WHY AM I NOT SEEING RESULTS?
Carve Out Time To Recover. Your Performance Depends On It.
Most of us think about recovery after a workout as stretching, fueling our body with good food, hydrating or using a foam roller.. this is all good stuff but what are we actually doing beyond that? Here are some ways you can take your recovery up a notch! Hint: It includes more YOU time!
Take A Bath
One of the best ways to recover after a challenging workout is to take an epsom salt bath. You can grab a bag of epsom salts at any grocery store or pharmacy. To kick it up a notch, check out this recipe we whipped up for a killer soothing bath.
One of the things that can be easy to overlook while taking a bath is all the extras. Think ambiance. Light some candles. Dim the lights. Put on a quiet playlist if that’s your jam! Make yourself a cup of tea, read a book, listen to a podcast: Whatever you love to do when you have free down time, incorporate it into your bath! If you want to take your recovery bath to the next level, “soak up” the blog post from ErIn Holt Health on minerals and a detox bath here
Post bath: Slap on some soothing lotion, or CBD recovery cream for your muscles. Get in some cozy sweats and chill for a bit to let it all soak up.
Skip The Fruit In Your Post Workout Smoothie… What?
Let’s talk about muscle recovery. In Stacy Sim’s book, War she states, “After you do intense exercise, especially in a heated environment, you have this major flood of antioxidants in your bloodstream that are made by your body so that is NOT a time when you want to eat berries.”
You want to save your berry fruit smoothie for another time. If you consume berries post exercise, then your body actually stops producing its own antioxidants, so you are actually defeating your own bodies ability to be awesome. Believe it or not there's a term for this, it is called Catabolize.
Exercise is part of boosting up your capacity to produce antioxidants so that your muscles don’t catabolize themselves. SO, you want to get protein and carbohydrates in, but not FRUIT carbohydrates.
Post Workout Smoothie Tips: You need protein and carbohydrates. A quick note about protein. If it is used specifically for recovery purposes post workout: You don’t want to use collagen peptides here because it's not going to be as readily available nutrition wise. A high quality protein powder is much better specifically for muscle recovery, like a grass fed whey protein powder.
You want to get this smoothie within 30-60 minutes of intense exercise. If you want to get really fancy you can add in glutathione- up 1600 milligrams per day for muscle recovery. You can add it to the smoothie or just take it separately.
So, You want to combine your protein and carbohydrates (that is not fruit ideally). I want to make sure it is clear that a post workout recovery smoothie is NOT A MEAL. This is not a substitute for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
We Want You To Continue to Ask Yourself This Question…
Did you earn your exercise today? Exercise is a stressor and a recovery day means a real rest day. A real recovery day. So, what we’re saying is that you need to make sure you have stress management unlocked. If you had a terrible night’s sleep or something happened at work .. whatever it is…You need to switch gears and choose your exercise based on that. That would be an appropriate day to take a gentle yoga class like yin instead of a HIIT class. When you are sleeping, you are actually learning the new movements during your deep sleep. This is where you are internalizing them and relearning them in your brain. So, if you want to improve your Arnold Press, then you best be getting a good night’s rest.
Wind Down Like A Pro..
If you tend to work out at night.. We have a few bedtime tips that might help you recover and rest more easily. A wind down routine can be just as helpful as a morning routine!
Bedtime Tips
About 30 minutes before you plan to climb into bed see if you can find something that you do post workout that is going to help you relax.
This could be when you do your Epsom salt bath or even a quick hot shower. Maybe you have a heating pad that you can use or do a feet soak!
Avoid sugary, athletic drinks. This is probably a given but make sure you are not consuming a Gatorade or something similar.
Try a relaxation exercise like abdominal breathing, mantras or a quick meditation.
Use a foam roller or massager. This can be a soothing activity that you look forward to!
Supplements can also be helpful. Magnesium, valerian root and lavender are all great for improving the recovery process and helping you relax.
You can also make sure you consume amino acids- in supplement form or through food. Glycine, which is a common amino acid. It’s found in meat, eggs, fish, beans, spinach, kale, cabbage, bananas and kiwis. All of these foods can help welcome sleep.
Hard Core Training = Hard Core Resting
Did you know that for every two hours that you spend stressed, one hour of deep sleep is required to counteract the negative effects?
For all the people out there who work out every single day: this is our challenge for you: Could you take a day off and do something that is a little bit more parasympathetic induced? It is important to remember that when you are sleeping you are recovering. When you are meditating you are recovering. When you are reading or watching your favorite show, you are recovering. Dr. Andrew Huberman says If you are sleeping 7-10 hours per night and you are waking up tired on a regular basis, then your exercise is too intense for your capacity. He has an awesome podcast if you want to dive deeper.
The Effects Of Exercise & The Effects Of Over Exercise.
You never have a chance to recover if you take class every single day. It also depends on how stressed out you are and how well you sleep. You have to make sure you are scheduling an OFF day. One full day of rest. If you are stressed, have little kids or are going through something you need to factor in a few days of rest each week. And, if you can’t stay away from the hot room, replace one of those workout days with a Yin class.