Cav wrote:What D6 said about diet - probably the single most important part of recovery!
If a run burns 500 calories, make sure you eat approximately 3/4 of those calories as a minimum; most of those calories should come from protein to avoid your body breaking down the muscle for energy.
I don't know what your daily intake is but you will want 150g minimum on a training day
Also, you should be looking to do it within 20-30 minutes of completing the exercise.
I forgot not everyone knows this stuff, I just take it as a given.
Typically I say between 15-45 minutes though. Also if you are feeling a little giddy, chocolate is your friend
Cheers guys, great advice and probably explains why I'm craving chicken all the time! Might look at dropping the Monday run and maybe go for a swim instead.
Swimming is great! Perfect opportunity to relax and unwind from other stresses too.
I can't wait for my knee to be better so I can start swimming again. This was the main thing that aided my cardio recovery. I'd do 100 lengths/hour doing breast stroke and within a few minutes my heart rate would be around 55. My resting HR was 43 at that time
My wife has persuaded me to go to taekwondo sparring tonight, which is supposed to be pretty brutal. My son used to go and he was forever picking up bruises and injuries.
How do I feel?
Great! I have a bit more energy and body weight exercises are noticeably easier.
Am I constantly hungry?
No. I'm having 2050kcals a day and by choosing what I eat somewhat carefully I feel fuller for longer than I did previous to this diet. Yes I can have 6 pints of cider and a can of redbull but I don't because I'm not going to last the day without going over my calories.
Is this diet hell?
No. I have 1 cheat meal every week. I've had a Harvester (with desert), Fish and Chips, and a family meal out (also with desert).
What 'diet' am I doing?
I call it the "healthy lifestyle" diet. I calculated my current maintenance calories on a TDEE calculator, subtracted 300kcals and set that as my target. I then did the usual 1.5-2x bodyweight to calculate protein and aim for fats to be about 60-70g/day and carbs fill the rest. All of this took about 10 minutes. I don't always hit my targets every day but my average over the week is almost spot on (mostly by coincidence)
What about training?
I've done zero cardio. My knee is butchered so cardio is not possible for me currently. I've been going to the gym 2 or 3 times a week and only doing upper body + physio exercises for my knee. I've been doing 20RM triple sets almost every time I've gone to the gym and estimate a caloric burn of approx. 300kcals. I'm in the gym for no more than 1hr 30 but train chest, shoulders and back 2 or 3 times per week - it's brilliant.
My strength certainly isn't increasing much while I'm in deficit but bodyweight exercises are massively improved as is my muscle endurance.
Ordered myself a weight belt to add 'body weight' during dips and pull ups. £6.99 with free shipping seems alright to me.
Someone at the gym loaned me theirs to use, I did 1 set without, 3 sets with then another set without. Was really nice feeling like I was doing strength training with a pull up. Reps were 10, 5, 5, 5 (just), 8.
Work, a busted finger and general malaise means I've not done anything this week apart from Taekwondo on Monday. I've cancelled this evening's session with my PT. Work is a bit mental so I'm not sure if I could make it anyway.