It's no secret a big portion of good health and comes from being physically active and having a healthy diet. But between working out and sticking to your diet and balancing your already busy schedule, making time for your self can feel impossible. Even though we try our best to do what's best for our minds and bodies, sometimes our effort can be counterproductive. This is when the concept of recovery comes into play.
In the midst of working towards our goals and putting in effort, its important to make time to heal our bodies and minds so they can become stronger and actually reap the benefits of the effort we've put in. This practice often takes on the name of self care and comes with all kinds of superstitious and pointless connotations but what if we told you almost every high performer, whether athlete or CEO has a recovery system? That would surely drive home its importance.
In this article, we will cover 5 practices to help you with physical and mental recovery to help you become the best version of your self and perform to a higher standard.
1. Epsom Salt Baths
We all know how relaxing a nice warm bath can feel, especially after a long hard day. But this relaxation is more than just mental, its physical and can actually help you with your fitness goals. Epsom salt has been shown to reduce inflammation and actually increase muscle repair. This means not only will you feel less soreness, but you'll also recover faster and be able to perform better in your next workout. Epsom salt baths have also been shown to reduce cortisol which can lead to better mental clarity, better mood and better overall productivity and quality of life.
2. Turmeric
Often seen in its vibrant yellow dry powder form, turmeric does so much more than add flavour to food as a spice. As its often used as a main ingredient in many cuisines, its health and recovery benefits are often overlooked. A lot of these benefits are caised by circumin. Curcumin stops the production of 2 key enzymes that cause inflammation in the body. These enzymes can be produced in response to stress, injury or even poor diet. Circumin has also been shown to reduce symptoms of arthritis and even improve cognition. More health benefits of turmeric can be seen in our blog "insert spice boog name"
Its no secret that muscles are made of protein. This is something most of us learn in elementary school. Despite this, you'd be astonished at how many people don't get enough of it in their diets. When determining how much protein its important to consider how intense your workouts and weight training sessions are. Additionally some bone and joint conditions can also benefit from higher protein intake. A good rule of thumb is to stick to 1g of protein per pound of body weight. This will keep your muscles and joints healthy and keep your recovery optimal.
5. Sleep
Last but maybe the single most important practice on this list is sleep. Sleep plays a pivotal role in our overall quality of life and health. Sleep is when things we learned are stored in long term memory. Its when any damage done to the body like muscular damage from working out are repaired. Sleep is THE biological recovery phase of the day. Although all of us sleep to some degree, its the amount and quality of our sleep that matters the most. The part of sleep where all the magic happens is called REM sleep and maximizing REM can quite literally be life changing. Some tips to do this are avoiding heavy meals for 2-3 hours before you go to sleep, avoiding bright lights for an hour before sleep and ensuring the room you're sleeping in is cool or cold in temperature.
Now that you know a little more on how to optimize recovery, we hope you can apply this knowledge and become even more effective at achieving your fitness, professional and mental goals.