There are plenty of different bodybuilding sites nowadays that tout the use of enhanced recovery in order to achieve maximum gains.
Enhanced recovery calls for using different substances and techniques in order to stimulate muscle growth without needing a normal amount of rest. That means that you will have less down time in between workout sessions.
The ultimate goal of enhanced recovery is to increase gains within a shorter period of time, it won’t get you closer to your long-term goals. You, as a bodybuilder, should know straight off the bat that decreasing the rest your body needs is counterintuitive. Not only is it unhealthy, it is also unsustainable. Eventually all that neglect will catch up to you.
Why Enhanced Recovery Doesn’t Work
In my book, Rebound Like the Champ, I make sure to highlight the fact that, after a competition, you shouldn’t just let loose. You have to keep in form by taking advantage of the time you have after fasting and blasting your muscles in the weeks leading up to the competition. The fact is that the period following the show is the best time to take advantage of your biological conditions and improve yourself further.
As part of this improvement period, many different people will try to use it along with enhanced recovery to come out on top with bigger, better muscles. The problem is that we are all human beings. We may be working out to look like gods, but we are still people, and we have limits.
Enhanced recovery enhances your body at the moment, but those extra few hours that you can put into working out ultimately wreak havoc on your body further down the line. Enhanced recovery doesn’t work because the enhancement is basically borrowed time.
Training Frequency and Enhanced Recovery
Like I said, many people use enhanced recovery to get in more workouts with less resting periods in between. They do this by taking certain supplements that put their body into recovery mode faster, which is the period that your body repairs itself to build bigger muscles. The theory is that taking these supplements along with sleeping normally will repair your muscles faster and allow you to get into the gym sooner.
Our bodies are not meant to work in this way. No matter what, we will need rest, regardless of the supplement we take. The resting period is the ultimate time that your body takes to build the muscles you want; shortening that time period only works against you.
How to REALLY Get More Training in
There really are ways to gain great muscle mass without using enhanced recovery methods. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. You really need to follow a strict diet and workout regimen in order to get your body whipped into shape and working like a well-oiled machine.
In Rebound Like the Champ, I detail my techniques and workouts that take advantage of the recovery period while maintaining your training frequency. Ultimately, the true path to great gains comes from discipline and a knowledge of how our bodies work.