February 9, 2025 • 9 mins
Are you training hard but still feeling weak, sluggish, or constantly sore?
Every time I’ve been injured—whether it was in the SEAL Teams, weightlifting, or jiu-jitsu—it wasn’t because I was training too hard. It was because I wasn’t fueling, hydrating, or sleeping right.
Here’s the truth:
💀 You don’t get stronger in the gym. You get stronger when you recover.
💀 If you’re always exhausted, sore, or plateauing—it’s NOT your training. It’s your recovery.
In this episode, I’m breaking down:
✅ Why recovery is the missing key to peak performance.
✅ How to fuel your body so you actually build muscle (instead of wrecking it).
✅ The 3 biggest mistakes that are killing your gains.
✅ And the 3 things you MUST do today to fix it.
If you’re serious about leveling up your strength, energy, and performance—hit play NOW.
🔥 Listen, execute, and dominate.
Join the Brotherhood today! https://www.skool.com/thehighlyeffectiveman/about
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast hosted by
former Navy SEAL turned lifeand fitness coach.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan.
This podcast is your resourcefor unlocking the healthiest,
most productive and highlyeffective man within you.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
What's up guys?
Welcome back to the HighlyEffective man podcast, the place
where we cut through the noiseand give you real, actionable
strategies to dominate yourfitness, sharpen your mindset
and lead with purpose.
All right, gents, listenents,listen up.
Okay, because if you'retraining like a beast and you
still feel weak and sluggish andconstantly banged up, I'm gonna
(00:52):
tell you why.
It's not your training, it'syour recovery.
Okay, every single time I'vebeen injured, whether it was in
the seal teams and weightlifting, juitsu, it wasn't
because I was pushing too hard,it was because I wasn't fueling,
I wasn't hydrating, I wasn'tsleeping at night, you know, and
I just ignored it until my bodywas like bro, you gotta stop.
(01:13):
Okay?
Now let me be real with you.
You're not getting stronger inthe gym.
You get stronger when yourecover and if you don't master
this, you're just settingyourself up for failure and
you're going to always feel likeyou're sore, you're tired.
You're always wondering, like,why the hell am I not making
progress?
(01:34):
Well, today I'm going to breakit down.
We're going to talk about whyrecovery is a secret weapon to
getting stronger, leaner andmore explosive, how to fuel your
body so you're actuallybuilding muscle instead of
wrecking it the three biggestrecovery mistakes that are
killing your progress and threethings that you can do today to
fix it.
So, if you're serious aboutleveling up, strap in, because
(01:57):
we're going to get after it Now.
You can train as hard as youwant, but if your recovery sucks
, your progress is going to sucktoo.
Every time I've ever had aninjury in weightlifting jujitsu,
the SEAL teams, you know I usedto think it was maybe it's just
bad luck.
It wasn't bad luck, it was badrecovery.
(02:18):
I was either under eating, Iwas either dehydrated or I
wasn't sleeping, okay.
And then bam, I get an injury.
Now, not stretching andskipping mobility work another
injury, okay.
So here's the thing.
I've only figured that out thehard way, right after I got hurt
.
Now, if you're constantly sore,tired and plateauing, wake up,
(02:42):
because you're going to be justlike me.
You're breaking down your bodyfaster than you can repair it.
Now here's the hard truth.
Okay, when we're training,we're stressing our body, and
recovery is when our body'sgrowing, okay.
So if you're not recoveringhard, you're not training hard,
you're just beating yourself up,okay.
(03:03):
So you got to take yourrecovery just as serious as you
take your training.
So let's fix this.
Now, when it comes to the fuelor the food that we're eating,
most guys, and people in general, are under fueled, right, or I
shouldn't say under fueled, butthey're not eating the right
types of food, okay, or they'reover caffeinated and they're
(03:25):
wondering why they feel likegarbage.
So let's just simplify it.
Okay, think of protein as thebuilder.
Right, you need one gram perpound of body weight.
You can even get away with 0.8per pound of body weight, no
excuses.
Okay, carbs, that's the fuel.
Okay, carbs get a bad rap.
Right, but it's only when we'reeating too many carbs.
(03:46):
So stop fearing carbs.
Okay, eat clean carbs aroundyour workouts.
Stuff, like you know rice,potatoes, fruit, those types of
things.
And fats those are your hormoneregulators.
Okay, you need fat to producetestosterone, so make sure
you're getting in your avocados,your nuts, your olive oil you
(04:06):
know all those good fats.
The biggest mistakes people aremaking is skipping on protein,
eating processed garbage andthen maybe not having a pre and
post workout type of meal ornutrition.
The simple fix is just makesure you're getting protein in
every meal, right.
Carbs before and after training.
(04:27):
Healthy fats to make sure thatyour hormones are dialed in.
It's not rocket science.
Just eat like an athlete andnot a teenage gamer.
Right Now, one of the mostoverlooked performance enhancers
is your sleep.
Okay, because, let's be real,for a lot of people, sleep is
(04:48):
just an afterthought.
Okay.
So if you're sleeping like crap, you're going to perform like
crap.
Okay, when you have poor sleep,that's going to equal low
testosterone, slow recovery andjust more fat storage.
Okay, I used to think you knowI could grind out in like five
hours a night, right, but youknow what I got?
(05:09):
I got more injuries, weak assworkouts and low energy and zero
progress.
Okay, if you want to be anelite performer, an athlete, a
CEO or an operator, you got toguard your sleep like a paycheck
.
Okay, and things that we can doto improve our sleep are no
(05:29):
screens 60 minutes before bedright, because blue light wrecks
your melatonin.
Try to get into a cool, dark,quiet room.
Think of it as a cave and not asauna, right.
One of the things that I reallylike is a chili pad, and this
is by no means a promotion of it, but I just found that it
really helped me with my sleepbecause I could stay under the
(05:51):
covers and still stay cool atnight.
Okay, and then setting the samesleep schedule every night.
Okay, your body needs a rhythm,all right.
So if you flip, if you fix yoursleep, okay, you're going to
start feeling a lot better.
Okay, let's talk about hydrationand stretching and recovery.
(06:14):
Okay, you want to know how tostay injury-free?
Make sure you hydrate, makesure you stretch, make sure you
recover.
Okay, most guys and people arechronically dehydrated and
wonder why their joints feellike crap.
Right, they're complainingabout their achy elbows or their
achy knees.
Right, maybe it's becauseyou're dehydrated and you're not
(06:36):
drinking enough water.
So some quick fixes are just tostart every morning with 20
ounces of water and a little bitof sea salt.
Okay, start aiming for 80 to100 ounces of water per day.
Okay, it can be like you couldsay 80 to 100 ounces per day, or
half your body weight in ounces.
Okay, and then mobility ifyou're not stretching,
(07:00):
eventually you're gonna breakperiod.
Okay, because stiff muscles,they're gonna equal poor
movement, which then equals aninjury waiting to happen.
So just add five to ten minutesof mobility work daily.
Okay, this will add years toyour training life and it's
going to help you just feelbetter and move better.
(07:22):
So you can either do it now, oryou can pay for it later.
All right, no excuses.
Here's what we're going to dotoday.
You're going to fix yourprotein intake.
You're going to get 1 gram 0.8to 1 gram per pound of body
weight.
Today, you're going to lock inyour sleep and get seven plus
(07:44):
hours minimum, and then you'regoing to hydrate like an athlete
okay, 80 to 100 ounces daily,no exceptions.
Do these three things andyou're going to feel like a
machine.
If you skip them, you're goingto feel like you're spinning
your wheels.
Okay, so it's your call.
So here's the challenge Pickone thing from today's episode
(08:05):
and commit to it this week.
Then get into the HighlyEffective man community and tell
me what you're locking in nospectators, only action takers.
If this episode fired you up, Iwant you to subscribe, leave a
review and share it with anotherguy that needs to hear this.
Let's get after it this week.
(08:26):
I'll see you next week.
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in to theHighly Effective man podcast.
If you found value today, hitthat subscribe button and stay
connected.
I want to invite you to join myincredible community the Highly
Effective man.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
The link is in the show notes below.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It's a powerful space where you'll find support,
accountability and camaraderiewith men who are committed to
growth and living purposely.
And your voice matters, soleave a review and share your
thoughts and help us reach moremen just like you.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Together, let's elevate our lives and become the
best versions of ourselves.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Stay highly effective .
See you next time.
Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast hosted by
former Navy SEAL turned lifeand fitness coach.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan.
This podcast is your resourcefor unlocking the healthiest,
most productive and highlyeffective man within you.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
What's up guys?
Welcome back to the HighlyEffective man podcast, the place
where we cut through the noiseand give you real, actionable
strategies to dominate yourfitness, sharpen your mindset
and lead with purpose.
All right, gents, listenents,listen up.
Okay, because if you'retraining like a beast and you
still feel weak and sluggish andconstantly banged up, I'm gonna
(00:52):
tell you why.
It's not your training, it'syour recovery.
Okay, every single time I'vebeen injured, whether it was in
the seal teams and weightlifting, juitsu, it wasn't
because I was pushing too hard,it was because I wasn't fueling,
I wasn't hydrating, I wasn'tsleeping at night, you know, and
I just ignored it until my bodywas like bro, you gotta stop.
(01:13):
Okay?
Now let me be real with you.
You're not getting stronger inthe gym.
You get stronger when yourecover and if you don't master
this, you're just settingyourself up for failure and
you're going to always feel likeyou're sore, you're tired.
You're always wondering, like,why the hell am I not making
progress?
(01:34):
Well, today I'm going to breakit down.
We're going to talk about whyrecovery is a secret weapon to
getting stronger, leaner andmore explosive, how to fuel your
body so you're actuallybuilding muscle instead of
wrecking it the three biggestrecovery mistakes that are
killing your progress and threethings that you can do today to
fix it.
So, if you're serious aboutleveling up, strap in, because
(01:57):
we're going to get after it Now.
You can train as hard as youwant, but if your recovery sucks
, your progress is going to sucktoo.
Every time I've ever had aninjury in weightlifting jujitsu,
the SEAL teams, you know I usedto think it was maybe it's just
bad luck.
It wasn't bad luck, it was badrecovery.
(02:18):
I was either under eating, Iwas either dehydrated or I
wasn't sleeping, okay.
And then bam, I get an injury.
Now, not stretching andskipping mobility work another
injury, okay.
So here's the thing.
I've only figured that out thehard way, right after I got hurt
.
Now, if you're constantly sore,tired and plateauing, wake up,
(02:42):
because you're going to be justlike me.
You're breaking down your bodyfaster than you can repair it.
Now here's the hard truth.
Okay, when we're training,we're stressing our body, and
recovery is when our body'sgrowing, okay.
So if you're not recoveringhard, you're not training hard,
you're just beating yourself up,okay.
(03:03):
So you got to take yourrecovery just as serious as you
take your training.
So let's fix this.
Now, when it comes to the fuelor the food that we're eating,
most guys, and people in general, are under fueled, right, or I
shouldn't say under fueled, butthey're not eating the right
types of food, okay, or they'reover caffeinated and they're
(03:25):
wondering why they feel likegarbage.
So let's just simplify it.
Okay, think of protein as thebuilder.
Right, you need one gram perpound of body weight.
You can even get away with 0.8per pound of body weight, no
excuses.
Okay, carbs, that's the fuel.
Okay, carbs get a bad rap.
Right, but it's only when we'reeating too many carbs.
(03:46):
So stop fearing carbs.
Okay, eat clean carbs aroundyour workouts.
Stuff, like you know rice,potatoes, fruit, those types of
things.
And fats those are your hormoneregulators.
Okay, you need fat to producetestosterone, so make sure
you're getting in your avocados,your nuts, your olive oil you
(04:06):
know all those good fats.
The biggest mistakes people aremaking is skipping on protein,
eating processed garbage andthen maybe not having a pre and
post workout type of meal ornutrition.
The simple fix is just makesure you're getting protein in
every meal, right.
Carbs before and after training.
(04:27):
Healthy fats to make sure thatyour hormones are dialed in.
It's not rocket science.
Just eat like an athlete andnot a teenage gamer.
Right Now, one of the mostoverlooked performance enhancers
is your sleep.
Okay, because, let's be real,for a lot of people, sleep is
(04:48):
just an afterthought.
Okay.
So if you're sleeping like crap, you're going to perform like
crap.
Okay, when you have poor sleep,that's going to equal low
testosterone, slow recovery andjust more fat storage.
Okay, I used to think you knowI could grind out in like five
hours a night, right, but youknow what I got?
(05:09):
I got more injuries, weak assworkouts and low energy and zero
progress.
Okay, if you want to be anelite performer, an athlete, a
CEO or an operator, you got toguard your sleep like a paycheck
.
Okay, and things that we can doto improve our sleep are no
(05:29):
screens 60 minutes before bedright, because blue light wrecks
your melatonin.
Try to get into a cool, dark,quiet room.
Think of it as a cave and not asauna, right.
One of the things that I reallylike is a chili pad, and this
is by no means a promotion of it, but I just found that it
really helped me with my sleepbecause I could stay under the
(05:51):
covers and still stay cool atnight.
Okay, and then setting the samesleep schedule every night.
Okay, your body needs a rhythm,all right.
So if you flip, if you fix yoursleep, okay, you're going to
start feeling a lot better.
Okay, let's talk about hydrationand stretching and recovery.
(06:14):
Okay, you want to know how tostay injury-free?
Make sure you hydrate, makesure you stretch, make sure you
recover.
Okay, most guys and people arechronically dehydrated and
wonder why their joints feellike crap.
Right, they're complainingabout their achy elbows or their
achy knees.
Right, maybe it's becauseyou're dehydrated and you're not
(06:36):
drinking enough water.
So some quick fixes are just tostart every morning with 20
ounces of water and a little bitof sea salt.
Okay, start aiming for 80 to100 ounces of water per day.
Okay, it can be like you couldsay 80 to 100 ounces per day, or
half your body weight in ounces.
Okay, and then mobility ifyou're not stretching,
(07:00):
eventually you're gonna breakperiod.
Okay, because stiff muscles,they're gonna equal poor
movement, which then equals aninjury waiting to happen.
So just add five to ten minutesof mobility work daily.
Okay, this will add years toyour training life and it's
going to help you just feelbetter and move better.
(07:22):
So you can either do it now, oryou can pay for it later.
All right, no excuses.
Here's what we're going to dotoday.
You're going to fix yourprotein intake.
You're going to get 1 gram 0.8to 1 gram per pound of body
weight.
Today, you're going to lock inyour sleep and get seven plus
(07:44):
hours minimum, and then you'regoing to hydrate like an athlete
okay, 80 to 100 ounces daily,no exceptions.
Do these three things andyou're going to feel like a
machine.
If you skip them, you're goingto feel like you're spinning
your wheels.
Okay, so it's your call.
So here's the challenge Pickone thing from today's episode
(08:05):
and commit to it this week.
Then get into the HighlyEffective man community and tell
me what you're locking in nospectators, only action takers.
If this episode fired you up, Iwant you to subscribe, leave a
review and share it with anotherguy that needs to hear this.
Let's get after it this week.
(08:26):
I'll see you next week.
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in to theHighly Effective man podcast.
If you found value today, hitthat subscribe button and stay
connected.
I want to invite you to join myincredible community the Highly
Effective man.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
The link is in the show notes below.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
It's a powerful space where you'll find support,
accountability and camaraderiewith men who are committed to
growth and living purposely.
And your voice matters, soleave a review and share your
thoughts and help us reach moremen just like you.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Together, let's elevate our lives and become the
best versions of ourselves.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Stay highly effective .
See you next time.
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