For every high there is a low. We cannot understand happiness without sadness and we cannot see the brilliance of light without the solace of dark.
There are always lows mixed with highs in fitness. “Highs” could mean Personal Records (PR’s) and competition-like settings that are filled with energy and emotion. “Lows” can mean recovery days, weekends away from competition, or unfulfilling training sessions that lack energy or excitement.
For a lot of people it is THAT time of year in their fitness…the low time. It’s a time to lick their wounds and come out of the den to begin planting new seeds for growth on their fitness journey. The ABILITY to come back strong depends on a few things:
—Their ability to actually “GO there” and be intense in their workouts
—Their experience in “going there” to highly intense zones during their workouts
—Their recovery practices between those hard hitting workout sessions
The recovery piece is the one that I find the most fascinating. I don’t mean ice, foam rolling, post workout shakes. I mean adaptation to stress, resilience and repeatability. When it comes to our NEW physical culture, recovery is a LONG, lost word.
“Every day is a training day. Every day is testing day.”
Why?
“Because why are you doing if you are not pushing the limit?”
These are the questions being asked in the heads of many people who participate in intensive fitness today. But, what do you think the one thing that remains central to long term progress is for those who repeatedly want to do more work year in and year out?
They recover better!
It is pretty simple. Do hard work. Rest. Do more hard work. Rest. Do the hardest work. Adapt and rest. Repeat with more work.
—The mind needs resting.
—The body needs resting.
—DIGESTION also needs a rest.
We accumulate a LOT of things along the way in our fitness journey. Some of them are toxins, sensitivities and repetitive strain from our foods. The heart goes 24-7. Muscles work like machines to keep blood moving properly. The gut is like a nonstop treadmill as well. There are NOT many times when we are truly fasted anymore.
For fitness goers it’s work, consume, work, consume. Their digestive system needs a break. There are many ways to do this. Our clients use a cleanse to reset their system in this way. Beyond the folklore of master cleanses for weight loss, we use it to simply give the digestive tract a break, NOT for weight loss. Weight might be lost during the cleanse, but the goal is “downtime” and to balance out most of the year when they are constantly “on.”
There are versions out there but the one we most often recommend is Neera. The specific nutrients in the syrup plus the supporting aspects of the package is bar none the best out there. (Full disclosure, we do sell it. It is more so for client support and less about sales. Our business is in coaching coaches and athletes)
For first timers we recommend 3 days on the Neera cleanse as their starting point. We actually use a protein deload almost every month for a LOT of our clients (with great results thus far) so 3 days of Neera is not bad for them.
You CAN do this cleanse if you know what these things mean:
—Tempo squats
—Met-con
—Post workout shake
—WOD
That is simply the entry.
In the case where somebody is NOT participating in an exercise program, has been really ill for years, “wants” to do this to lose weight….AND….AND….AND….we recommend staying AWAY from this option.
How do you do this cleanse and see great results?
—Before the cleanse, participate in normalized, NON intensive activity for a few days. Eat as you normally do for these few days.
—Begin the cleanse. Start with 3 days and go 5-10 days if you feel good and want to go longer.
—NO exercise besides easy walking for the whole time and for 3 days after. NONE! ZERO! NOTHING!
—No supplements for the entire time as well. (If your life depends on supplements as the reason why you can’t do the cleanse, you probably should not be doing it anyhow)
—On the 1st days back from the cleanse eat only broths, cooked vegetables and cooked veggie soups
—On the 2nd day ease into some lean proteins in small amounts in the later afternoon/evening PM time along with day 1 options.
—On the 3rd day start back with smaller volumes of food and normal styles of food you enjoy.
—Only after that should you then get back to exercise and training.
There you have it. Simple as that right?
Nope.
In the case where you have exceeded normal human amounts of caffeine, sugar, and toxins for years past (read: most of us), then you might have some detoxification happening. The body is built for this and, as mentioned before, if you are exercising and eating already well now this won’t be a big hit to you.
BUT be ready for some possible cravings to occur for many reasons.
It is ALSO common for people to create a massive appreciation and gratitude around food preparation, food choices and food aversions after this cleanse.
Some other thoughts that occur in people’s heads – which we hear CONSISTENTLY:
—“Wow, I feel SO flexible without foam rolling or a lacrosse ball being used”
—“Wow, I REALLY have an issue with sugar”
—“Wow, I really don’t want to go back to eating and the energy it requires from me”
—“Wow, I can think SO clearly without my current food choices”
Does this mean these folks don’t go back to eating food? NO! BUT they do gain an appreciation of the work they put on their gut ON TOP OF our muscles and mind throughout the year.
The best time of year for this is right now as well as in the Fall. It just coincides with a lot of universal energies and timing of things.
So now is the time.
If you want to check it out you can order it from OPEX here.
Ask us any questions as you need/want – we are here to help.
It’s time to give your gut a break!