A recovery routine you'll actually be able to stick to.

Hey team,

It’s June, which means we are pretty much half way through the year (crazy I know) and we’ve come to the end of mental health awareness month.

Last month really had me reflecting on the term, ‘mental fitness’ — something which seems to have blown up in 2025.

To be totally honest, I ignored my mental fitness for years. Training hard, working harder and never allowing myself time to slow down.

But as I get older I’ve realised there’s not much point in success if you can’t enjoy it properly.

So although mental health awareness month has come to an end, this months newsletter is your reminder to look after your mind as much as your body.

As always, this is 3 Easy Ways. My monthly newsletter where I share simple and actionable tips to get you moving, maximise your output and improve your overall week.

What’s in store today:

• Recovery doesn’t have to be extreme, it just needs to be consistent

• Athletes are burning out and you might be too…

• A quick mental fitness circuit for you to try

1. The recovery routine you need ✅

Hot and cold therapy has blown up over the past few years.

But, most people ignore it because they don’t think they have the time.

I’ve been doing hot and cold therapy for a year now. I don’t spend hours in the sauna and I don’t ice bath every day, yet I still see the benefits.

The research says hot and cold therapy works.

✅ Better sleep
✅ Improved recovery
✅ Lower inflammation
✅ Stronger mental resilience

This is what’s optimal each week:

57 minutes in the sauna and 11 minutes of cold exposure.

Achievable for most even with a busy schedule. Especially if you break it down in the following way…

After your training session do this 2-3 x per week:

→ Sauna 3 × 10 minutes
→ Cold show 3 × 2 minutes (after sauna)

That’s 36 minutes in total.

Use your weekends to catch up on this with longer recovery sessions if you’ve not been able to do this in the week.

The point is:

Recovery doesn’t need to be extreme, you just need to be consistent with it.

Add it to your routine and stick to it.

P.S. If you’re in London, check out the Himalayan salt sauna. It’s one of the best.

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2. The burnout trap no one is talking about…

At the French Open this week, Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur said something that came as a surprise:

He’s not the only one who thinks this. Jack Draper, Casper Ruud, Iga Swiatek, all elite athletes are saying the same thing…

The most experienced football managers have been calling this out for years too. The likes of Pep Guardiola and Juergen Klopp.

Schedules are too demanding and players are exhausted.

And, if they can’t keep up with recovery coaches, physios, supplement sponsors and a dedicated off-season…what hope does a high-performing business leader have running back-to-back meetings alongside a gruelling workout routine?

The modern work calendar is starting to look a lot like the ATP tour.

11-months of nonstop output, minimal rest and pressure to keep your ‘ranking’.

Every event is ‘important’, every email has to be replied to and there’s always a reason not to stop.

The problem is…

Burnout doesn’t usually announce itself. It creeps in as brain fog, poor sleep, low energy, or snapping at things that never used to bother you.

So what can we learn from the world’s best?

They’re not failing because they’re unfit. They’re failing because they’re not able to recover appropriately in comparison to their output. But recovery shouldn’t be optional, it should be strategic.

Here are 3 ways to protect yourself from burnout this month:

1️⃣ Prioritise your recovery
→ This means trying to get more sleep where you can and allocate time in your weekly calendar for rest days or mindful practices.

2️⃣ Lower the ‘mental load’
→ It’s impossible to recover when you’re thinking about work constantly. Introduce tech-free hours to protect your mental health.

3️⃣ Train for resilience, not just aesthetics
→ Regular movement shouldn’t just be about looking good. Even just 20 minutes a day helps regulate cortisol, improve sleep and build emotional capacity.

If you want to be a high-performer, don’t avoid recovery.

Tennis stars can admit the schedule is breaking them, so maybe it's time to check if yours is doing the same.

3. What actually is mental fitness?

In the beginning of this newsletter, I referred to a term called ‘mental fitness’, but what does it actually mean?

When you think of the word fitness you naturally think of…

→ Lifting weights, running faster or looking leaner.

But what’s the point of having a strong body if your mind is constantly overloaded or drained?

That is where mental fitness comes in and right now, it’s one of the most overlooked performance levers in business and in life.

In fact, it’s becoming so important that Nike have recently introduced Maya Raichoora, as their new mental wellbeing partner. She’s helping athletes and everyday high performers understand that mental resilience is trainable.

Just like muscle.

Mental fitness isn’t therapy, manifesting or toxic positivity. It’s the consistent practice of strengthening your mind so you can stay calm under pressure, focused in chaos, and present in the moments that matter.

And just like physical training, it only works if it’s consistent.

Want to give it a go?

Introduce this mental fitness circuit 3 x per week:

1️⃣ 5-minute breath reset
Start your day with a box breath cycle (inhale 4 / hold 4 / exhale 4 / hold 4). It regulates your nervous system and clears mental fog.

2️⃣ Distraction audit
Track how many times you switch tasks or pick up your phone. Then cut that number in half to reduce distraction.

3️⃣ Mental reps
Visualise a high-pressure moment going well. Athletes use this daily and CEOs should too. The mind performs what it rehearses.

Train your body but build your mind.

That’s where sustainable high performance lives.

Thanks for reading team.

Stay strong!

If you’re interested, here are a couple of ways I can help:

1. If you have a question about health, wellness, exercise or nutrition, reply to this newsletter and I’ll try to answer it in next weeks newsletter.

2. When you’re ready to get healthier and maximise your output, I can help you get there. I offer private 1:1 Personal Training in central London as well as Hybrid and Online Coaching. If you’re interested, sign up here. 

3. Want your organisation and employees to have access to a healthier lifestyle and increase productivity? We’ve got wellness initiates and programs to solve that. Visit www.peakonic.com for more info.