What a bad recovery day can do to you
There are a ton of material on the web on how to optimise your health. Sometimes it can be polarising too.
Yet most people are unable to to interpret the signals our body relays when we deprive it from requisite rest & nutrition.
I'd a bad recovery day this past Saturday (Feb 11th). This was not an intentional experiment. But outcome of natural circumstances.
Sharing my understanding and takeaways with data as reference. I use various markers to track few vitals.
What does bad recovery mean?
Most of my vitals were in red zone. See this.
How did this happen?
Let me break down the routine of the day
Saturday is usually a heavy training day.
Woke up : 6am.
Workout: Ran 25k run. Intensity 7/10.
Details here : Garmin Link
First meal was a protein shake supplement within 30 mins of the workout.
Breakfast was delayed. Had at 10:30am.
Lunch was delayed. Had at 3pm.
Started with 500ml beer & junk food. Solid food intake was delayed.
Dinner was delayed as well & outside food.
All this impacted my night sleep. It was was disturbed, insufficient and broken.
My sleep performance
See data:
Some specifics:
No physical rest. Usually i take a power nap after breakfast on hard workout days.
Nanny was on leave. Physical and mental exertion of parenting a 18mo.
All meals were delayed. No proper nutrition and outside food. Calorie burn dint equal calorie intake.
Water intake was poor.
How did this impact my body.
Extreme physical strain & lack of recovery is harmful.
See data below.
Blue is strain.Yellow is recovery. Overall recovery was at 17%
Resting Heart rate was elevated at 55bpm.
My usual range is between 40 bpm to 45 bpm.
Why?
Challenging workout,
alcohol consumption
Poor sleep quality
Below is my avg weekly RHR and when it peaked.
Heart rate variability was low at 25ms.
My usual range is 55ms to 60ms.
Why?
Mental, emotional and physical fatigue.
Low nutritional food consumption.
Dehydration due to alcohol consumption.
Stress due to insufficient sleep.
Below is my avg weekly HRV and when it dropped.
Respiratory rate was elevated at 18.8 rpm
My typical range us 16 - 18 rpm
Why?
No rest.
Alcohol consumption after an intense workout day.
Below is my avg weekly range and when it peaked.
Takeways and note to myself.
On high stress day (mental or physical), rest and good nutrition is of extreme importance.
Meal timing is key to body's ability to recovery.
Hydrating the body throughout the day adds to your recovery.
Avoid alcohol on days you have high stress (physical or mental) and lack rest. It can be harmful.
Getting a good sleep depends on how you condition your body throughout the day.
Quality nutrition matters. Quantity food doesn't.
Hope this sets an outline for you to optimise your own recovery.