Recovery Guide

by Flosha, 16.-17.04.2025

In order to recover the best from your training (apart from not training too much too soon or overloading too suddenly) you have to keep your sleep, hydration and nutrition in check. As an athlete you need to get some things (often more than non-athletes) and avoid others (more strictly than non-athletes).
Also there are a few habits and, as far as needed, supplements, that can boost your immune system. In general, we can say: The “healthier” you are and the better your immune system works, the better you will recover from training too.

1. Breathing: To breath well and to improve ones breathing may be the most important and yet the most overlooked factor in health and recovery. There are several defective breathing patterns, which can and should be worked on and which are often not recognised. Breathing is an important factor in cardio-vascular health and endurance as well as in managing tension during performance. Finally by improving cardio-vascular endurance (which, in parts, is done by improving breathing) recovery and overall fitness can be improved immensely. Since there is no room here to elaborate on cardio training, I will dedicate a future article to this topic.
2. Sleep: You need to sleep to recover. Sleep is of the utmost importance for recovery and you both should aim to get enough sleep (quantity) as well as improve sleep quality. Quantity-wise you aim for 7 to 9 hours. 7 hours are the minimum in most cases while athletes due to their high levels of activity and stress may often need 9 or more hours to properly recover. To improve your sleep there are simple rules of sleep hygiene:
   1. Fixed wake-up time: Try to have a fixed wake-up time everyday, at weekdays the same as on weekends, which will be the time that will define the time you go to sleep in order to meet your target of 7-9 hours of sleep.
   2. Fixed bed-time: Have a fixed bed-time in order to be able to reach your sleep target when waking up at your consistent wake-up time. At least try to go to bed before 10pm. When its time to sleep consider it the highest priority; everything else is less important and can wait till you recovered through the night, since whatever has to be done will be done better when fully recovered.
   3. Device-Free Time-Window: Have a strict 30-60 minute time window before going to bed without using any electronic devices. Do not allow your phone in or close your bed - give it a place elsewhere. In this time also dim or remove any electronic lights to prepare your mind for sleep. If you can, block the lights from outside as much as possible during the night. Close the curtains, use extra dark curtains that block light effectively, wear a sleep mask when sleeping elsewhere and so on. You can use this 30-60min time window to do diverse device-free, relaxing activities or follow some kind of a routine.
   4. Room: Keep it warm enough but not too warm in the room you sleep in. Also try to reduce distractions. The before-mentioned device-free time window can help you to get all kinds of things done in the household which are otherwise often kept undone. This can result in a feeling of accomplishment and you can thereby create a better, more calm and clean and less distracting sleep environment, which can also improve your sleep. You also should ventilate before going to bed to have fresh air in the room if you do not have a system in place that lets this happen automatically.
   5. Daily Activities: Sleep is also improved by daily exercise and exposure to sun light. So if you are training in the hall all day and otherwise work inside, then use at least as much time inbetween these activities walking by foot in daylight between your destinations. Walking regularly and for longer distances is one of the most important human activities and movement patterns which can both heal diverse minor issues as well as serve well as a pre-warm up that can reduce the required warm-up time and can become an important factor in injury prevention compared to just driving everywhere by car and then jumping right into strenuous activity.
3. Hydration: Do not forget to drink enough water. Just clean water. It is important in douzens of ways. For your muscles, for your brain, for injury prevention etc.
4. Nutrition: To nourish your body for acrobatics, you have to give your body enough energy. In a sports like acro you have to have access to energy fast and replenish this energy if exhausted in training; therefore carbo-hydrates serve you best (such as rice or oats or millet, properly made sourdough bread or fruit). If you feel exhausted during training you may not have given your body enough energy beforehand. Make it a priority to do so. Without energy no training. In the acute case of sudden energy-deficency you may drink or eat something that gives you energy fast (such as dates or grapes, which would be preferred over jelly beans, honey or drinks with sugar). Other than that sports acro is very strength-focused. In order to become strong you have to get enough protein (plant-based sources are diverse lentils, beans or nuts and nut-butter (without any oil, sugar and other additives)). Some fats are essential and absolutely necessary, therefore you should get some fat too (like olive oil, joghurt, cheese, butter, lineseed oil, coconut oil, seeds and nuts), but not too much and preferably not immediately before or during training, as it may let you feel sluggish. Therefore you should plan protein and carbs first and add the necessary fat in well-dosed ways. To get enough vitamins and minerals and for digestion it is crucial to eat enough vegetables, preferably from different colours (as they contain different nutrients) and especially so leafy greens, about 300-400g a day. If you want to eat healthy, nutritious food, do not eat junk food and avoid eating outside. Prepare your food yourself in order to control all the ingrediences and to know what you are putting into your body. If you do so consistently you won’t need to count calories as you can control your weight easily by the rough sizes of your portions. If you follow this advice you do more things right than most and have done more for your recovery than any supplement can do.
   1. Supplementation: To additionally assist your training and health after having met the targets above, it can be reasonable to take some supplements that are highly recommended in our time, partially due to changed ecological conditions or due to specific geographical conditions (depending on where you live), due to the decreased nutritional value of modern food and/or simply due to increased needs of our bodies in a strenuous sport:
      1. A protein powder w/o any additives, such as a rice/pea mix, if you cannot easily meet your protein targets with food. It makes life easier and you don’t have to eat as much, if that is a concern, depending on your situation.
      2. Vitamin C + Zinc: ~250mg Vit C and ~20-40mg Zinc in the morning e.g. with the protein shake (many males are deficient and athletes need more)
      3. Vitamin D3, 1000-2000IU, as most people don’t get enough exposure to sun light
      4. Magnesium: ~500g of Citrate or Gluconate (no Oxide) before sleep (it’s a common deficiency and athletes need more)
      5. Creatine: ~0.1g per kg of body mass (seems to add some mass by improved muscle hydration which helps with injury prevention)
      6. Collagen: 20-30g, can tremendously help with tendon recovery/healing and joint health
      7. DHA/EPA: ideally in form of clean algae oil (reduces inflammation, good for brain function, eyes etc.)
      8. A Multivitamine can be taken if for whatever reason the diet does not contain enough raw vegetables
      9. Inulin can be very useful for the microbiom and digestion if the diet lacks fibre, such as, again, from vegetables and leafy greens
   2. Avoid any intoxicants: No Alcohol, no smoking, no other drugs, including sugar. Pure Sugar is an intoxicant. It may have its place in situations where you need a lot of energy fast during training, but you should avoid it in other situations. Even then you could try to eat some dates, grapes and similar stuff instead of drinking or eating pure sugar. In general you may think about it as something you have to “deserve” through training and consume in fairly restricted amounts if needed by feeling.
   3. Caffeine and Theine can have positive effects on training, but will affect sleep and recovery negatively if drinking too much, too late and too regularly. In order to preserve the positive effects of caffeine or theine and to increase its effectiveness you must make sure to not drink any coffee/tea at all every now and then for a few days and reduce your caffeine/theine tolerance. Then will lower dosages suffice to help you feel awake and you will avoid negative effects by taking too much too regularly. For reasons of health and effect, theine may be preferred over caffeine for several reasons. Tea, especially green tea, comes with many other benefits. But it is important to choose well controlled, high quality tea, since tea can be contaminated in different ways depending on production processes. You should ask your tea dealer for the contaminant loads in the tea and choose one that is regularly tested.
5. Inurement Methods: There are a few things we can do that have been proven to have positive effects on the body that are generally described to “inure” us. One of the easiest things that can be done is to shower cold, carefully and slowly increasing tolerance and time under cold water.

Nutrition for Bases vs. Tops

As a Base please note: If you need to gain weight and have to force yourself to eat and have a hard time gaining any weight, it may not feel natural at first to eat more than you are used to and you may wonder if it is healthy. Be aware that your perception of appetite and hunger may not work well due to lack of sensitivity. Many people have lost their sense of thirst simply due to some prolonged or recurrent period of ignoring it. They are often dehydrated and don’t recognise it. In the same way you may be underfueled and may not feel well but do not sense or recognise it as an energy- or nutrient-deficiency because of prolonged periods of fasting and/or irregular eating patterns in the past. Thus allow yourself to eat more (maybe not more in volume, but more frequently, like adding breakfast if you usually skip it), even if it feels like forcing at times in order to give your body the opportunity to re-adjust its sense of hunger. Compared to your top you just have to eat more. Both more carbs and more protein; otherwise the nutritional principles are the same.

As a Top trying to stay light and lean, please note: Staying light and lean is not the same as underfueling. You can stay light and lean and still give the body everything it needs and enjoy food. Just eat in moderation. If you feel constantly hungry it will negatively impact training and recovery and won’t serve anyone. The main problem is over-indulgence. There is nothing wrong in making it a principle to only eat until the hunger is gone, which most people do not do. It can more easily be achieved by eating more slowly and may result in eating just 80% of how much you would eat otherwise if eating faster. Thereby you will not feel completely full. This simple principle combined with eating healthy food prepared at home, no junk, enough carbs in moderation and protein, a bit lower fat and enough vegetables, may already suffice to give you that light and lean body you strive for for performance as a top and still let you feel fine.

Due to the existing problem of eating disorders among tops their diet has to be approached in a sensitive manner. Proper nutrition of children depends on the cooperation and a sensitive approach of the parents; it must be avoided to make children responsible or to make remarks about their weight or eating habits. Instead the parents should be educated if they are willing to accept advise.

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