Maximise Your Recovery With These 5 Easy Tips

Dedicated recovery is essential to making sure that you are able to stay on track in your fitness journey. From sleep to stretching, there are many methods you can use to aid your recovery and get back out there as soon as possible.

Below are 5 tested methods that you can use to aid your recovery and keep yourself in the game.

Rest days

If you are working out hard and often then you need to schedule recovery days for your muscles to relax and grow.

Many people will perform what is known as an active rest day, meaning they do something light instead of working out, such as a long walk or hike. Rest also includes good sleep so make sure to get your 8 hours every night.

Stretching

Stretching is great to help alleviate muscle soreness and stiffness post-workout. Make sure you pay particular attention to whatever body part you have focused on that day even your fingers as may be into gaming. But by stretching we mean to say doing it in a real way.

For example if you hit legs and performed a heavy amount of squats, lots of hamstring and quad stretches are in order. Some studies have also shown that stretching helps increase blood flow to the muscles as well. This brings much needed oxygenated blood back to the muscles that need it most.

Essential oils

Any essential oil is worth considering as a way to help alleviate general aches and pains. Many high-level athletes are starting to use essential oils as a means of recovery post-exercise and many credit them with providing them with the means to continue through hard workouts.

Of course with that many brands out there you must do your research to ensure that what you purchase is best for your needs as they all have different concentrations and uses such as oils for massage and edible oils. You can go on a more direct route with your essential oil needs.

However, that requires a whole different set of rules and articles to talk through. If you do go that way you do need certain equipment to make life easier.

Hydration

Working out causes you to sweat. And if you don’t replenish these fluids you can get a lot of unpleasant side effects. Dehydration can cause severe headaches, sickness, cramps, or worse. You should take on as much fluid as possible without making yourself feel ill.

Your body requires water to function correctly, so make sure it is water you take on. Not fizzy soda or anything sugary.

Icebath

Many major athletes swear by the recovery powers of cold water therapy. Thought to relieve pain, aches and initial swelling from hard exercise, submersion in an ice bath, or a cold water bath, has long been considered a staple of many an athlete’s recovery plans.

Simply fill a bath or tub with cold water and ice and sit there for as long as possible.

Anything up to 10 minutes is somewhere to aim for. Now, this won’t be for everyone, especially those who only enjoy a mild hike every now and again, but it is worth a look into if you are a highly active athlete.