“As an aging “athlete” (in quotes because, well, I’m an amateur at best) I’ve racked up my fair share of injuries at this point. Both legs, shoulder, elbow, rib, Achilles…basically, as time goes, there’s just more and more stuff that aches. I get out of bed in the morning and it sounds like what I imagine it sounded like when Rocky got out of bed after Rocky III, the one where he let Mr. T punch him in the face a handful of times, a decision that probably made him feel pretty tough at the time, and the next morning I imagine he was like, “Hmm…maybe I should’ve just let him hit me like 7 times in the face as hard as he could.”
So I read this book, and it’s not good news, people. If you are using any recovery methods you like, stop reading this review, and don’t read this book.
Still here?
Okay, here are things that do not work, probably don’t work, or only work through placebo effect:
+Hydration: Gatorade, all that shit doesn’t do squat. You’ll hear a lot about how you should drink a shitload of water, but it turns out that overhydrating is a bigger issue than underhydrating (multiple marathoners have died from this in recent years), and that adage about “By the time you’re thirsty, it’s too late” is total bullshit. Thirst is an excellent indicator of your hydration needs. Oh, and I did feel a little vindicated because you don’t need a water bottle for like a 5-mile run. You can go without just fine. Anyway, sports drinks, salt tablets, beers, all of that is bogus. Just eat food and drink water and you’ll be fine.
+Vitamins: Most of us have heard that vitamins mostly get peed out. This is partially true, but the more important truth is that you should be getting your vitamins from food rather than supplementing. Most people take vitamins because they assume they’re missing some vital nutrient otherwise, and this is usually incorrect.
+Supplements: Good god, don’t take these. This is one of the few things in the book that crosses over from worthless to likely harmful. Especially if you’re in competition as a lot of supplement companies use additives that are controlled substances. Plus, again, it’s best to get your calories, vitamins, and nutrients from “real” food as much as humanly possible. Also, supplements are not controlled by the FDA because…I don’t know why. So not only are they likely unhelpful, they might actually make you worse.
+Ice: Doesn’t really do much. May lessen pain, but may also lessen adaptation, which results in muscle growth, so it’s useless at best, harmful at worst. Cryotherapy also seems to be totally bogus.
+Heat: Maybe works? But probably doesn’t do anything. All that infrared shit is crazy, by the way. That is junk science at its finest.
+Powerbars: This includes most foods designed for athletes. They aren’t as good as real food. They just aren’t. It’s always been a dream of mine to eat like one bar in a day and be good to go, but that’s not happening, and it makes sense. We’re talking about all of human evolution creating a system that allows us to thrive on real food, and now we’ve been trying to game the system for maybe 2 generations? Not likely.
+Sleep: This is the one thing that seems definitively to work. I just watched the Iron Cowboy documentary, and I think the biggest mistake that his coaches/team made was not planning out his sleep a little better. On a good night it seemed like he was getting 5 hours, and that’s just not enough. I’ve done a little more research on sleep, and it seems like the best thing you can do, if you want to be healthy and maybe even athletic, is to sleep as much as your body requires and to get good quality sleep. As a sidenote, lots of people think they’re good with 5 hours, and that’s bullshit. There’s like .4% of humans who can get a full night’s rest on 5 hours, and you’re probably not it. Stop lying to yourself and GO TO BED.
+Rolling/Massaging/Stretching: Nope. According to the research, none of this stuff works either.
+Float Tanks: Traditionally known as sensory deprivation tanks, you’ll find float centers all over. This is basically a form of meditation. The author is a believer in it, after trying it. I do think there’s a lot to be said for the mental game, but this part of the book was the least researched and the most personal-experience-based.
+Placebo: This completely works. Study after study has shown that the placebo effect not only makes people THINK they’re getting better, it does actually make them better.
That’s the stuff covered in the book. Here are my additional thoughts/questions:
General versus Injury: I do think recovery from an injury and recovery that’s designed to let you run today and tomorrow are different things, and this book is leaned hard towards general recovery as opposed to acute injury recovery. Good to know.
Athletes versus Normals: It’s unfortunate that most of these studies are done on athletes as opposed to more average people. I think a lot of the information that comes out is based on professionals, or at the very least, people who were athletes at the collegiate level, meaning they’ve had a solid decade of building and coaching. Athletics are a major part of their life. So, don’t get discouraged when something that works for athletes doesn’t work for you, a normal.
Slow: The biggest mistake most people make is that they don’t go slow enough. Go slow. Especially if you’re starting out. Build strength slowly. Build endurance slowly. Your body will adapt better if you let yourself plateau for longer periods. I really believe this. Most people get hurt when they try to exceed their grasp by progressing too quickly. One of the beautiful things about exercise is that it also builds patience. My general advice here is that if you’re SUPER sore the next day, you did too much. Especially when starting out, you should exercise an amount that’s comfortable for you. Most people would probably not feel sore from a 10 minute walk with 1 minute of running in the middle. How about 2 1-minute running intervals? Figure out where you’re at, then…back it off a little. Do what’s fairly easy until it’s REALLY easy, then jump up a notch. And don’t have a calendar-based goal in mind. Just let yourself get stronger.
Watch the Marketing: Lebron James doing something doesn’t mean you should. I might argue that anything that’s sold to you, the normal, because Lebron does it, is probably bullshit. I’d highly advise looking to companies that cater to more average people than companies that pride themselves on their elite athletes when it comes to shoes, diet, whatever.
Drugs: I was a little surprised there wasn’t more discussion of drugs, doping, etc. Drugs…seem to work. I mean, that’s why they’re banned. They work. I have opinions on steroids that are VERY unpopular, but it seems to me that steroid use is manageable and probably beneficial in a lot of sports. As are things like HGH. I guess, overall, I don’t like the idea of drugs being in pro sports, but if you’re just some middle-aged dude who’s hitting the gym? I don’t really see what effect that has on the world, and in my eyes, these things should be legalized and regulated rather than illegal. I will say this: there are drugs at your gym. No doubt. And most of the people who are on Instagram and YouTube and shit are using stuff. Most people who are famous for their physique use one thing or another. They all admit to it when they’re older. So, just accept it, and if you’re natural, don’t compare yourself to people who clearly aren’t. At the same time, don’t carry the burden of feeling like their drug use is taking something away from you. It’s not my path, but it being a chosen path for others is fine.
The Mental Game: The hardest thing to get athletes to do is to stop. They always think that more is better. Harder is better. I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t think a weight training session should leave you feeling completely spent. I think you overtrained if you did that. And again, I’m talking about the long game here, not someone getting ready for a big competition or something. Have that lifetime mentality. If pushing out that extra rep or extra mile today is a huge slog, you’re going to hurt yourself, and that makes the next several months much worse. “