The LETHAL Recovery Guide
The definitive tier list of what actually works - backed by a decade in the trenches.
The fitness industry is drowning in recovery bullshit.
Supplement companies pushing miracle pills. Overpriced massage guns. "Revolutionary" compression systems. Cold plunges. Saunas. Foam rollers.
Every day another gimmick designed to empty your wallet instead of actually helping you recover.
99% of men are wasting their time and money on recovery methods that barely move the needle.
I've spent a decade in the trenches of injury rehabilitation and recovery.
I've gone down every rabbit hole, tested every method on myself and hundreds of clients, and consulted with the elite specialists working with UFC champions, NFL stars, PGA tour professionals, and military special operations units.
The truth?
Most of what you've been sold about recovery is complete garbage.
Today, I'm cutting through the marketing bullshit.
I've created the definitive tier list of recovery methods – from what actually works to what's a complete waste of your resources.
This isn't theory. This is battle-tested knowledge from working with men who need to perform at the absolute apex of human capability.
No supplements to sell you. No affiliations.
Just the unfiltered truth about what actually works.
I have even created a tiering system which you can see below:
Let’s start with the S+ tier…
S+ TIER: LOAD MANAGEMENT
This is the most underrated means of recovery by a long stretch.
More often than not when I audit someone's training process, they are training like idiots.
Multiple high intensity days in a row - particularly common in the martial arts guys I consult.
Think of your training load as a cup of water.
There is only so much work you can do in a single week until you're no longer recovering from it.
This is why methods like simply reducing volume in the gym when lifting weights helps guys break through strength plateaus.
It's not because the method has any magical elements, other than the fact you're doing less work so it allows your body to recover.
The beauty of load management is that it's malleable. You can train yourself to do more work, to make your cup 'bigger.' That's why building an elite gas tank is incredibly valuable.
S TIER: QUALITY SLEEP, NUTRITION & LOW STRESS
SLEEP
High quality sleep is the closest thing to a natural steroid.
You see guys like LeBron James sleeping 10-12 hours daily. You have all the best athletes in the world constantly monitoring their sleep scores with technology. This is no coincidence.
The release of human growth hormone, reduction of inflammatory markers, and enhanced cognitive processing that occurs during high-quality sleep isn't only beneficial for physical performance but for mental sharpness.
For the business owners reading this, the dumbest thing you can possibly do when you need to make high-level decisions is be sleep deprived. You're literally losing money by taking this approach to business.
NUTRITION
View your body as a vehicle - a supercar. The better the fuelling you use, the more adequate building blocks your body has to recover.
You should be getting as many vitamins, minerals, carbs, proteins and fats from whole food sources as possible (animal sources, fruits, vegetables).
The basics: 1 gram of protein per 1lb of bodyweight. Use an app like Cronometer (zero affiliation) to track if you're hitting the necessary vitamins, minerals, carbs and fat ratios.
This will do more for your recovery than any single supplement ever will.
LOW STRESS
This is arguably one of the most challenging aspects to navigate and change. Especially if you're an ambitious man juggling training, relationships (kids, partner), business or career goals.
A constant theme I notice among high-performers is that all the meditation, manifestation and cold plunging will not help someone who does not have an organised life.
You need to be a master operator and executor. This has been the biggest driver of managing stress for me and clients who get more done before 10am than the average person gets done all week.
You need a scheduling system. You need deep work blocks. You need to be incredibly intelligent with how you allocate your time.
The better my clients are organised and have structure, the easier it is for them to minimise the stresses of their lives.
A TIER: ELITE GAS TANK, HYDRATION & DAILY SUNLIGHT
ELITE GAS TANK
Being more aerobically fit is an incredibly under-discussed tool for developing a greater ability to recover.
If you think of your cardiovascular fitness as a literal gas tank, training this quality gives you a bigger tank that you can deploy towards any task of your choosing - business, training, family time, travel, expedition. You choose, it doesn't matter.
What it also does is:
Clears metabolic waste after hard sessions
Improves circulation and oxygenates your body
Allows you to recover more effectively between sets, sessions and your week overall
I go into more detail about these concepts in my VO2 Maxxing Protocol - which you can check out by clicking the button below:
HYDRATION
Hydration is absolutely paramount, particularly for those of you training martial arts.
Think of your brain as a sponge. The better hydrated you are, the 'fuller' the sponge. If you take shots to the head while dehydrated, you're being an idiot - training with a dried-out sponge where your brain isn't properly protected inside your skull.
When it comes to hydration, if you have heavy training (over 90 minutes and/or in humid conditions), supplementing electrolytes may be intelligent.
If this isn't you, just salt your food and ensure you're getting enough mineral content from the foods you eat. I see too many guys taking electrolytes when training for 30-60 minutes who don't even need them.
Fruit + salt + honey + water = you're likely going to be adequately hydrated.
DAILY SUNLIGHT
The majority reading this article, especially those in cooler geographical locations, are probably vitamin D deficient.
Sunlight sits at such a high position in this list because it impacts so many cellular functions:
Your circadian rhythm (influencing sleep and hunger)
The health of your eyes and cells
Your ability to generate energy from mitochondria
Exposing as much skin as possible to sunlight during low UV periods of the day - even combining it with low-level aerobic fitness like walking or jumping rope - is one of the most underrated ways of supporting recovery effectively.
B TIER: SOCIALIZING, MEDITATION, TIME IN NATURE
I'm grouping these activities together as their fundamental premise is creating presence in your life.
We are constantly bombarded with notifications, work emails, news and other high-cortisol stimuli throughout our day.
The reality is, now more than ever in 2025, we need tools to bring us back to the present. There's no better way to do so than through:
Spending time with loved ones
Spending time outdoors (where you get sunlight, fresh air)
Walking in nature (which can be meditative in itself)
Meditation doesn't need to be a passive activity of sitting down and focusing, though there are benefits to this approach. I personally don't find it valuable, but many do.
C TIER: SUPPLEMENTS, COLD EXPOSURE, SAUNA
These elements have become increasingly popular with the globalisation of athlete recovery protocols. Everyone's doing the bells and whistles - sauna, ice bath, mobility drills, taking 50+ different supplements.
But the reality? Unless you're an elite athlete yourself, these should not be your primary focus.
The name 'supplement' tells you everything about how significant a tool they should be. They should SUPPLEMENT a high-quality diet, providing nutrients we tend to miss from food (mainly minerals due to decreased soil mineralization).
The same applies to sauna and cold baths. They might make you feel good, but many don't realise these are stressful stimuli. Both methods shock the body and cause a stress response.
To call them recovery tools is foolish. The number of chronically overworked clients I've convinced to stop spamming these modalities who subsequently felt 10x better is staggering. They were finally recovering properly.
D TIER: FOAM ROLLING, MASSAGE GUNS, COMPRESSION
As someone who specialises in injury recovery - these tools have been a bane of my existence.
Am I saying people don't feel subjectively better using these tools? No.
But there are far better tools at your disposal that are both free AND drive positive adaptations. These methods provide very short-term changes which may be valuable for the elite of the elite athletes, but I'd much rather utilise the higher-tier tools that are far more effective and easier to incorporate into your lifestyle.
THE LETHAL GENTLEMAN'S RECOVERY FRAMEWORK
While everyone else is wasting hundreds of dollars of fancy gadgets & supplements, you now possess something far more valuable:
A bulletproof framework based on what actually works.
This isn't just theory. This is the exact system I've refined working with elite athletes and operators who can't afford to be sidelined.
Men whose livelihoods depend on their ability to recover and perform consistently at the highest level.
The framework is simple:
Master the S+ and S tier modalities FIRST. Until you've optimized your load management, sleep, nutrition, and stress - everything else is just expensive placebo.
Only after you've built this foundation should you even consider the lower tiers.
Constantly audit your recovery protocol. If something isn't producing measurable results, cut it without mercy.
The gap between good and great isn't found in ice baths and fancy gadgets.
It's found in the relentless discipline to prioritise what actually moves the needle.
Start being the man who strategically deploys recovery as a weapon to forge unstoppable durability.
J.Krucial
"The number of chronically overworked clients I've convinced to stop spamming these modalities who subsequently felt 10x better is staggering. They were finally recovering properly."
Thank you for pointing this out.
I myself realised some of these behaviorus just last week.
Chronically stressed about work and family. Started eating less meat in the last 5-6 months or so. Couldn't get results at the gym. Sleep quality dropped like a stone in water. Body started failing me. I started thinking "Why don't the cold showers and supplements work?" Geez.
It definitely is all about discipline and stopping overly harsh/aggressive approaches that don't really support one's health. It is counterproductive.
S Tier is more than enough. It's true that recovery is pornified these days. Exercising is way more basic when people are making it. You just need short, intense weightlifting and long, relaxed recovery periods. Guys like Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer had figured it all out decades ago. But you can't make a lot of money from training philosophies like these. So people invent shit to sell you the idea of better, when actually less is better. There are so many more things to do than exercising in this life. One should better spend his time doing that than be obsessed about training and recovery.