The Leader's Guide to Recovery: Essential Rest Strategies for High Achievers
Any athlete can tell you how performance tanks if she doesn’t recover enough. But what about high-achieving individuals who are constantly on the run, with obligations left and right, high-stress situations back-to-back, and so much compressed into so little time they barely have time to pee? How can they do recovery without losing their edge?
High achievers often do better under pressure. The stress feeds performance. That is, as long as there is time to recover. No one survives being 100% on all the time. That kind of constant strain profoundly impacts vitality and overall health. If you’re looking for a keystone to consistently higher performance, that central stone at the top of the arch that holds all the others in place, it’s recovery. Without it, the entire structure falls down and you feel like crap.
Even flow, that magic high-performance state where you are deeply focused and wildly productive, requires time to recuperate. Rian Doris, of the Flow Research Collective, explains that flow fits into a four-step process: struggle, release, flow (in 90 minute cycles), followed by recovery—and he specifies that alcohol and TV both block recovery. Now you know.
FYI, it can take from two to seven days to recover fully from a 40- to 60-minute hard workout (like a CrossFit WOD). How much does a non-stop leader or entrepreneur need?
What is Recovery?
In his book Boundless, Ben Greenfield writes, “The default state of the body is one of regeneration.” When you give your body and mind time to rebound from intense activity or a stressful day, you give it time to return to a state where it has the ability to meet or exceed performance again and again.
If we correlate high everyday performance to athletic performance, recovery includes:
mineral repletion (see article on Clear Thinking)
muscle fiber repair
nervous system healing
immune system rehabilitation
hormone and neurotransmitter restoration
All of which are key to function well every day, all the time.
Ways to Recover
Sleep. Forget “You snooze you lose.” In fact, you snooze and you get a big boost of what’s making you win. Your ZZZ’s form the mainstay of your recovery: muscles repair, memory consolidates, the brain cleans up cellular gunk, and the body releases hormones that regulate growth and appetite (!). It’s a full tune-up.
The right ratio. Then there’s the day’s pace. Demands and individual resilience both impact the work-to-rest ratio. However, our physiology runs on “ultradian rhythms,” which are 90- to 120-minute cycles during which the body physiologically shifts through both high performance and a craving for recovery. You’ve felt that: restlessness, yawning, hunger, and difficulty concentrating. Intermittent breaks for renewal result in higher, more sustainable performance. The length of the renewal period counts less than its quality.
Detachment. Full, 100% disengagement—that’s when we detach ourselves from a stressor—optimizes recovery. You have to stop thinking about it, too—flip the cognitive switch to another channel. In other words, use different resources during play than during work. Counter 100% on with 100% off.
Design your time. Leisure time is part of recovery. If your time off includes obligations, it’s not time off. An important element of well-being and intrinsic motivation comes from feeling like you can design your time on your own. Add to that a sense of purpose and connection with others and you have a winning trio.
The nose knows. A deep abdominal breath followed by exhaling slowly for five to six seconds induces relaxation and recovery. This is a great one to add into the day regularly to turn off the fight-or-flight response, helping recovery.
More on the nose. Nasal breathing all the time, even when pushing yourself hard physically, improves strength, balance, focus, endurance, and recovery, by reducing the amount of cortisol produced.
Stretching. Flexibility work calms you down, activating the parasympathetic nervous system—the one that allows for recovery and regeneration. Do it at the end of the day to improve sleep.
Cold exposure. Whether you chose cryochambers (-200°F), ice baths, or cold showers, getting some form of cold exposure every day (morning and evening) produces a mild stress that stimulates and adaptive response that improves overall recover. Basically, it gives your circulatory system a workout as it constricts to keep blood inside to maintain your core body temperature.
Evening Recovery Booster
Here’s a short recovery-boosting routine to do before lights out.
Start with a brain-dump—write out whatever you need to let go of from the day.
Do three or four restful yoga flexibility poses.
Take a hot bath (with Epsom salts) or shower.
Follow up with a cold shower (don’t hate me—it will improve your recovery).
Do 10 minutes of meditation.
Read from a good novel.