Recovery Insanity

[Meat Loaf]

I only train once a week, I do strongman training and it kills my grip too. Really works the forearms. Every time i train, my forearms/grip is sore for nearly a week. Not just tired, but like really sore and torn up. I need to layoff grip work for awhile, but it's pissing me off. I was SOOOOO close to closing my #3 and i just dont have the strength for it now. Is it ever normal to be like really sore for close to a WEEK after a hard grip workout?

Details? Well let's just say i do a lot of thickbar and supporting grip stuff with my training. I realized thickbar kills the grip, but SHIT! I guess i could take a week and train only the yoke, stones, and something not strongly grip related and all will be well.

Any advice would be honored.

MEAT

[Clay Edgin]

Less intensity, more frequency, better choice of exercises. Repeat when necessary.

What I meant to say is that if you train once per week, you're going to be sore the entire time between workouts. If you train twice per week, you're still going to be sore between workouts. If you train 8 times a week, guess what, you're still going to be sore.

I do think that working grip once a week isnt' taking full advantage of your recovery abilities though. Hit those shot rotations at night too.

Edited September 23, 2004 by ClayEdgin

[nagual]

Echo what Clay said, but also that endurance type workouts seem to sap strength a lot more for a longer time. High intensity in short bursts, with a small amount of volume you recover quickly from, but medium-high intensity for longer periods with a high amount of volume is quite the opposite. My guess is that strongman training qualifies as the latter.

Active recovery and adding more "light" grip workouts might just be the key to upping your recovery ability. Also, if you haven't already, you might wanna look into supplements that speed recovery, such as glucosamine.

[foggymountainmuscle]

When talking about recovery you need to ask yourself if you're getting enough sleep and eating good food for all your meals. If yes, then ask yourself if you need more of each. This is pretty basic advice but it's often overlooked because thinking about improving your training is more exciting than improving your sleeping habits. The simple fact is if you are not getting enough sleep and wholesome food, all the advice the best of this board has to offer cannot help you much. I reccomend some type of regiment in the mourning of pushups, back bridging, and hindu squats to get that blood flowing.

[Zevich]

Nothing make my hands ache more than thick bar work. I really like THB training

and do a lot of it - and sometimes pay for it.

Do your other training but leave out thick bar for a week and see what happens. Like Clay said training only once a week and you will always be sore. Thats goes for any type of training.

[The Mac]

As others have said, it looks as though you will really have to have a serious look at your recovery - nutrition, supplementation, hand health techniques etc. If there are no apparent holes there, I would listen to Snott - cut out what is less important to you and just focus on what you are enjoying the most.

The other thing, to echo what Clay said, is to lessen the intensity and maybe increase the frequency of your workouts to try and improve your forearm conditioning.

I think you've probably got the answers you might need in this thread, though it is how you put it all together that will count in the end.

[chuck]

1. Apply the principle in Bert Sorin's Training tip on the Sorinex website titled Back Medicine www.sorinex.com/tips/3/

2. Get in the habit of stretching after your heavy workout and at least 3 other days a week, especially the muscles that are sorest after your active recovery work.

3. Eat more raw veg and fruit and drink more water, with a pinch of seasalt in every glass. This will help alkalize your system, which helps reduce soreness and speeds recovery better than any

pain killer.

[SqeezeMasterFlash]

with a pinch of seasalt in every glass. This will help alkalize your system, which helps reduce soreness and speeds recovery better than any pain killer.

Umm, I though that drinking salt water, no matter how small the dosage of the salt in the water was not good for you?

[JohnOBrien]

Sea salt, NaCl, will not alkalize your system. There is nothing alkaline in it. If you want to alkalize you system, use baking soda (although I don't think it would do anything for you anyway since it is going to neutralized in your stomach).

[BigFatPowerlifter]

Since I have been increasing my grip work my hands/wrists/forearms have been getting very sore. I have been icing them every night for at least twenty minutes each. I have also taken to playing with a stress ball for some more active recuperation. Both of these methods have provided me with good results.

[Cunny]

I'm not experienced as some here but it may help if you post what your doing.Be a bit more specific in terms of volume and exercise selection,Are you including any therapeutic work?

John Wood has written some good stuff about it here and in old issues of iron grip.

[chuck]

Regarding the salt issue there's a lot of info available - for one example - www.curezone.com/foods/salt/book_seasalts_hidden_powers.htm

[Thaibox]

More sleep, more food, more water

It doesn't matter how much you're eating now, eat more. Same thing goes for sleep and water. If you want to try the supplement route, take a multi-vitamin. One of the only sport supps worth a damn for recovery IMO is glutamine.

[nils]

Unfortunatly that page was full of lies together with half truths and old alchemical myths that has been disproved almost 100 years ago.

OK, I am a chemist and not really a standard consumer of the celtic salt.

But I didn't think that there were people left that for example doesn't know that transmutation, turning an atomic element into another is a nuclear reaction that will produce, or consume enormous amounts of energy and can't possibly happen in any kind of non radioactive salt.