recovery

Whoop: Unlocking human performance

What do you think of when someone mentions human performance? Personally, I think of the Bourne Legacy movie where Jeremy Renner has to take his ‘chems’ on a regular basis to sustain his superhuman performance both physically and mentally. Those supposed ‘chems’ keep him at the top of his game for the operations he’s tasked with. Obviously taking chems is not a realistic option, but there are options. Enter Whoop.

A few weeks ago I was attending the end of year meetings for Hurricane Group. One of our sessions brought in Jairek Robbins to speak to us about how to optimize human performance on both a personal level and in a team environment. Jairek covered many aspects of unlocking human performance, but the most important was probably sleep and recovery. Without the proper sleep and recovery ratio, everything else will suffer and you’ll never achieve what you’re capable of. One of the fitness programs he uses to track his sleep and recovery is called Whoop. Whoop is similar to a Fitbit, but offers much more useful information at a much more granular level.

Whoop uses a wristband to collect information from your body and a mobile app to present that information to you in an easy to understand format. The wristband collects information throughout the day while you work, move around and workout. Based on your energy output, Whoop will let you know when you need to take a pit stop and recover based on the quality of your sleep the previous night.

Whoop measures the body 24×7 and provides analytics to its members in order to unlock and improve human performance. This includes strain, recovery and sleep. Whoop assists the best athletes in the world, Navy SEALs and fortune 500 CEO’s on their quest to maximize performance. What does it take to optimize human performance? Watch the following video, then proceed to the Whoop website for more information and to sign up. I’m going to be signing up myself and posting my progress.

For more information about this product and service visit the Whoop website

*Featured photo courtesy of the Whoop Facebook page

Was this article helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

Speed Up Your Recovery After the 12-Mile Rucksack March

Our Sunday daily workout piece to help our prospective candidates prepare for Selection featured a 12-mile rucksack march. And hopefully for those that followed it and conducted it, (it was a cold 40 degree, rainy morning here), followed our normal rucksack marching tips. Wearing the correct boots and socks, having the correct and comfortable clothes on with anti-chafing powder, packing your rucksack correctly and having the weight up high where it belongs. Now we’ll talk a bit about recovery.

Back in the day, when I was a young buck and going thru Special Forces training, recovery wasn’t something that we paid any attention to. At best, we’d drink water, eat and take a nap. As we got a little bit older, and our recovery time increased, we got a bit smarter about recovery, but the troops today have much better trainers and training staffs on hand and they’ll help the troops out in what is a very important part of fitness.

We preach here that there are “no days off” and we have to be ready to go back at it first thing in the morning. So now recovery is even more important… and then the nap will feel even better. As we mentioned above, it was cold and rainy here, and that cold and damp plays hell on arthritic joints, but it will put a damper on just about everyone as it tends to take a bit longer to get your speed and pace going. However, it does help with not overheating. Although wearing a lightweight rain jacket this morning, it was almost halfway unzipped allowing plenty of that cool air to stop overheating from occurring.

Rucking, in general, will put some strain on your joints, your knees, back, ankles. But rucking over a longer distance like a 12 or 20 miler increases that stress on your joints and these techniques will help speed your recovery time.

Feed the Beast:

While you should be drinking water throughout the ruck march, and with our Camelbak system we were doing just that, you need to eat soon after finishing. Everyone is different and your body may not react well to food or different things going into it so soon after exercise.

As soon as possible, preferably less than 30 minutes from completion of the ruck, down a protein shake. My trainer tells me that your body is depleted and hungry for nutrients to replace what was burned up during the three hours or less of the ruck march. By introducing a protein shake it stops your body from introducing cortisol into your system.

After that, eating a meal, if your body allows it is preferred. I’m always ravenous after a long ruck march. But everyone is different.

Ice Bath or Cold Tub:

While some recommend that you jump right into a cold tub as soon as the ruck march is over if you are like me, you have to shower first. I hate getting into a tub, hot or cold without having a shower. On Saturday, I bought three bags of ice from the liquor store and as soon as the shower was done, I filled the tub with cold water and dumped the bags of ice in there.

My bulldog has been conditioned to know that when the bathtub is getting filled it is HER bath time. So, with all the subtlety that bullies are known for, she burst into the bathroom using her head to push open the door and was contemplating diving in on top of me until she noticed the ice. Sticking her snout in for a second, with a quick shake of her head, she nixed that idea and promptly padded out…Bitch didn’t even close the door.

However, all it takes is about 10-20 minutes of the ice bath to reduce any inflammation in your muscles and helps ease those sore shoulders, hips, and knees from rucking. I did save two cubes for a medicinal glass of Single Barrel Jack …although that part isn’t what the docs would call smart. Ah well.

Foam Roller and Lacrosse Ball Time:

One of the best things my trainer ever introduced me to was the foam roller and a lacrosse ball. I was never a believer in either until I tried them and they help immensely. They help to get everything back in line after the strain of the rucksack compressing your lower back, hips, and shoulders.

I start with the lacrosse ball under my lower back and do some slow crunches and sit-ups. Eventually, I move the lacrosse ball up between my shoulder blades and during the sit-up motion, I extend my arms out, that will stretch out the shoulders.

The foam roller works wonders at getting your lower back, rib cage area and upper back/shoulders stretched back out and feeling like everything is back to where it needs to be. All of the compression of the ruck march is erased in just a few short minutes.

Stretching It All Out:

The last thing we do is a nice, slow stretch which really helps out after a long-range movement. Most people, myself included, feel shoulder fatigue, or sagging after a ruck. That is completely normal and once you get in Special Operations and begin carrying those ridiculous amounts of “light-weight” gear, you will too.

I begin with a shoulder shrug/stretch. Stand up straight pull your shoulders back and rotate them up and down. That will help loosen them up after being pulled down with the weight of the rucksack. And then open your arms wide, almost like a Predator pose and stretch your shoulders out wide. Keep your chest up and pull your shoulders back.

I then do some standing calf stretches and then finish it off with glute and hip stretches that always feel like they get everything back in line.

These are the things I wished I did back in the day, it may have helped many of the aches and pains I suffer from today. But they will definitely aid in speeding your recovery times. Remember that while in the Selection course, your recovery/downtime is liable to be much shorter if not almost non-existent.

But this will help you in your quest to get prepared for the rigors of the Selection course that will follow. And soon after the long ruck marches, you’ll be ready to go do it all over again. Now, I’ll finish this and head over to the easy chair and ice my aching knees. Whoever said, aging gracefully is a given? DOL, Happy Rucking.

Photo: US Army

Originally published on Special Operations.com

TRAINING PROGRAM IN A RUT? 3 TIPS TO REVITALIZE YOUR WORKOUTS

It happens to the best of us. We have an injury, or maybe we stop making progress. Perhaps we just lose motivation to continue training. Regardless of the situation, sometimes our best laid plans for working out get derailed. Here are some tips to help you get back on track.

1. DO LESS

Yes, you read that correctly. We often set lofty goals for ourselves and then expect to achieve them right away. This leads us to start a training program with way too much volume(amount of work) in the beginning.

I’m all for going hard and heavy, but the early stages of a training regiment is usually not the ideal time. Too much intensity out of the gate can lead to burnout and worse, an increased risk of injury.

Training frequency is another area where people typically get too aggressive right off the bat.
The tendency for most, is to hit the gym everyday for the first week, become incredibly sore, then take the next two weeks to recover. Instead, start off training only 2 or 3 days a week to allow your body some time to adjust.

It is also important to remember that the best athletes do, in fact, take time to recover. Although “NoDaysOff” is a cool hashtag for Instagram, it is a stupid practice that will lead to injury and will totally mess up your #gains, bro.

Continue reading on ReadyMan

Images courtesy of ReadyMan

Mission Fuel | The CLIF Bar

Being able to fuel your body while on the move is vital. Whether you are in the military on a mission or a civilian through hiker you need to be able to carry food for your body. You don’t always have time to sit down and setup a camping stove, boil water, and cook your food. Mountain House meals are a great option for that, but we’re talking about remaining mobile while you eat so that your body does not crash.

Over the past several years I’ve tried I don’t know how many meal replacement bars, protein bars, recovery type snacks and the list goes on. I either didn’t like the texture, the taste or my body flat out rejected them. The one product I found myself going back to and now use on a regular basis is CLIF Bar. This is by no means a meal replacement, but is sure as hell is better than nothing. Eating one CLIF Bar is still going to give your body needed nutrients during or after strenuous activities.

In a shooting course I took this summer with Kyle Defoor, CLIF Bars for lunch were common among most of the shooters attending the course. Both days of the course were 90+ degrees and sun. Needless to say by lunch time most of us were spent. Lunch both days was considered a working lunch. We still took a break under the shooting pavilion, but Kyle would lecture during that time, so you didn’t really have time to break out your picnic basket and have a full meal. We were there to train and put rounds downrange, not sit around and eat. The CLIF Bar and a bottle of water was plenty to keep us going through the afternoon.

If you’re looking for a healthy snack to eat on the move, be sure to check out the CLIF Bars. They come in many different flavors and taste really good.

PRODUCT REVIEW: ELYSIUM ADVENTURE BARS FROM A MARINE FORCE RECON VETERAN

Elysium Industries was founded in late 2014, by Matthew W. Shelley, a veteran of Marine Force Recon. It is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business located in the foothills of Colorado Springs, CO.

The idea for Matt’s bar came after he regularly found himself miles from anywhere, and he needed something substantial to fill his belly. Enter the Elysium Adventure Bar. As an avid explorer and amateur photographer, Matt has a passion for the outdoors.

He also realized, while working on his post-bacc premedical studies and employed as an EMT in a local Emergency Department, that he was less enthused about becoming a medical doctor and wanted to impact the active-lifestyle communities differently.

As a veteran of the Special Operations community he knew what it took to train well, focus smartly and eat right in order to succeed when he was mentally and physically challenged. His experience as a Force Recon Marine, his education in the health and medical fields, and his passion for helping develop people have healthful, active lifestyles gave birth to Elysium Bars.

Matthew put his energy and focus into creating homemade, natural-food bars.

His company is focused on making an energy bar specifically for low to moderate intensity activities. Different activities put different metabolic demands on the body and I have found it refreshing that a few companies have started chasing the true endurance market by making products with longer burning fuels sources instead of loading them with the traditional carbs (sugar) popular in most energy products.

Continue reading on Spotter Up

(images courtesy of spotterup.com)

SPECIAL FORCES MADE: DON’T LET YOUR PROTEIN POWDER HOLD YOU DOWN!

If you are being held back by your recovery supplement then maybe it’s time to let go of your protein overloaded “recovery” powder and try something that is designed to actually help you recover.

The problem with a lot of the protein powders out there is that the market is dominated by supplements that are designed to help you get BIG. If this is what you are looking to do then maybe this review is not for you.

Maybe you should stick to your recovery supplement that loads you with 200% of your daily protein values and pretty much nothing else. But if you are an athlete looking to improve PERFORMANCE, not just muscle mass, if you are looking for a product designed to help you actually recover, to provide your muscles with the protein needed to develop as well as restore the energy supplies you burned during your workout then look no further than 18 Series Nutrition’s After Action Recovery Mix (AAR).

What sets this product apart is that it was designed for soldiers in the field. Soldiers who can’t afford to just pump their bodies with protein and sleep off the workout. Soldiers who need something that not only builds them back up after a hard effort but allows them to jump right back out and repeat that same effort again, because there life might depend on it. In doing this 18 series nutrition also created an amazing product for true athletes.

The two major differences between AAR and other protein powders is the addition of carbohydrates and fat. The actual breakdown is 21g Whey Protein, 50g Carbohydrates (Dextrose), and 11g Fat (MCT). Dextrose is a fast digesting simple sugar which allows you to replenish your energy stores as quickly as possible. MCT or Medium Chain Triglycerides are a form of saturated fatty acids that are considered to be largely missing in the standard American diet.