Sidelined!
Since I laid some ground rules down for nutrition in terms of an obstacle race, I feel it only prudent to do the same for active recovery and injuries. The only thing that tops being injured is being sick. I have had a sick 6 year old at home now for 3 days and he is reminding how miserable it is to be sick. But injuries are annoying because you really want to work out at full capacity but you can’t and the whole time you can hear the pounds collecting on the scale. So let’s put this in perspective, shall we?
Active Recovery
Active recovery is a fancy schmancy word for “knock it off and rest, will ya?” In support of us psychos who feel like we’re being lazy because we only worked out 7 days this week (as opposed to the 8 days available to us overachievers), this is a vital tool to be added to our tool box. Unlike a regular athlete who has full calories available to them at all times, we have to recover in two ways: fake “high” caloric days and consolidating exercise.
Since our lives are guided by the motto “less is more”, our prep for the race should be a bit less than the average athlete. For one, a ton of running will kill a physique. Therefore, that should cut the schedule back a bit. Secondly, we will need to consolidate lifts with functional training because lifting more would be hard to due to the lack of food in the diet. And lastly, we do not have enough starch in the diet to go hog wild in terms of energy output without wondering if we’re burning through some major muscle so we need to get smart about adding fat. Here are some ways to manipulate your schedule:
- Go to full body lifts for now.
- Add functional movements in between the lifts.
- Wear a weighted vest in your workout instead of heavy DB’s or BB’s.
- Leave at least 2 days completely free from all exercise and instead, make them stretch days.
- Eat the most on those days, but not so much that you break the caloric bank.
- Add sprints to your schedule (like 200’s and 400’s) but do not put them after a killer leg workout. Even if you are doing full body workouts, you may have more of a “leg day” than another day. Avoid sprinting after that.
- You can make the high cal days high by adding more Omega 3 fats instead of adding more starch. This will definitely aid in active recovery.
- Drop a day of cardio and make your lifts more dynamic so you suck wind during them.
Injuries
Injuries are a pain in the butt. And I mean that literally! I would rather (yes! I got my “I’d rather” in) remove a deep splinter with a butter knife than sit through my summer (again!) with a major injury like a broken limb. I broke my foot last June and it was miserable. I refused to be sidelined so I hobbled all over Boston with a huge boot, but it still wasn’t the same. Because we are on a compromised diet in the first place, our joints and tendons are ripe for the picking in terms of injury. Fat is scarce in our diet and it is what lubricates our joint capsules so we have little give and take when we misstep or land funny. Rolling ankles are almost a given as well as rotator cuff issues. Be smart! Make sure you recover and get plenty of sleep. Should an injury occur, here is what you need to know:
- Your first reaction is to cut all the starch out of your diet. Don’t do it. Go to 1/day at least 4 days/week.
- Eat exactly what you need each day. This means do not go to bed hungry or full. Either one is bad for different reasons.
- Do not work out on the injured body part until you are completely well. Trust me when I say this. We heal jacked up if we do not fully recover. For the rest of your life, your knee will ache every time you turn on the garbage disposal. Seriously.
- You will not gain weight if you keep the junk out. This is not the time to “munchy” yourself into next week. With that being said, do not try to starve yourself, either. See above.
- You will feel smooshy. Itiswhatitis. You are not losing muscle. You are losing your “pump”. Accept it and just know when you lift the right way again, all will be well.
- Don’t be a cardio hero. If you can’t lift right but somehow can still do cardio, don’t try to make up for lifting with cardio. Baaaaaaad decision right there. Just say no.
I feel better now that I put this on paper. If you go out and act crazy on the course, I have nothing to do with it.
You have been warned. Hahaha! Let me know if you are doing one any time soon. I’d love to know. Woop woop.
)







