4 Ways to Test Your Recovery Rate

by Greg Nuckols 04/25/14

Here's what you need to know...
There are several methods of knowing how well you're recovering, and
consequently, how hard you should be pushing yourself in the gym day-to-
day. You can monitor your Testosterone/cortisol ratio, purchase an HRV app,
test grip strength, or simply test morning heart rate.
Once you've got an idea of how well you're recovering, it's time to adjust
your program. All you need to do is have a prescribed "step up" for good days
and a "step down" for bad days.
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This approach allows everyone to train like advanced lifters who have
enough experience to optimize their workouts to their daily ability. Instead of
learning over a decade of trial and error, you can apply the same approach
right now.
Programming can be a real pain. It takes a while to dial in the volume,
intensity, and frequency each individual needs. However, once you get all
those variables pinned down, daily fluctuations can throw everything off -- all
your prescribed weights might feel way too heavy one day, and then the next
day it feels like you're not pushing anywhere close to your limits. I want to
show you an easy way to change all that without introducing too much
subjectivity into your training plan.

The Problem With Subjectivity
If someone knows his body well enough, then using a rate of perceived
exertion (RPE) scale works great. You can know what weights to pick and
how much fatigue to accumulate across a workout for the desired training
response. If you can use it well, it's a very valuable tool. However, in my
experience, most people don't know how to use RPE at all.
First, for it to work well you need to know your body well enough to know
how many reps you still have in the tank at the end of a set. Second, you need
to be able to be honest with yourself in the middle of a workout about how
you feel. That gives some people license to slack off, and others the freedom
to say, "I had at least 4 more reps in me," on a set where the last rep was the
grind of the century.
As an alternative, most people do well with a plan that takes into account
daily fluctuations (as RPE does) without allowing for too much subjectivity.

Smash Weights or Take It Easy?
There are several methods of knowing how well you're recovering, and
consequently, how hard you should be pushing yourself in the gym day-to-
day.
1. Testosterone/Cortisol Ratio
The gold standard is Testosterone to cortisol ratio. If you just so happen to be
a biochemist with access to a lab, then feel free to take a saliva or blood
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sample each day and track T:C. The higher the ratio, the better off you are.
Unfortunately, this isn't an option for most of us.
2. Heart Rate Variability Monitoring
The next best option (and still a very good option) is heart rate variability
(HRV) monitoring. If you buy some HRV software or app for your phone, it'll
come with instructions for knowing how to interpret the data, so I won't wade
too far into an explanation of that. In essence, though, what HRV tells you is
how dominant your sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and
relax) nervous systems are. If you're getting high parasympathetic readings,
you're in the clear to push hard in the gym, but if you're getting high
sympathetic readings, that means stress is starting to accumulate and that
you'd do well to back off for a bit.
3. Test Your Grip Strength
Grip strength is another viable option. Grip strength is correlated with T:C
ratio and is best assessed with a hand dynamometer (you can pick one up on
Amazon for about $30). While they aren't as accurate as measuring T:C ratio
directly, they give pretty good approximations of recovery status. To use grip
strength as a measure, all you have to do is measure your grip strength daily,
at approximately the same time, for a couple weeks during light to normal
training to establish a baseline. After that, a higher than normal reading
indicates that you're ready to really smash some weight, and a lower than
normal reading indicates that you probably need to take it easy for a bit. Use
the dynamometer three times with each hand, and then take an average to
negate the possibility of a bad test.
4. Monitor Morning Heart Rate
The poor man's version of this type of testing is monitoring morning heart
rate, which correlates with peripheral nervous system activity. All you need is
a stopwatch. In the morning, before you've gotten out of bed, simply find your
pulse and count your heart rate for 60 seconds. Take a couple weeks to
establish a baseline, and after that, a high reading means you need a break,
and a low reading means you're recovering well.

What Do You Do With The Data?
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Once you've got an idea of how well you're recovering, it's time to adjust your
program. All you need to do is have a prescribed "step up" for good days and
a "step down" for bad days. That way, you won't go too far off base guessing
at what you need to do on any given day. For example, let's say you're on a
typical 5x5 program. When your T:C, HRV, grip strength, or morning HR
readings are normal, you stick with 5x5 for the day.
If T:C is high, HRV is indicating parasympathetic dominance, morning HR is
low, or grip strength is high, you know you're good for more that day. Instead
of just going 5x5, you could start with a heavy triple, hit your normal 5x5, and
finish with a burnout set of 10-15. Conversely, if your recovery barometer is
indicating that stress is accumulating, you may want to drop back to 3x3 with
your normal 5x5 weight, or drop your training weights by 10% for your 5x5 to
allow for more recovery.
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Spelling It All Out
HRV programs are pretty good about helping you interpret results, and for
grip and morning HR, anything more than a 5% swing is significant. If your
grip is 70kg, a reading above 74 means you're ready to tear into extra
weight/volume, and less than 66 means you need to take it a little easier. If
you normally have a morning HR of 70, it's just reversed -- 66 means you're
ready to rock, and 74 means you need to cool your jets.
After you've determined the biofeedback values for "exceptional," "normal,"
and "recovery" days, it's time to decide how to tweak your base program. This
is totally up to you, but in general, extra volume or a couple heavier sets are
perfect for "exceptional" days, and a reduction in volume is best for
"recovery" days. If you don't feel confident throwing a lot of extra wrinkles in
your program, you could adjust 5x5 to 8x5 or 2x5 based on biofeedback, and
leave everything else as-is. If you want to be a little more creative, be my
guest. J ust make sure you know exactly how you're going to adjust your plan.

The Benefits
In essence, this approach gets rid of the learning curve. It allows everyone to
train like advanced lifters who have enough experience to optimize their
workouts to their daily ability. Instead of learning over a decade of trial and
error, you can apply the same approach right now.

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