Today's recovery tip is about the basics. There are a handful of everyday habits/ activities that can be leveraged to improve our recovery so that we can both gradually progress in the gym and feel better throughout the day.

1. Sleep - Plain and simple you should be making it a goal to get quality sleep every night. The age-old 8 hours is a great starting point. I wont belabor over the science behind sleep cycles (we can talk about that in the gym if you would like) but I will suggest that you make it a point to go to bed at the same time every night. It might even help to make a little routine for yourself.

2. Nutrition - We all have some inherent concept of what healthy food consumption looks like. I do not want to make any moralistic statements about particular diets or even say that certain foods are "better" than others. BUT you should make it a goal to consume foods with high nutrient profiles (things that grew in the ground or things that ate things that grew in the ground). Macro nutrient ratios, inclusion or exclusion of particular foods, nutrient time, ect. are all topics that are beyond the scope of my expertise. Luckily, we have a world class registered dietitian literally next door to us. I am sure that she would love to sit down and talk with you about your particular nutritional needs.

3. Hydration - You should be drinking water. Plain and simple. If you are like me and you often times think of coffee as a meal replacement then you probably have gotten to the end of the day only to realize you haven't had a single glass of water. Make it a point to have a glass of water when you wake up and during each meal. If you do this you still probably have not reached the amount of water that you should be taking in each day but your a whole lot closer then if you hadn't drank any at all.

These are really basic things that are often times over looked. We all live different lives and we all have different relationships with sleeping and eating. This post is not meant to make you feel bad about your individual habits on the topic. This post is intended to be a reminder that 1). we are all adults and we all are responsible for the things in our lives that we can control and 2). the intention of Duratus is to continuously develop a community of individuals who are relentless in pursuing there goals and motivating those around them to do the same.