Mind, Body and Soul
After exercise it is essential to get enough rest and recover as your body uses this time to build back your muscles stronger. This is why recovery day(s) and your breaks during a workout, eating the right foods and using our Muscle Reboot Post-workout formula are most important; they should never be skipped. Do not feel guilty about taking a day off as your body needs this time to re-build stronger and prepare you for your next workout.
In the worst-case scenario, too little rest and too few recovery days can lead to over-training syndrome. Once you have this condition it is difficult to recover from it (Kreher JB, Schwartz JB).
Building this recovery time into your training schedule is very important. All our programs have rest and recover days incorporated for long-term recovery
Exercise or any other physical work causes fluid loss, muscle tissue breakdown, and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen).
Recovery allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues.Without sufficient time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to break down from intensive exercise (Dalleck, LC).
What is Recovery?
Short-Term recovery is low intensity exercise during your cool-down phase immediately after a hard workout, as well as during the days following will aid in your recovery.
Long-term recovery techniques are built in to our training programs and include recovery days.
Consuming our Muscle Reboot (post-workout) or eating a post recovery meal containing the right food and drinks to speed up your muscle synthesis.
Taking a protein supplement combined with a healthy carbohydrate and antioxidants/anti-inflammatory nutrients can dramatically help aid in your recovery process. Milk, cherries, blueberries, and pomegranates have been all been studied with promising results.
Roll and Recovery
Foam rolling can be an effective tool, not just to help your body to stretch out but can aid inflammation due to muscle soreness and increase your range of motion.
You can use a foam roller for your warm up or your coll down, I purchased mine from Amazon.
Massage also is a great way to help your body recover, helping break up scar tissue, boost blood flow, improve mobility and range of motion, and reduce soreness. Plus, it just feels good. I recommend using Simply Zen Therapies, they are local to Brighton and Hove, mobile with flexible hours, great deals, friendly beauty therapist and very relaxing. I fall asleep every time!
How does sleep aid Recovery?
The optimum sleep duration varies between people but many studies have shown that the human body needs 6 – 8 hours of sleep a night.
If you are looking to change body composition, increase muscle mass and/or if you want to be ready for your workout session the next day. Sleep enhances muscle recovery through protein synthesis and human growth hormone release.
Trouble Sleeping?
If you feel you have trouble sleeping and that you get a ‘second wave’ of energy late at night, this is not false and you are not alone.
This is indeed true; your body produces vital hormones between 10 pm -2 am (Chaudhary, MD, Kurlreet, Sleep and Longevity). These hormones help your body to repair itself, from exercising to healing cells etc. but if you are awake for this time you use this energy and therefore find it harder to get to sleep.
Routine Self-Care
Having a consistent daily routine is very important for your physical and mental well-being. Here are 3 Top tips to get you started on making your routine work for you!
- Focus on relaxation: this could be from doing some yoga in the morning to giving yourself a few minutes of silence. For beginner to advanced yoga and stretching moves click here for more information.
- Try saying some positive affirmations to yourself: check out my blog on ‘How to write meaningful Affirmation‘
- Find movement that you love: You must love the exercise you do or at least see the benefit in the challenge and love surpassing your own milestones.This is where I come in, I match you to a specific program for you goals and support you not just through the process of your program but through your whole journey. I am your supporter, coach and friend. I will keep you accountable to your goals, check in on a daily basis, help you overcome struggles with the tools I still use today and share my knowledge to build your confidence in yourself and your abilities.
Make yourself a priority and learn how to create your own routine that works for you, gives you more energy to enjoy your life and more time with your loved ones
