Why Most People Fail at Recovery (& 31 Ways to Do It Right)
You slide into the driver’s seat of a sleek brand new vehicle you’ve been wanting for a very long time.
You insert the key, turn it…only to be met with silence.
Feeling very confused, you try it again.
Nothing.
You look at the salesperson with an expression of “what the hell is going on?”
The salesperson’s face turns beet red and he is completely speechless for 2 seconds, and then with the most horrified realization look on his face mutters:
“oh no, they forgot to put the engine back in!”
Silence.
This isn’t just a car problem. It’s your fitness journey on repeat.
Why Exercise and Movement Feels So Complicated and Hard to Implement
This is EXACTLY what happens when you are mad dashing, exercising day in and day out but you don’t recover enough.
Here’s what makes it worse: everywhere you look, people are quoting and following advice from ‘experts’ who know how to cite research very well but pay no attention at all to how the human body ACTUALLY works.
You are afraid to feel lazy because some health guru out there said that you’ve got to workout 6 days per week for 1 hour no matter what.
No matter how hard you push, you are going nowhere:
Fitness progress stalls. And body starts to compensate for a lack of proper recovery.
You can’t sleep well - body is too hyped up and stressed all the time.
Your vitality lags.
You feel brain-fogged.
You get a pulled muscle here and there and then you have to stop your exercise routine.
Then you get frustrated. You try to see every practitioner in town to heal that muscle.
You go back to exercise again.
Pushing hard again.
You get injured.
push → crash → repeat
Beginners get hit hardest.
They follow ‘expert’ plans designed for advanced level/athletes, crash within weeks, and quit - blaming themselves instead of the missing recovery engine.
FRUSTRATION is INEVITABLE.
The Simple UNLOCK That Changes Everything
Here is what most people miss:
Recovery = your biological engine — the system that converts effort into results. No engine? All that expensive fuel (EXERCISE) just leaks onto the pavement.
WITHOUT PROPER RECOVERY, your effort goes nowhere and you are wasting your time.
In fact, if you exercise everyday of your life and you don’t recover properly YOU ARE AGING FASTER!
Living life creates waste products in the body.
Then, add exercise in there, when the body is ripping things apart for rebuilding better.
It becomes a holy mess of a biochemical environment that must have time and raw materials to clear before another mess is made.
Your cells become a toxic construction site — debris everywhere, no cleanup crew.
You wouldn’t use your car for years without changing the oil would you?
🚨 URGENT RECALL NOTICE 🚨
Faulty parts detected in your fitness model:
Anti-Aging Protocol: DISABLED ❌
Cellular Repair Kit: MISSING ❌
Longevity Engine: NOT INSTALLED ❌
Here Are 31 Ways to Optimize Your Recovery
I include super short descriptions of each below. Over time, I will be discussing each one in detail here at Health Minis.
Pick one that resonates the most and start applying and expanding on it this very second.
Deep, quality sleep (not just hours of sleep): The foundation of recovery. Without enough deep sleep, you cannot properly recover. Growth hormone is released here, repairing the body.
Practice proper light exposure: Morning sunlight and evening blue light blocking affect melatonin production, hormone regulation, crucial for getting enough deep sleep, a must for solid mitochondrial function and general well-being
Nervous system regulation: Your daily nervous system state directly impacts sleep quality and overall recovery capacity. To start, simplify (see below).
Ensure adequate raw materials (see below): body can’t recover without them.
Add abundant minerals: Minerals are crucial for recovery processes, including melatonin production. Best way to include enough minerals is to add mineral drops to your water (diet helps but not enough if you are just living normal busy lives and specially if you are on the move and exercising most days of the week.)
Drink filtered water only: This gets missed so much. Drinking tap water is not OK if what you are aiming for is top-notch levels of quick recovery, energy, and vitality.
Optimize magnesium intake: Essential for sleep quality, nervous system regulation, and melatonin production. (and crucial for cardiovascular health)
Improve toxin processing: Helps the body handle "biological traffic jams," reducing background "noise" that affects sleep quality.
Supplement with creatine: Recycles ATP in muscle and brain cells, supporting energy recovery and, therefore, muscle recovery and strength. It is also fabulous for cognitive function and cognitive repair (say, after sleep deprivation) and is crucial for bone health.
Incorporate daily glycine and collagen: Glycine is a component of collagen, which is essential for tissue repair and recovery.
In addition, glycine is a rockstar for helping to reduce oxidative stress in the body, help with blood sugar regulation, and OH MY WORD it is amazing for helping with deep sleep.
Glycine lowers core body temperature. This helps your body relax into deep sleep faster.
Consume omega-3 fatty acids: Repairs cell membranes damaged during exercise. Consider fish if you process mercury well. Also amazing for heart and brain health!
Ensure proper protein/amino acid intake: ideally from bioavailable sources like animal protein. Consider amino acid supplements for rapid absorption and recovery support (I LOVE Kion aminos - 99% absorption quickly. These have significantly shortened my recovery time between rucks: http://rwrd.io/8rziu0g)
Trace minerals: Support various bodily functions necessary for recovery and foundational reactions in the body.
Electrolytes: Use in filtered water to support hydration and cellular function. You can’t hydrate properly with just plain water.
Decrease oxidative stress: Reduces "biological traffic jams" that hinder recovery processes and prevent deep sleep.
Listen to your body’s rhythms: Align recovery practices with your unique needs and rhythms. Incorporate rest days when your body signals the need, no matter what it looks like to the mainstream health peanut gallery.
Balance intense exercise with recovery: Listen to your body and incorporate rest when needed, even if it doesn't fit your planned schedule.
Simplify your life: Creatively subtract and remove ANYTHING that does not resonate highly with you. Nip the source of chronic stress in the bud, reducing the biological soup of stress hormones, preventing traffic jams, and allowing deep sleep. SIMPLIFYING GIVES YOU POWER.
Make integrity-aligned choices: Make decisions that align with your true self, reducing internal conflict and stress. Know what to engage with and what not to. This creates a foundation for recovery.
Red light therapy: Promotes cellular regeneration and recovery. I LOVE this and I use it daily. It is a game-changing thing.
Sauna sessions: Helps to improve sleep, nervous system, cardiovascular health, gentle detoxification - beautifully supports overall recovery.
Tailor your diet: Tailor your diet to your current needs and nervous system state. This is for you to piece together, not for a label to decide.
Develop a personalized recovery routine: work with a health optimization specialist/health coach who truly wants to understand your needs, history, and co-create an effective and sustainable plan together.
Prioritize daily lymphatic flow work: Use Dr. Perry Nickelston's "Big Six" exercises daily. This is game-changing for recovery: TRY IT HERE - it takes 2 min. WORTH every second of it.
Distinguish between movement and exercise: Emphasize daily movement beyond structured workouts. This is why I LOVE rucking: incorporates movement, aerobic, and weight training all in one. This is perfect for merging movement and exercise into 1-2 hrs and seeing your body get strong fast right before your eyes.
Create a supportive practitioner team: a support team of people who truly care about getting to know you well, understanding your history, and finding out what makes you tick — all of this is a prerequisite for any health plan to work.
Focus on sustainable, simple next steps rather than overwhelming protocols.
Regularly reassess strategies: Continuously adjust your recovery strategies as your body changes and needs evolve.
Align recovery with personal rhythm: Cater any routine to your personal rhythm for sustainability and effectiveness. Your recovery plan must be as unique as your fingerprint.
Personal integrity: Practice being in integrity with yourself to support overall well-being and recovery.
Environment detox: Create spaces that support recovery (physical/mental). Protect your energy fiercely.
Your Health, Simplified
If you want a plan that works for your life, let’s talk.
👉 Book a 30-minute call to see if my approach is right for you.
📧 healthminis@proton.me
Note 1: I am not a doctor, and the information provided here is for educational purposes only. Before making any changes to your health routine, please consult with a trusted medical practitioner who is familiar with your specific health condition and can provide personalized advice.
Note 2: This post contains affiliate links, but only for products I personally use, absolutely love, and trust to be effective.
Really enjoyed the list and looking forward to more on each. I'd just add PEMF to the red light option -- they have similar effects of cell-feeding. (And my PEMF option called ICES was the most affordable option for home use I found for myself and my past clients.)
And rest periods as critical - totally agree! I think of exercise as teaching the body skills of strength and resilience. Like any learning, the brain~body needs time to incorporate and stabilise that learning in order to build on it.