Recovery is everything. Without adequate recovery not only will your training performance suffer greatly, you will place yourself in a rapidly aging state and increase the likelihood of health issues. Your hormonal profile for sure will be negatively affected which is why sex drive and function are obliterated when stress levels remain too high for too long. You may be able to prevail for a while, but it is a battle of attrition and every battle of attrition ends the same way with you coming out on the losing end. Restoration must be prioritized to avoid this abysmal fate. We recover the most when we enjoy a long-duration deep sleep every night. Unfortunately, many pride themselves and believe the illusion of only requiring 4-5 hours of sleep per night and wear it as an erroneous badge of honor. Nevertheless, these folks always look considerably older than they are, have wrinkles so deep you could slide two credit cards through them, look constantly worn out, and rely on copious amounts of caffeine and or other stimulants to get through the day. Abusing alcohol and caffeine only makes matters much worse and more often than not folks who are sleep-deprived abuse both.

Many will argue that they don’t have time to sleep eight hours per night but I don’t believe anyone who pronounces this specious statement and also owns a smartphone and has a TV. Eradicate wasting time on social media, binge-watching moronic shows on streaming services, and surfing on YouTube and most will find that free time magically appears and can be allocated towards long-duration recovery inducing deep sleep. Social media is the most nefarious so if you only cut out one thing, obliterate social media such as Instagram and Twitter. You will be shocked by how much time you wasted on both platforms when you no longer use them. Both are terrible for focus and brain health which is why many regular users of social media can’t even watch a movie anymore as they no longer have an attention span. These same people can’t even go out to dinner with their respective spouses and enjoy a conversation. Instead, they sit together look at Instagram, and take pics of what they’re eating to post. This is what spending hours scrolling and liking brief clips does to your brain over time. Wasting time on social media not only takes away time that could be utilized for sleeping but also has a very negative impact on sleep quality. Looking at your phone for an hour or even way less before going to sleep will hamper the production of the sleep hormone melatonin and once your melatonin levels are depleted there is no telling how messed up your sleep quality can get. Melatonin in addition to being crucial for sleep quality is also a powerful antioxidant that passes the blood-brain barrier. It is very important for brain health and also has a positive impact on growth hormone production. Growth hormone is a very restorative hormone that is very important for training recovery and overall health. Every night that you enjoy high-quality sleep is an anti-aging gift to yourself and every night you fail to is a punishment that accelerates aging. 

Poor sleep increases the stress hormone cortisol which is made from progesterone. The sex hormone progesterone is important to keep estrogen levels in check in both men and women and when the cortisol steal happens progesterone is cannibalized to make cortisol prompting estrogen to run wild with reckless abandon. The excess estrogen leads to excess body fat being stored in the lower body, pecs, and stomach. This condition has become so prevalent that I see men and women every day that are visibly estrogen dominant. Every time you train intensely, you increase cortisol. Not a big deal if your sleep is on point as well as other effective recovery methods such as regular massages, meditation, and when it comes to supplementation dedication to regular usage of systemic enzymes foremost as well as magnesium. Yet, if your restoration program is not on point, you are simply increasing cortisol every time and subsequently breaking your body down. This is why many find as they age, they not only stop making progress with physical training but often cause more damage and suffer unnecessarily from excessive joint pain. Forget about making progress, you won’t even be able to maintain what you have built when you’re in this depleted state for too long. 

This debilitating process crushes motivation as who wants to try to train intensely and feel weaker and beaten down? This will often lead to a sedentary lifestyle and a sedentary lifestyle is disastrous for your overall health and vitality. Especially among those of us who enjoy intense physical training and the empowering feeling that comes with it when you’re actually making progress. Legendary bodybuilder and fitness expert Clarence Bass on an episode of the LLA show stated metabolism doesn’t decline as people age, activity levels go down which in turn lowers metabolic rate. Activity levels will of course go down when exercise becomes painful. If even walking around the block is uncomfortable then you can forget about engaging in intense strength training. Anytime I have an injury from training, activities that I enjoy doing such as taking my dogs for long walks or skateboarding become arduous. Fortunately, I am not someone that just accepts pain and will always take measures to get back to vitality as I love being active and it is crucial for my mental health as well as my physical health. 

There is so much to take advantage of today it’s simply a matter of what is important to you. Are you fine with being sedentary regaling anyone who will listen to what you used to be able to do or would you rather be able to engage in activities you enjoy now and for as long as possible? I definitely choose the latter which is why I am obsessed with having an optimal hormonal profile which includes dedication to ideal restoration. When your hormones are in balance, you feel alive and vital ready to take on challenges and push the limits of your capacities. I never understood why anyone wouldn’t want to feel this way but sadly many don’t believe it’s possible and just accept whatever debilitation comes their way. This is even more insidious if everyone you know is aging poorly. Afterall. why would you think it is possible to age with strength and grace when everyone around you is falling apart? This is why the company you keep is crucial but I digress and will save this topic for another day. 

Let’s get into an action plan that will assist you with revitalizing your health and optimizing your hormones so that you can operate at full capacity and take charge of every day. If you have been living with aches, pains, and low energy, it is time to make sleep a priority. The most effective supplements I carry to evoke high-quality sleep are my recovery oilloaded with magnesium and MSM and my systemic enzymes product Restorezyme. Magnesium is the most important mineral for hormone optimization and has a positive impact on testosterone and growth hormone. It also helps lower cortisol and induce relaxation which makes it perfect to use post-workout and especially before bedtime. I like to apply 8 sprays of my recovery oil after my post-workout shower and another 8 sprays a few hours before bedtime. If you wait until right before you go to sleep you are more likely to forget to apply it.  Restorezyme lowers cortisol levels, more specifically it lowers the need for a cortisol response to inflammation which will in turn help you relax and get into a deep sleep state rapidly. Anyone with aches and pains or injuries knows what a negative impact it can have on deep sleep. It is difficult to relax and fall asleep when you have pain in your back, neck, knees, or anywhere for that matter. While Restorezyme is useful when taken at bedtime on an empty stomach, the best time to use it is post-workout. Here is what my friend Dr. William Wong a leading expert on systemic enzymes states on the topic, Five to ten capsules (depending on the intensity of the exercise) taken on an empty stomach after a workout will curb inflammation, improve recovery, speed tissue rebuilding and most importantly reduce the immune systems cortisol release in response to the post-training inflammation. If systemic enzymes are taken as daily supplements they will have a multitude of benefits you can study later but for now, know that they improve anabolism mostly by reducing cortisol catabolic effects. Speeding recovery from exercise and preventing post-exercise soreness is also a plus.

In addition to taking systemic enzymes and magnesium, I encourage everyone to make an appointment with an ART practitioner in your area (visit www.activerelease.com). I learned about ART practitioners from the late elite strength coach Charles Poliquin and have been taking advantage of their incredibly helpful services since 2001! ART practitioners are masters at addressing injuries and can teach you a variety of mobility moves to practice for your specific needs. If you have any injuries, you owe it to yourself to make an appointment with an ART person in your area.  I am fortunate to have access to the best ART Practitioner I have ever used Dr. Kyle Buth here in Vegas. Whenever I injure myself training or from an activity I enjoy such as skateboarding, I always make an appt with Dr. Buth, and 100% of the time I always get serious relief. Back in 2019, I had a groin tear while doing deficit TrapBar Deadlifts. I was in serious pain and thought I really screwed up and would not be able to train for months. Just getting off the couch was excruciating! I went to see Dr. Buth soon after the injury occurred and within two weeks of a few treatments per week, I was at least 75% recovered. The pain wasn’t completely eradicated but it was dulled considerably and I was able to resume full-body training. A few months later the pain was completely erased. I also took a high dosage of Restorezyme during this period (10 caps 2x per day) but as powerful as enzymes are, just using it alone to address the injury definitely would not have been enough. I needed physical therapy and didn’t hesitate to get it immediately and also made sure to do all of the rehabilitation exercises Dr. Buth recommended diligently. Often, people don’t recover from injuries fully because one they don’t get physical therapy, and two even when they do, they fail immensely to do all of the recommended rehabilitation exercises. You have one body so don’t ever neglect it. You can buy another house or another car but you get one body in this lifetime and you must take care of it to make it last. Sadly, I see more people who care about what their lawns look like than their own bodies which is beyond disheartening but hey that is their choice. 

In summary, the most important supplements to take advantage of for recovery and overall health and vitality are systemic enzymes and magnesium. These are supplements that everyone who engages in intense physical training cares about hormone optimization, and wants to attenuate recovery time should prioritize. While ASTB is by far my best seller and for good reason as what man doesn’t want to have a high sex drive, incredible mood, and feel like a savage in the gym dripping with confidence? I certainly do and ASTB is a big part of why I have superior natural levels of testosterone now at nearly 50 than I did when I first learned about hormone optimization in my early 30s. However as important as ideal levels of free testosterone are, it is definitely not enough. You must address excess inflammation and take measures to optimize restoration. If folks understood the full power of a high-quality systemic enzyme such as Restorezyme, then it would be the best-selling product I have. Increasing testosterone is sexy and every man gets why it is important. However, not every man understands how crucial addressing excess inflammation is for health and quality of life but once you do, you will definitely make Restorezyme a priority. Walking around with excessive joint pain and being in a constantly inflamed state is definitely not sexy nor is feeling constantly exhausted and being in a rapidly aging state. 

The key to systemic enzymes is to determine the activation dosage. This is the dosage where you derive maximum benefit. For one person it may only be six caps per day and for another, it may be fifteen caps or more per day. It depends on how intense you train, what injuries you have, and how well you sleep. The more inflammation you have the greater the required dosage for maximum benefit. This requires a level of patience and dedication. Once you find the activation dosage it will be undeniable. Unlike NSAIDs, systemic enzymes are free of side effects and won’t damage your liver. I generally take five caps two times per day. After workouts on training days and before bedtime every day. Make sure to take systemic enzymes on an empty stomach otherwise, they become digestive enzymes which are not useless as the more energy you derive from food the better, but will not be utilized to eat up inflammation and induce healing which is the foremost benefit of systemic enzymes. If I get injured or experience excessive soreness, I go up to 10 caps 2x per day which works wonders. 

Recovery is everything. Whether it is the ability to recover from an intense workout, a long business trip, a tough work week, or a prolonged period of personal stress. If you don’t have strong recovery abilities you’re burning the candle at both ends. This is made much worse by abusing caffeine, stimulants, alcohol, recreational drugs, online porn, and phone addiction. Training too intensely too often is also common among those of us who love to train and are addicted to the stimulus of exercise. By focusing on making progress instead of training for the sake of training, you will make recovery and restoration a priority as failure to do so will make progress impossible. Nothing is more important for recovery than regular deep sleep and high levels of stress and inflammation will impede sleep quality and place you in a rapidly aging state. Add systemic enzymes and magnesium to your regimen today, create an environment that enhances deep sleep, take advantage of ART therapy to address injuries, and enjoy having a strong body and mind that allows you to live life fully for as long as possible.