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P90X and Recovery

Workouts and Recovery go hand in hand.  You can’t get stronger, become more athletic, and gain muscle without both.  Programs like P90X offer intense workouts that are meant to take you to a level of fitness that you have never achieved.  But P90X also preaches recovering as intensely.  A fellow P90X enthusiast and overall super fit guy, Ryan C has written on the subject.  I believe he is spot on in his views.

Recovery

-Ryan C.

One of the most overlooked and in fact the most important concept relating to muscle building and fitness is recovery. I decided to write about this topic as each day I hear more and more about people skipping Yoga and rest days in exchange for an additional cardio blast.  Sure this may seem beneficial at the time; however it can actually be a step backwards away from your fitness goals of achieving that lean, mean and strong body you’ve always wanted.  Our muscles grow in response to our accomplishments in the gym; however, this does not mean they grow in the gym.

When you work out, you are signaling to your body to begin to start muscle building. But the actual growth of your muscles takes place when you are finished with your workout, while you’re eating, resting, and going about your day. Super intense workouts such as P90x place a large amount of stress on your body and without proper recovery and nutrients your body will be physically unable to build muscle working so hard to build.

It’s as simple as this: when it comes to building new lean muscle, recovery is EVERYTHING. In fact, the real gains are made while you’re lying on the couch, messing around on facebook, or eating a nice healthy P90x friendly lunch or dinner.  Overtraining is one of the biggest issues P90xer’s typically experience, myself included. Just remember, more isn’t always better!

Along with rest comes the other crucial component of recovery, nutrition. It is absolutely crucial that you feed your body with the proper nutrients needed to facilitate growth and recovery. Nutrition is probably the most overlooked aspect of the P90x program and this is the area where most people fail miserably. They press play and train their asses off, pay little or no attention to when and what they eat, and then cannot understand why they aren’t getting the results they are looking for.

You must realize that training and nutrition go hand in hand. In fact, I believe that nutrition is much more important to not only ensuring proper recovery, but also achieving those KILLER results you’re busting your ass to achieve. When you train, you train to trigger muscle growth. However, the only way to achieve muscle growth is to ensure proper recovery from your workouts by eating the right foods at the right times.  During a super intense workout like chest and back, you place the body under extreme amounts of stress, and in order to ensure growth and repair of the muscle fibers, you must fully recover between your workouts.  This means providing your body with adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water, and all at the proper times. Do not compromise your results by ignoring the importance of proper nutrition and rest. In fact, try training without eating properly and see just how far you get. You may actually get negative results, as you’ll create a deeper and deeper nutrient deficiency within your body.

Don’t be afraid to lounge around on the couch instead of throwing in doubles, it will actually help you achieve your goals and help reduce the chances of overtraining and getting injured. You have to remember that this program may be designed for 90 days, however, your body is going to be around a lot longer than that so take care of it! Do yourself a favor, rest up and EAT!

Have questions?  Feel Free to Comment Below Or Contact Me!