (Battling this right now, and its compounded by natural tendency to have less sleep as you get older anyway)
Always sore
Irritable
Apparent incipient injuries, you know all those little gimps that pop up out of nowhere.

I have to be very careful and realize progress is going to come differently for me than others...very slowly in little bits here and there. So I have to train with "economy" in mind.

[ElrondHubbard]

The first sign of slow recovery is recovering slowly. Simple enough.

[ElrondHubbard]

But seriously, I haven't noticed slow recovery to be much of a problem with aging. The basics of recovery are the same at any age--conditioning, adequate sleep, and good dietary and hygiene habits. Sure, things decline eventually, but not as soon and not as quickly as you seem to fear. As Grubman said, you have a lot of good lifting years ahead of you, if you continue to treat yourself well.

[misterponytail]

Well, I'm 58, does that qualify me to comment about aging? LOL

I've been in the gym six days a week for more than a year now. Recovery for me is directly correlated with food and sleep. That is, I really started growing when I figured out my macros and added a bunch of chicken and rice to my day. I'm on a four-day cycle, so I train body parts twice in eight days. That gives me plenty of time to recover.

FWIW, I *love* being beat up and sore. Tells me that I trained hard enough to cause growth!

[Garage Rat]

Weaker.
More tired.
Not motivated to train.
In kind of a funk mood.
It's ok to take a day off now and then to fully recover.

[Girth6986]

It really depends on your "type" of training as to what you call recovered. Athletes have a different gauge for recovery than bodybuilders. Regardless....paramount, as mentioned, is sleep. We all get less and less uninterrupted sleep as we age. Do everything you can to fix that and you'll get as far as you can with natural recovery. There are many strategies to implement here. But worry less about if you are recovered and focus more on doing what you can to enhance sleep.

[pondman]

Having to take that extra day off, the one you didn't need when you were 20. As other have said, extra protein and sleep help.

[RK42]

How can you guys tell if you haven't recovered enough? Do you feel beat up the next day, or do you have to go to the gym to realize you're not at 100%?

I never really get sore, unless I come back from a longer break. My legs may feel a bit tired from squatting when walking up stairs, but that's about as far as it goes for me.

Whether it will affect me next time at they gym... I can't really tell until I get started. Sometimes my legs may still feel slightly tired from last time, but once I warm up and start squatting, I'm at full strength. In that sense, I don't think I need to feel 100% recovered before I can have a high quality workout again.

I haven't been at this nearly as long as some of the other people here. You gradually learn more about how you recover, and how your body feels. One thing I have figured out is what I can and cannot do to allow me to recover sufficiently. I found that grinding squat reps do a lot of damage for me. If I stop as soon as the reps slow significantly, I can squat twice a week without any trouble. One or two real grinders close to failure, and I'm not the same for quite a while.

[TnTNZ]

The first sign of slow recovery is recovering slowly. Simple enough.

Came in to ensure this had been posted, was not disappointed

[AD1985]

Haha, reminds me of those helpful dictionary definitions:

Discumbolulating: the state of being discombobulated.