What recovery/wellness options does everyone use?

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I think we can all agree that health is intrinsically related to martial arts practice - when you're not healthy you can't practice, and people train for the purpose of being healthy. A recent convo on recovery methods here made my mind go in a tangential direction.

There are plenty of supplements to help with recovery, or general health. Things like herbal teas, topical things like dit da jow, smoothie blends, OTC pain meds, etc. Does anyone here use anything? What have people found helpful or unhelpful?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Personally I used to have a smoothie that gave me my protein and a bunch of different vitamins, that I'd have for lunch. Don't do that now since I'm not working from home so can't make it during lunch, but have some fire cider brewing, that should be ready in a week or two. And emergen-c whenever I find out that someone I'm in contact with isn't feeling well

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I think we can all agree that health is intrinsically related to martial arts practice - when you're not healthy you can't practice, and people train for the purpose of being healthy. A recent convo on recovery methods here made my mind go in a tangential direction.

There are plenty of supplements to help with recovery, or general health. Things like herbal teas, topical things like dit da jow, smoothie blends, OTC pain meds, etc. Does anyone here use anything? What have people found helpful or unhelpful?

I’m 52, 6’2” 205-210lbs I take a daily multivitamin and collagen and 6 grams of creatine. I use a dit da jow preparation on my hands after Qinna practice with Dr Yang. Other than that, I eat a healthy, organic, cooked at home diet. I drink water, lots of it. I do my stretch and qi gong sets everyday. I sleep 8 hours a day and avoid sweets. I teach and or practice Gung fu 4 times weekly and Tai Chi Chuan most days. Qinna practice twice a week. Hike 8-10 miles with wife on weekends. Lift light weights twice weekly. I would add BJJ if there was a school with a culture that I liked nearby. I don’t train nearly as much as I used to in my 20s and 30s but I can still out train my students. I am someone who gets sore from my workouts almost every time, so I require more stretching than most people. I take a very hot shower twice a day after training. I pretty much always have something sore somewhere…

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I’m 52, 6’2” 205-210lbs I take a daily multivitamin and collagen and 6 grams of creatine. I use a dit da jow preparation on my hands after Qinna practice with Dr Yang. Other than that, I eat a healthy, organic, cooked at home diet. I drink water, lots of it. I do my stretch and qi gong sets everyday. I sleep 8 hours a day and avoid sweets. I teach and or practice Gung fu 4 times weekly and Tai Chi Chuan most days. Qinna practice twice a week. Hike 8-10 miles with wife on weekends. Lift light weights twice weekly. I would add BJJ if there was a school with a culture that I liked nearby. I don’t train nearly as much as I used to in my 20s and 30s but I can still out train my students. I am someone who gets sore from my workouts almost every time, so I require more stretching than most people. I take a very hot shower twice a day after training. I pretty much always have something sore somewhere…

You are way more disciplined then me. Even when I was training 5 hours a day, I was much worse on my food, sleep, water and pretty much everything.

Nowadays I've got the water issue fixed, herbal teas irregularly, and some regular exercise.

 

[Gyakuto]

There’s been very scant evidence for the usefulness of vitamins over the years until this

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523489046?dgcid=author&utm_source=arnoldspumpclub.schwarzenegger.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=are-you-old-enough-for-a-multivitamin

From the excellent Arnie’s Pump Club newsletter!

 

[Gyakuto]

I used to get my science students to do the leg work for me (😉) in the form of their library projects the title of which was ‘Which three health supplements would you take and why’. Over the years the evidence they unearthed pointed to Co Enzyme Q10, vitamin D3 and Omega three oils, so I take those each day. There was little evidence for much else being worth taking but since multivitamins are so cheap, I’d add them to the list! I also take 75mg of aspirin to keep my blood flying through my arteries!

 

[Gyakuto]

I also try to do something ‘cognitively challenging’ everyday: learn some new kanji/Japanese grammar, understand some complex science (sometimes outside my field for a real challenge) or write a section of music on my new synths and 30-40 minutes of Zazen meditation. ‘Kokoro wa karada desu‘ as they say…mind is body/body is mind.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

You are way more disciplined then me. Even when I was training 5 hours a day, I was much worse on my food, sleep, water and pretty much everything.

Nowadays I've got the water issue fixed, herbal teas irregularly, and some regular exercise.

My wife is a nth degree black belt yoga instructor/Pilates instructor. She is a 40 year old 100% alpha organic torture machine. She teaches 35 hours a week and hikes 8-13 miles of hill trails a day. She rarely drinks and does not eat dairy, sugar, or meat, other than seafood. I like beer and video games. She likes striving. Before you credit me for discipline, you should know that my handler deserves most of the credit for my healthy state. She is not afraid to food or fat shame me in an instant. If I can’t keep pace she will chide me over my “hard workout” schedule.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

The thing which makes the biggest difference for my recovery is getting enough sleep. Unfortunately, I'm not always as disciplined about getting it as I should be. (Also sometimes my body doesn't cooperate even when I'm trying to be good about my sleep habits, but that's another story.)

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I take Motrin, Aleve, or Tylenol if I have pain, but I try to avoid it if I can. I drink water when I work out, and I avoid sugar as much as I can.

I take a pile of prescription pills every day for my diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, enlarged prostate, and heart disease. I take a shot once a week for diabetes as well.

I take CoQ10, Vitamin D3, Vitamin C, Omega 3 fish oil, and a Magnesium supplement on the advice of my doctor (I have low magnesium and potassium most of the time).

I stretch before doing karate. I should stretch before gardening, but I always seem to forget.

That's it. I'm not a weirdo with the woo-woo stuff. My legs hurt most of the time, my balance is shot, I have diabetic neuropathy, and I'm over 60. Not much of me left to be honest.

 

[MetalBoar]

I used to get my science students to do the leg work for me (😉) in the form of their library projects the title of which was ‘Which three health supplements would you take and why’. Over the years the evidence they unearthed pointed to Co Enzyme Q10, vitamin D3 and Omega three oils, so I take those each day. There was little evidence for much else being worth taking but since multivitamins are so cheap, I’d add them to the list! I also take 75mg of aspirin to keep my blood flying through my arteries!

There's actually a lot of research into the benefits of creatine for exercise. As a vegetarian you would likely benefit more from it than the average omnivore and supplements are usually (always?) vegetarian sourced. I'm generally not big on supplements for strength training, but creatine is one of the few that has real evidence behind it.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

The thing which makes the biggest difference for my recovery is getting enough sleep. Unfortunately, I'm not always as disciplined about getting it as I should be. (Also sometimes my body doesn't cooperate even when I'm trying to be good about my sleep habits, but that's another story.)

This is what keeps me away from beer most of the time. 1 beer is fine, 3 beers equals no sleep and lots of self recriminations about how I know better.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I take Motrin, Aleve, or Tylenol if I have pain, but I try to avoid it if I can. I drink water when I work out, and I avoid sugar as much as I can.

I take a pile of prescription pills every day for my diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, enlarged prostate, and heart disease. I take a shot once a week for diabetes as well.

I take CoQ10, Vitamin D3, Vitamin C, Omega 3 fish oil, and a Magnesium supplement on the advice of my doctor (I have low magnesium and potassium most of the time).

I stretch before doing karate. I should stretch before gardening, but I always seem to forget.

That's it. I'm not a weirdo with the woo-woo stuff. My legs hurt most of the time, my balance is shot, I have diabetic neuropathy, and I'm over 60. Not much of me left to be honest.

Try a little woo woo, you never know…

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

The thing which makes the biggest difference for my recovery is getting enough sleep. Unfortunately, I'm not always as disciplined about getting it as I should be. (Also sometimes my body doesn't cooperate even when I'm trying to be good about my sleep habits, but that's another story.)

My sleep habits are atrocious. During weekdays I normally get around 5 to 6 hours of sleep, per my fitbit (the other day I got 3 hours 55 minutes). Weekends I get more.

If I ever tried to bulk up, or train daily again, that would be the first thing I need to change.

The issue is I get home, make food, take my dog out, by the time I finish everything it's 9PM. So if I wanted to get a full nights sleep, I'd pretty much just be a work, eat and sleep machine all week long.

 

[Gyakuto]

There's actually a lot of research into the benefits of creatine for exercise. As a vegetarian you would likely benefit more from it than the average omnivore and supplements are usually (always?) vegetarian sourced. I'm generally not big on supplements for strength training, but creatine is one of the few that has real evidence behind it.

Yes, I’ve seen this research and see it’s potential benefits. I took creatine for a year but it caused profound nausea, especially during the loading period. I was so fed up with this nausea, I stopped taking it a month ago. I haven’t noticed any difference in my self (other than the lack of 🤢) and my workouts haven’t suffered either. 🤷🏾

 

[Gyakuto]

Try a little woo woo, you never know…

Actually we do know. 😉

 

[Gyakuto]

It seems poor sleep patterns are a real issue. I wish to pis* you all off by saying I generally sleep well, fall asleep in seconds and unless my beloved cat wakes me up very early for his breakfast banquet, sleep 7.5 to 8 hrs, depending on how good a book I’m reading before bed!😌

 

[Holmejr]

I am 68. Between martial arts and tennis. I work out pretty damn hard. Sometimes both in a day. My prescription is simply plenty of daily water, decent sleep, a marginally good diet and an incredibly Wife. Anyway, I have to stay fit otherwise my 6 grandchildren will pummel me. I’m still faster than they are.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Try a little woo woo, you never know…

Good point.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

My sleep habits are atrocious. During weekdays I normally get around 5 to 6 hours of sleep, per my fitbit (the other day I got 3 hours 55 minutes). Weekends I get more.

If I ever tried to bulk up, or train daily again, that would be the first thing I need to change.

The issue is I get home, make food, take my dog out, by the time I finish everything it's 9PM. So if I wanted to get a full nights sleep, I'd pretty much just be a work, eat and sleep machine all week long.

I pretty much work eat sleep train during the week. I have Monday and Friday evening off. I am completely off( unless she makes me hike )on saturdays. I train for 3 plus hours Sunday mornings and then I’m off. Home ownership and dogs take up most of my extra time.