Struggling to recover fully between workouts?
Tracking these five data points will help you identify what’s limiting your recovery, make informed adjustments and get more out of every workout:
- Total training frequency, volume and intensity: This is the first thing you should check if you’re struggling to recover fully between workouts. If one’s high, the other two should be low.
- Calories and macronutrients: Are you supplying your body with enough energy from protein (1.6g/kg), fats (1.4g/kg) and carbohydrates (4-8g/kg) to recover fully after training?
- Hours of sleep: We need 7–9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night to allow our bodies’ natural restorative processes to take place, repair damaged muscle tissue, replenish glycogen, etc.
- Performance: Is your performance dropping off? If you’re missing reps or your target weight for that session, it could be a sign that you need to focus on recovery between sessions.
- HRV: Heart rate variability is an effective and reliable way to measure how well your body is recovering from the cumulative stressors it’s being subjected to.
Load management, nutrition and sleep are the foundations of recovery.
Start tracking these metrics consistently, and you’ll develop a clearer understanding of your recovery needs, allowing you to train harder, make better progress and avoid unnecessary setbacks.
Remember, what gets measured gets improved.