In mixed martial arts and competitive bodybuilding, there’s an old maxim that says you’re only as good as your last event.

The same can be said about your last workout.

The quicker you can get back into the gym after your last workout, the quicker you can reach your goals. If you can only workout twice a week because you need three days to recover, whats going to happen when you’re matched up with an opponent who can workout three days a week because they only need two?

Time elapsed in and of itself should not be the deciding factor in proper recovery. Anyone can take three days off between workouts just like any idiot can walk into a gym. It’s not the fact that you’re in the gym, it’s what you do with it.

The same principle applies to workout recovery: It’s not the fact that you’ve taken time off, it’s what you’ve done with it.

For the purposes of this discussion, complete recovery can be broken down into three basic categories:

• Stretching
• Rest
• Nutrition

Stretching not only enhances your recovery, it also helps in the prevention of stiff and sore muscles. It can help circulate your blood better and rush nutrients to the muscles. If for no other reason, you should be stretching after your workout to give those protein shakes a free and clear path to your nutrient-starved muscles while simultaneously flushing out the existing waste products.

Rest is one of those general terms that often gets abused. Rest is basically the time spent doing activities that require little to no energy. Of those activities, sleep is the most important. Not only does Human Growth Hormone (HGH) rise during deep sleep, studies have recently linked sleep deprivation to a drop in the hormone Leptin. A drop in Leptin is likely to cause your body to crave carbohydrates. Yikes!

The third stage of complete recovery is nutrition. Most of us consider proper nutrition to be a good, healthy diet with not a lot of sugar and saturated fats. Unfortunately for the competitive athlete, that’s not enough!

Following an intense workout, the body goes through a process known as catabolism, the breaking down of muscle tissue to supply glutamine and other amino acid compounds to other parts of the body.

As a defense mechanism, your body is designed to cannibalize itself starting with muscle tissue to get the nutrients it needs, effectively reversing everything you’ve worked for in your time at the gym. As far as muscle growth is concerned, you can’t rob Peter to pay Paul.

Now you can either provide your body with the nutrients it needs (like Branch Chain Amino Acids) or just sit back and let it feast on the muscle tissue you’ve worked so hard to grow.

Our goal as athletes in the recovery phase of our training is anabolism, the process where our muscles repair themselves, effectively adding strength and size in response to the stress of training. The most effective way to accomplish that process is by consuming post-workout recovery supplements within one hour after training.

In addition, a comprehensive supplement plan will allow you to spread your protein consumption throughout the day so you don’t have to walk around the office with a grilled chicken breast stuffed in your pocket.

Nutritional supplements have never been more affordable, and once again the good folks over at Feel It! Nutrition are breaking the hearts of competitors nationwide in an effort to bring you the supplements you need for yourself or that athletic loved one just in time for the holidays.

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See you at the gym!