It's no secret how important recovery is to combat athletes. They are some of the hardest workers on the planet. Combat athletes put in multiple training sessions a day, killing themselves to become unstoppable.

Now, the most successful fighters understand that they're only as good as the workouts they can recover from. You can do all the work in the world, but if you're not recovering, you'll eventually lose or get injured. One of the simplest yet most effective tools a fighter can use for superhuman recovery is a rest day.

I know it can be difficult to get the most out of your rest day. So, I'm sharing five tips our top athletes, like Julio Arce, use to recover like a superhuman.

#1 Rest

I know it sounds redundant to say you should rest on a rest day, but you'd be surprised how many fighters still try to do some kind of workout on their rest day.

A rest day should be just that – a day of rest. This allows the body to recover from all the stress it's been put under throughout the week.

I tell our fighters that the only exercise I want them doing on a rest day is an accidental sit-up as they go from their couch to their coffee table to take a sip of water.

If you actually rest on your rest days, your recovery will go through the roof and your performance will reach another level.

#2 Spend time with friends and family

Studies show that hormones like serotonin and oxytocin are elevated when we spend time with people we care about. These hormones boost our mood, and this elevated mood also helps us recover.

When we're in a good mood, our brains can relax. This allows us to go into a parasympathetic state or our rest-and-digest mode.

The rest-and-digest mode is where all our recovery goes down. Plus, the people in our lives are important. And we shouldn't have to destroy our relationships to become successful in combat sports.

#3 Do things you enjoy

Maybe you like to read, watch movies, or play video games - whatever your hobby is, do it. Do the things you don't have the time for while you're training.

Focusing on your hobbies will make you happier, make it easier to rest, and boost your recovery so you can perform at a very high level every week.

#4 Utilize passive recovery

Passive recovery can involve tools like massage, sauna, or ice baths. These tools typically have the smallest impact on our recovery. Hence, they're not replacements for proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise programming.

However, when these three areas are dialed in, they can boost our recovery, especially on rest days.

Choose the tool you enjoy or find the most relaxing because the more we can relax, the more we'll be able to recover like a superhuman.

Proper relaxation gives us the ability to dominate on the mats, week after week.

#5 Focus on mindset

Combat sports are mental games, and I love using rest days to bulletproof an athlete's mind. Meditation, journaling, and visualization are three of the best tools for bulletproofing your mind.

Set aside 20 to 30 minutes on a rest day to practice the mindset tool that works best for you. Not only will this help boost your recovery, but it's also an effective way to prime your mind for training in the coming days.

These are some of my favorite things to do on a rest day. They've helped me and our athletes have superhuman recovery.