How does a pro recover? We talked with HPT athlete Alex Wild on what a typical recovery routine looks like for him day-to-day. You may be a bit surprised, but he employs just a few tools and tactics to keep it simple.
We sat down with High Performance Team (HPT) member Alex Wild on his daily recovery routine as a professional athlete and full-time employee. With a multitude of options out there, recovery tools and practices can seem overwhelming. Alex relies heavily on Hyperice’s line of products to keep recovery efficient, effective, and stress-free.
So, what does his typical routine look like?
Alex: My go-to is the Hyperice Normatec Boots – you just throw 'em on. My maintenance routine most days is at least 25 minutes on power five each afternoon and then I'll go all the way up to like an hour on level seven if I'm just crushed. I'm not sure that has any more benefit, but it sure does feel nice to sit in the boots for an hour.
I never do [level] seven before hard days or interval days. I don't know if it's in my head, but for me, it just feels like too much. I'll do the level five for 25 minutes before races, intervals, and stuff like that. Honestly, every night when I'm training I'll be in the boots and then I'll combine that with the “couch stretch” – it’s the only stretch I do repeatedly just to keep the hip flexors open.
Then, when I'm motivated enough, I'll do the foam rolling with the Viper GO or use the Hypervolt.
Alex’s philosophy on recovery modalities is that “less is more”. A lot of the time, recovery can become a workout of its own. Instead, Hyperice products allow Alex to keep things easy, simple, and lazy!
Yeah, it’s about what's easy, right? Because if you make this elaborate recovery routine, you might do it for a day, a week, or a month, but it's about what you can fall back on and make part of your lifestyle almost. So, for me, it works out nicely because we'll eat dinner and then we'll watch some TV for a little bit before we walk the dogs and that's the perfect time to just squeeze in some boots.
It becomes part of your routine. I feel like people can just get too far into, “I have to stretch and then I have to roll and then I have to do 40 minutes [in the boots], and then I have to do a hot/cold plunge, and then I have to go to sleep.” By the time you're done with all that, it's like 1:00 AM. For me, back away from my sleep. I need to sleep from *here* to *here* and then anything I can do on top of that to recover is great.
For Alex’s “acute recovery”, he has two or three things that stay a priority immediately post-ride for a typical busy day between work and workouts.
Immediately post-ride, it’s normally straight to a recovery shake. That's my first go-to is to grab the blender bottle, shake up a recovery mix, and then take a shower. Normally for me, those two things [come first] and then either pop something in the microwave or make some food and then it's back to work.
Photo courtesy of: B. Wild Productions
