Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
Working out is such a fantastic thing we can do for ourselves. At the same time though, it can leave us incredibly sore and tired. So many things you do after the workout can be just as important as what you have done to prepare your body for the workout!
So what can we do to help our bodies recover from a butt-kicking workout?
Sleep is hands down one of the most important things you can do to help yourself recover. Exercise is a hormetic stressor, which is awesome, but it breaks your body down a little, and if you do not recover the way you need to, you’ll never reap the benefits of the work! Make sure you are treating your bedroom like a sleeping sanctuary. It should be dark, cool, and void of electronics. Sleep is anabolic and will build you back up, if you let it!
This may be simpler than you think!
One of my favorite and easiest ways to recover is to fill my body with good H2O.
Water works to remove toxins and keep you hydrated. Even with just a 2% decrease in your normal amount of water can impede recovery significantly. You should shoot for drinking about half your body weight in ounces. It’s ok to be a little snobby about the type of water you drink too. If you are trying to get those toxins out of your body, why would you bring new ones in? Spring water is a good choice as well as filtered water.
Magnesium is some thing we may not think about a lot. Which is ok. BUT, it is an important mineral for your body and plays a great role in muscle recovery.
Magnesium is a required element of muscle relaxation, and without it our muscles would be in a constant state of contraction.
Can you imagine being in constant state of contraction? It would be utterly unbearable. Magnesium is important for helping our muscles relax and recover. Some great sources of magnesium from food are, avocados, yogurt, nuts, leafy greens, and fatty fish. You can also get supplements, if you get magnesium citrate, start out slow.
Mobility is a wonderful tool I use to help workout my muscles. You can use a foam roller, a tennis ball, lacrosse ball, and even a rolling pin if you need to get creative. Some great moves can be found in The Supple Leopard by Dr. Kelly Starrett. I have even taped two lacrosse balls together at one point to massage out my back!
Although I am still working my self up to this, ice baths are amazing for recovery. I remember after track practice my coach making me head to the trainer. She would fill a big tub of ice water and I would reluctantly ease in to the freezing mess. After I was done, I felt like a million bucks! No lie, I would feel like I could do the workout all over again. I wouldn’t of course, but my legs felt so great! That’s because when you expose your body to cold temperatures the blood in constricted. As we remove ourselves there is an increase in blood flow and circulation and healing begins. Placing ice locally is a good thing too, but the ice baths really get in to the muscular matrix. Cold therapy is another hormetic stressor as well. When you engage in cold therapy, you are basically telling your mitochondria to either shape up, or ship out!
It builds stronger cells, and therefore a stronger you!
Have fun incorporating these recovery tricks in to your post workout!
Pro-tips:
- Sleep and rest
- Drink more good H2O
- Make sure you are getting Magnesium in your diet, or supplement
- Use mobility tools to loosen up
- Cold exposure
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