Top 10 Tips to Recover
Top 10 ways you can recover.
1- Sleep. THIS IS CRUCIAL. Your body heals the most when you sleep. Making sure that you get good sleep and enough sleep will do your body the best. I really strive to get at least 8 hours each night. To improve my sleep, I make sure my room is completely dark and quiet. I turn off all screens at least 45 minutes before going to bed. (Ideally you'd want to give yourself at least an hour)
2- Rest. It's ok to take a full day off and do nothing. If you find yourself dreading (like really dreading) your workout because you struggled to wake up, or you're super sore, or your body just feels like a lump of heavy rocks. Take the day off. Your body needs it. You'll do better by resting verses trying to force the effort you don't have.
3- Fascial release aka muscle release. I always like the analogy of spaghetti. Ideally you want the striations of your muscles to look like uncooked spaghetti. Nice and straight. But as we live life, and add workouts in, the striations of our muscles start to look like cooked spaghetti. Mangled and tangled. To help get those muscles back to uncooked spaghetti look, you can do a few things. 1- Hire a massage therapist. 2- DIY it by foam rolling with a variety of modes. In my corner for DIY fascial release is a foam roller, The Orb massage ball, Rubz plantar massage ball, and The Stick Roller. I try to get this in at least 4-5 times a week. Yes, almost every day. Ideally a little everyday would do the body best. Take 5 minutes min, and up to 30 minutes or more if you need it to.
4- Make sure to schedule in a recovery day. I think our society puts a lot of pressure on us that we need to always be doing something and that we need to always push to our max otherwise it wasn't worth it. Wrong. You will get stronger and faster by scheduling a day off and periodizing your workout/training plan. On this recovery aka day off add in that fascial release. Take an easy walk, or a recovery yoga class.
5- Go to a restorative yoga class. This has become my favorite way to recover outside of sleep and a good massage. Find a local studio that offers yin yoga, restorative yoga, or a slow flow style class. You will love the physical and mental relief and release.
6- Good nutrition. Eating well, and enough. Make sure that after a workout you are eating within 90 minutes. And filling your body with nothing but pure goodness, and by that I mean real, nutritious food. I like to be as organic as possible. Getting in a mix of fruits, veges, fats, carbs, and protein. *stay tuned for a more detailed post on pre andpost workout nutrition.
7- Pay attention to your heart rate zones when working out. Get to know your body. I would say most workouts should be a level 2|3 (easy to medium), and only 2-3 workouts at 4|5 (medium-hard). 1 being the easiest effort you could give, and 5 your max effort. If you're always going hard (4|5) you will set yourself up for overtraining. After a hard workout you will need a little more recovery time. Level 2 is your aerobic effort and this is a good place to be for most workouts. Start to pay attention to how hard you are working out. Periodization is key. 2-3 workouts at level 4|5 a week. At least 1 day off. 3-4 days at a level 2|3 a week. Listen to your body and heart. This will help reduce over training, help you optimally recover and get stronger or faster depending on what your goal outcome is.
8- Compression: socks, tights, boots, sleeves. I live by this. If I've had a big workout I put my compression socks or tights on as soon as I get out of the shower. If I am on my feet all day. I wear compression socks. If I am flying, those compression socks go on. My legs feel so much better having them on for a couple hours during the day, or over night. Wearing compression gear helps with blood flow which helps you recover. My fav way to compress my legs are with Normatec boots. This machine brings a more intense level of compression in a reduced amount of time. You can set the intensity and the machine will fill with air and start to compress your legs starting with the thighs and moving all the way down to your toes. Than it releases and repeats. For socks and tights, I love 110%, and CEP. Normatec is the bomb for boots, and sleeves.
9- Sauna. The increased heat dilates your blood vessels, increasing blood flow, helping you to recover faster. This is a favorite way of mine to end a night and help me sleep.
10- Put your feet up. Literally. Put those legs up. I like to put my legs up the wall. I lay down on the ground, tush up to the wall, and legs up. This inversion helps to drain fluids from your legs. It can also help you to mentally tune out for a bit. I know I can take any bits of relaxation I can.