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I usually weigh a little over 200 pounds. I also train hard enough that my body is almost always responding to something: lifting, conditioning, skill work, or all three.
Then I go on vacation. I train less, get out of my normal routine, and sometimes lose six to eight pounds.
That sounds like inflammation leaving my body. Some of it may be lower training-related swelling. But the bigger explanation is usually less muscle glycogen, less water stored with it, different sodium and carbohydrate intake, and less food moving through my system.
It is not six to eight pounds of fat disappearing in a week.
That distinction matters. My goal is not to eliminate inflammation or stay at my vacation weight. My goal is to recover well enough that the stress created by training resolves instead of becoming recovery debt.
The scale is measuring more than body fat
Glycogen is stored carbohydrate. Every gram stored in muscle brings water with it. When training volume drops and carbohydrate intake changes, glycogen and water can drop quickly too.
Add less food volume and less swelling from repeated training, and the scale can move fast.
So I do not treat vacation weight loss as proof that training is making me unhealthy. I treat it as a reminder that body weight reflects more than fat.
The better question is:
Am I recovering well enough to perform, adapt, and feel like myself?
One bad day is noise. A pattern is information.
Hard training creates muscle damage and metabolic stress. The body responds with inflammation that helps begin the repair process.
That short-term response is part of adaptation.
The problem starts when total stress stays higher than your ability to recover. Then soreness stops resolving on schedule, performance stalls, and the body starts giving you the same warning in several different ways.
For me, the pattern looks like this:
- My normal warm-up feels unusually heavy.
- Performance stays flat or drops for several sessions.
- Sleep quality slips even when I spend enough time in bed.
- Resting heart rate stays elevated compared with my normal range.
- Soreness, joint irritation, or that “puffy” feeling hangs around.
- Motivation drops in a way that feels physical, not just mental.
Any one of those can happen. When several show up together and stay there, I pay attention.
My recovery hierarchy is boring on purpose
I have a sauna, cold plunge, pool, red-light panel, and a ChiliPad. I use all of them.
But none of them can rescue a bad recovery foundation.
1. Sleep
This is the anchor. I aim for seven to eight hours and keep the room dark, quiet, and cool. If recovery is slipping, the first question is not which device I need. It is whether I need more time in bed.
2. Fluid and sodium
A hard session costs both. A sauna adds another sweat exposure.
I use body weight before and after representative sessions to understand what I actually lose. Then I replace fluid and sodium accordingly. I do not guess, and I do not force huge amounts of plain water because more is not automatically better.
3. Food
Protein supports repair. Carbohydrate restores glycogen. Fluid and sodium replace what I lost through sweat.
If I finish a hard session and under-eat because I want the scale to stay low, I may weigh less the next morning. That does not mean I recovered better. It usually means I stayed depleted.
After demanding training, I eat a real meal: high-quality protein, enough carbohydrate for the work I did and what comes next, produce, and salt that matches my sweat loss.
4. Recovery tools
The tools come last because they support the basics. They do not replace them.
- Sauna: I use it for relaxation, heat exposure, and because I enjoy it. But heat is still a stressor. If I am already dehydrated or buried by training, more heat is not automatically useful.
- Cold plunge: I mostly use it during contrast sessions or when short-term readiness matters. I keep it away from the immediate post-lifting window when strength and muscle adaptation are the priority.
- Red light: Easy to use and potentially helpful, but still an adjunct. Dose and consistency matter, and I keep my expectations reasonable.
- Pool: Easy movement, relaxed laps, or walking in the water can help me feel less stiff. If it turns into another conditioning session, I missed the point.
Match recovery to the work
I do not follow the same recovery ritual every day.
After hard strength work: refuel, replace fluid and sodium, protect sleep, and skip immediate cold immersion.
After hard conditioning: rehydrate and refuel first. Easy pool work or sauna can fit later if it leaves me better, not more tired.
On a recovery day: walk, move easily, eat enough, sleep, and use the tools I enjoy without turning recovery into another test.
On vacation or during a deload: expect the scale to move. Keep protein and hydration steady. Let fatigue come down. Do not confuse temporary deflation with lost fitness.
Recovery should help you adapt to the work—not cancel out the reason you did it.
At 50, recovery is not about training softly. It is what allows me to keep training hard.
I do not want to erase every response created by a hard session. I want to give my body enough sleep, fluid, fuel, and time to complete that response.
Then I want to be ready to send the next signal.
— Jason Grubb
7x CrossFit Games Masters Champion
Founder, Bolder Athlete
Research
Heat and cold exposure are not appropriate for everyone. Cardiovascular conditions, blood-pressure problems, impaired temperature sensation, pregnancy, and some medications can change the risk. Stop for dizziness, chest pain, confusion, or unusual shortness of breath, and talk with a qualified medical professional when needed.
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