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Recover faster and better with these sports recovery tips

Recovering

If you’re serious enough to commit to fitness and sports, then you must know the true value of recovery. The recovery phase should be a conscious and constant part of your training regimen. Without it, you’re inviting injury into your body. Below are some of our best tips on how to maximise recovery and enjoy it to the fullest.

  • Sleep1. Sleep, sleep, sleep. You’re wondering why sleep is so important. I’ll tell you why. It’s during sleep that your body releases short bursts of growth hormone. Growth hormone not only takes care of your height and build, it also promotes the repair and growth of various tissues and organs in your body. Some experts even recommend short naps during the day to keep you fresh and energised.
  • 2. Prevent an electrolyte imbalance and dehydration; hydrate yourself. Avoid these two by drinking electrolyte concentrates. Drop the sugar please. If you want the taste, add a small amount of pure fruit juice to give some flavour. If you want to be more natural about it, try coconut water. It contains electrolytes which are naturally present in the coconut.
  • 3. Increase your endurance and recuperation power with complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates before sports give you much needed energy to perform for longer periods of time. After sports, you also need complex carbohydrates to recuperate. Recovery isn’t a passive process, you also need energy to accomplish it. We recommend foods in their natural state like brown rice, quinoa and sweet potatoes (or kumara if you’re in New Zealand).
  • 4. Stretch and Warm Up Stretch and warm up. Everyone agrees that warming up is a good idea. But there are two sides of the fence when it comes to stretching. Some authorities say stretching before exercise is better at preventing injuries than stretching after. On the other hand, others oppose this and push for stretching after doing exercise. Whichever side you’re on, try doing them both so that you can judge for yourself which one works best for you and make sure you warm up first.From a medical standpoint, both stretching and warming up increase blood flow to the muscle groups you’ll be using for your particular sport. This ensures that your muscles get adequate nutrients and oxygen to perform. It also allows wastes and by-products to be collected and eliminated from your body.
  • Don't Over train5. Thou shalt not over-train. The problem with most sports fanatics is that they exercise or train too often. They overdo it. Try not to do this. A lot of sports injuries occur during over-training. Alternate your days between high and low intensity exercises. High intensity sports include rowing, swimming laps, running, cycling (faster than 16 km/hour) and soccer. Examples of low intensity exercises are gentle walking and cycling, leisurely sports like table tennis, golf (and riding on the golf cart), boating, fishing and yoga.
  • Regular Massage6. Get massages regularly. You can judge if a massage is good by the feeling you get afterwards. Relaxing and soothing. Massages decrease muscle tightness and heighten relaxation. This is done by slowing down your heart rate and lowering your blood pressure. Massage may also help to reduce lactic acid build up in the muscles after exercise.
  • 7. Alternate between hot and cold showers. Have you tried taking hot and cold showers? It’s invigorating. It helps your recovery by increasing blood flow from one area of your body to another. How? Well, simply put, a hot shower diverts blood towards your skin by dilating blood vessels in that area. On its way there, oxygen and nutrients are shuttled to your muscles, feeding them. This helps with repair of injured or fatigued tissues and with recuperation. Alternating Hot & Cold Showers A cold shower will divert blood towards your vital organs like heart, liver and kidneys. On its way to your vital organs, the blood can pick-up waste products from your muscles and discard them in your kidneys. Amazing, right?
  • 8. The food you eat will definitely have an impact on how you recover. A light snack abundant with protein before going to bed will help you repair and recover through the night. Your breakfast should be loaded with the right kinds of fats and with a lot of protein. Doubling up your vitamin and mineral intake will certainly ensure that you have enough of them for extra repair and the recovery process as well.
  • No Alcohol9. Try not to drink alcohol after your exercise or workout. Alcohol depresses your bone marrow from producing cells for your immune system. A weak immune system will make you susceptible to infectious diseases making you sick. If you’re sick, recovery from your workout or exercise becomes a distant second from getting you well. Your body will naturally make getting you well a priority.
  • Ice Pack10. Ice, ice baby. Don’t underestimate this solidified cousin of water. Ice constricts the blood vessels near an injury effectively for the first 24 hours after you injury occurs. This will reduce the swelling and the redness that you see whenever you sprain an ankle for example.
  • 11. Reduce inflammation with systemic enzymes. Metabolic or systemic enzymes help to reduce inflammation after your workout or exercise. They are believed to achieve this by inhibiting pro-inflammatory mediators which in turn reduces inflammation and pain allowing the natural process of repair to occur.

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References

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