We’ve all experienced aches and pains in the past. Whether a minor tweak or a more severe injury, these things happen and can be a setback on our fitness journey.

So what should you do when you’re injured? Push through the pain and keep moving forward, or give your body ample rest and time to recover?

It’s important to understand that the favorable adaptation you’re looking for isn’t happening while you work out. The magic happens in-between workouts while you recover.

This is why it’s essential that you properly transition to recovery immediately after your training.

What does your cool-down process look like today? Is there anything you can do better?

If your goal is to put on lean muscle or improve your body composition, your training and eating will play a significant role in determining your progress. But there’s one other thing that plays a crucial part — your sleep.

Rest days are crucial because the real magic happens in between your workouts while you’re recovering.

Know what’s cool about foam rolling? Nothing. That’s why it’s time to throw that old-school, pool-noodle phrase away.

What if I told you that you could decrease your recovery time between training sessions? Or that you could quickly make a painful tissue feel better? Or heck, even improve your ability to achieve positions you use while training more easily? Well, that isn’t foam rolling. Please let me introduce you instead to soft tissue mobilization.

A lot of us probably recall the RICE protocol for dealing with injuries — Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Well, it turns out that this approach to acute injuries is actually pretty outdated and not the type of cold we’re talking about today. You still want to rest and elevate after an injury, but icing it is actually up for debate.

But what about deliberate, full-body cold exposure via cold air, cold shower, or full-body immersion?

We’re kicking things off this month with sleep because it’s probably the most important thing when it comes to optimizing your recovery.

We all know that sleep matters, yet many people don’t appreciate just how important it really is.

Sleep experts have gone as far as to say that “sleep is probably the greatest legal performance-enhancing drug that few are abusing enough.”