Stay Gold · Free guide
Recovery
Unlocked
Rest. Repair. Reset.
Training is the stimulus. Recovery is where you actually get better. This is the toolkit we use with our members: sleep, breathing, mobility, sauna and cold, and a quieter head. Built from the experts, made simple enough to use tonight.
Recovery isn't a look. Nothing on this page is about shrinking. It's about sleeping better, moving better, feeling better, and showing up again. Every body, every age, every stage.
01 · Rest
Should you train today? Ask your body first.
Recovery is a skill you can train, says Dr. Andy Galpin. Step one is noticing. Six taps, and we'll tell you whether to go hard, go easy, or go home and nap.
02 · Quick quiz
What kind of recoverer are you?
Five questions. We'll tell you your recovery type and the three tools on this page that'll make the biggest difference for you. No wrong answers, only honest ones.
03 · Quick game
Sore or hurt?
Soreness is your body adapting. Pain is information. Learning the difference keeps you training and keeps you out of the physio's office. Six scenarios. Go.
04 · Repair
Breathe your way down.
Galpin's simplest recovery tool: after training, spend 3 to 10 minutes breathing slowly with longer exhales. It flips you from fight-or-flight to rest-and-repair. Follow the circle.
Feeling lightheaded? Breathe normally and stop. Nothing here should hurt.
Free · takes 20 seconds
Unlock the whole toolkit.
Tell us where to send the good stuff. You get every tool below, and it stays unlocked on this device.
- Sleep planner built around your wake time
- 24 guided mobility moves with a follow-along timer
- Sauna and cold plunge session builder
- Meditations matched to how you feel right now
- Perimenopause, pelvic floor and life-stage recovery
- Recovery 101: are you tired, or overreaching?
- Recovery fuel, myth-busting and a 7-day Reset tracker
Stay Gold · Brock Ave & Dundas St W, Toronto. We don't sell your info.
05 · The basics
Recovery 101.
Training doesn't make you fitter. Training plus recovery does. Dr. Andy Galpin's framing: the workout is the signal, recovery is where the change happens. Push the sliders and see.
Where are you on the ladder? Tick anything that's true lately.
Framework adapted from Dr. Andy Galpin's four levels of recovery. True overtraining is rare. Most of us are just under-slept.
Tired, or dug a hole? Find out.
Unlock free06 · Rest
Sleep, the free supplement.
Sleep scientist Dr. Matthew Walker boils good sleep down to four things. Nail these and most of your recovery takes care of itself.
Most adults need 7 to 9 hours. Not 5 and a coffee.
Unbroken, deep sleep. Cool, dark, quiet room.
Same wake time every day, weekends included. The big one.
Sleep when your body wants to. Night owls aren't lazy.
Your sleep window
Had a bad night?
- Don't sleep in. Get up at your usual time. Walker's advice: protect the schedule, not the single night.
- Don't go to bed early to catch up. Wait until you're actually sleepy.
- Skip the extra coffee after noon. It borrows from tonight.
- Awake at 3am? Don't lie there fighting it. Try the 10-minute NSDR below with your eyes closed.
- Still train, just lighter. Run the check-in above and trust it.
Bedroom check
Your sleep plan is one form away.
Unlock free07 · Repair
Mobility in ten minutes.
Physical therapist Dr. Kelly Starrett's point is simple: your body adapts to whatever you do most, including sitting. Give it a few minutes of something else every day. Pick a spot and a time, then follow along.
Where do you feel it?
How long have you got?
24 moves, one follow-along timer.
Unlock free08 · Reset
Heat & cold.
Sauna and cold plunge are tools, not tests of toughness. Dr. Rhonda Patrick's research is a good guide: consistency beats extremes, and hotter isn't better. Tell us your goal and we'll build the session.
Check with your doctor first if any of these are you
- Pregnant, or trying to be
- Heart condition, high or low blood pressure, or on meds that affect either
- Raynaud's, or anything that affects circulation or temperature sensing
- You've had alcohol, or you feel unwell, dizzy or dehydrated
- Never hold your breath in cold water, and get out the moment you feel dizzy, numb or panicky
Included with Solid Gold membership. Come see it on a free tour.
Build your first sauna and plunge session.
Unlock free09 · Reset
A quieter head.
Headwise is one of our six values for a reason. You don't need an hour or a cushion. Short practices work, and the trick is matching the practice to your mood. How do you feel right now?
Five practices, five moods.
Unlock free10 · Repair
Recovery fuel.
You can't out-sleep an empty tank. Under-eating is one of the most common reasons recovery stalls, and it's the least talked about. No macros here, just the basics that matter most.
Easy post-training ideas
45 recipes, meal plans and a smart shopping list live in Nutrition Unlocked, the other half of this guide.
What to eat to bounce back.
Unlock free11 · Your body
Recovery for every stage.
One-size recovery advice mostly fits one kind of body. Here's what changes with hormones, pregnancy, age and pain, and how we adjust your training around it.
Perimenopause, pelvic floor, postpartum and more.
Unlock free12 · Myth busting
Things we hear on the gym floor.
Tap a card to flip it. Some of these we used to believe too.
Ten recovery myths, busted.
Unlock free13 · Put it together
Your Reset Week.
Pick three or four habits. Tick them off. Don't chase perfect, chase most days. It saves on this device, and you can print it for the fridge.
Choose your habits
Build a week you'll actually stick to.
Unlock free14 · Go deeper
The library.
Every tool on this page comes from these experts. We credit the people who did the research, not the loudest mic. Long listens, so start with the short clips.
Lots of people first met Dr. Matthew Walker and Dr. Rhonda Patrick on The Joe Rogan Experience. Good doorway. The talks above are newer and go deeper on the practical stuff, so start here.
Books & tools behind this page
- Built to Move and Becoming a Supple Leopard, Dr. Kelly Starrett. The mobility reference texts.
- The New Menopause, Dr. Mary Claire Haver. The deeper read on perimenopause and menopause.
- Why We Sleep, Dr. Matthew Walker. Great for the habits. Some of its specific stats have been debated, so lean on the practical advice.
- Toolkit for Sleep, Huberman Lab newsletter. Free, one page, easy to follow.
- Waking Up app, Sam Harris. The natural next step if the meditation section clicks.
- FoundMyFitness, Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Sauna and cold research, with references.
12 expert talks, sorted by what you need.
Unlock freeWant a hand?
Recover with a coach.
Tools are great. A coach who notices you're running on empty and changes today's session is better. Tell us what's going on and we'll get back to you, or come see the gym first.