Hey friends!
How have your workouts been in 2016 so far? I’m proud to say that I’ve been kicking some serious butt lately! After taking a few weeks off of exercise being sick at the start of the year (I can’t remember the last time I took even a week off of workouts before that!), I was so happy to get back into it. Working out truly just makes me feel awesome, balanced, happy and accomplished.
(There’s a reason this blog is called Foodie Loves Fitness people!)
I’m in the midst of week 2 of a 6-week challenge with my HIIT gym, where I’ve committed to workout there at least 4x a week for the duration of the challenge. So far it’s going great, but boy, do those HIIT sessions fatigue my muscles. Since it’s the end of January when a lot of people are a good couple of weeks into their New Year’s resolutions to consistently exercise, I thought that today was the perfect time to talk about something very important: workout recovery. Here are some things that I constantly do post-workout to recoup!
HYDRATION. Drinking enough water and replenishing those electrolytes is a must post-workout. I like keeping electrolyte packets around for when my workout has been particularly rough, and I’m experimenting with my new infuser pitcher:
The last couple of days I’ve been drinking water infused with strawberries, cucumber, mint from my garden, and orange from my tree… and I’m liking it for a fun flavor twist!
FUEL. This one’s obvious, but after you beat your body up working out, it’s essential to refuel. I try to get at least 20 grams of protein in within an hour of finishing my workout, along with some healthy carbs and fat.
blueberry banana protein pancakes
My post-workout meal depends on the time of day that I’ve exercised. Sometimes I have a dinner like black beans, brown rice, shredded cheddar cheese & avocado; will eat a breakfast like the above pictured protein pancakes; or I’ll have a protein fruit smoothie. It all depends, but it’s always some kind of healthy, nourishing food!
STRETCH IT OUT. I make it a habit to stretch every day, and it always feels particularly nice to stretch a couple of hours after a workout – especially if I didn’t get a lot of stretching in at the end of my actual workout, like when I go hiking or mountain biking. This is especially true if it’s the same day as my workout and I can already feel some delayed onset muscle soreness setting in. When that happens I know that I’ll be seriously feeling it the next day!
side plank stretching yesterday morning
WORK OUT THOSE KNOTS. I love to get out those muscle kinks with recovery tools! I keep my foam roller in my living room so that I remember to roll out anytime I go to watch television. In addition to the foam roller, recently I began using recovery tools from RAD Roller. The folks at RAD were nice enough to send me their muscle flushing kit, which includes the RAD Rod and RAD Helix products.
The RAD Rod is a flushing device that lets you pinpoint those sore muscles or trouble spots. I like to use it often as trigger point therapy on my left calf, which easily tightens since I injured it a bunch of years back. It’s similar to a Tiger Tail, which I also own, but the thing I really liked about the RAD Rod is its design. It’s not made with plastic pieces as a Tiger Tail is, so it doesn’t awkwardly pull on your skin. I love rolling it along the back of my neck – which is something I would never do with a Tiger Tail for fear of it ripping out my hair!
The RAD Helix is another flushing device, and it’s like a mini foam roller. This is great for its portability aspect. I find it to be useful for smaller muscle areas, like the bottom of my foot (another injury area), and I like using it to roll out the tops of my thighs.
With the addition of my RAD products, I feel like I have a complete set of recovery tools, and I definitely think it makes a difference in my workout recovery. I still use my foam roller for larger muscle areas – such as rolling out my glutes – and I also have therapy ball around, though my dog likes to steal it and claim it as her own!
MUSCLE RECOVERY TEA. Recently I began drinking Yogi Tea’s Green Tea Muscle Recovery as a recovery method. It contains Devil’s Claw Root and Yucca Root herbs, which are thought to help support the body’s recovery after exercise. I can’t honestly tell if it actually helps with my muscle recovery, and my hubby jokes that they make a tea for everything you can think of (about half of which I have in my pantry!), but I figure it can’t hurt right?
SLEEP. They say that muscles are torn in the gym, fed in the kitchen, and built in bed. While I like getting adequate beauty sleep in general, I make it a priority to get enough shut eye after draining workouts. I know that my body needs it!
WALK IT OUT. The day after a workout, if I’m extremely sore and planning on having a rest day, I go for a long walk with my dog. It feels nice to do low-impact, light exercise, and it eases some of those microscopic muscle tears in my legs.
Tell me… What have your workouts been like lately? Anything else you do to recover from tough sweat sessions?
Disclaimer: While RAD Roller sent me complimentary products, as always, all views expressed are genuinely my own.
I do yoga or some stretching if I feel sore and I try to get plenty of potassium as well. I also drink plenty of water and I do my best to get enough sleep {but that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like}.
I’ve never heard of muscle recovery tea! That is so cool. At the end of my pilates class, the instructor gives a little massage. OMG! I LOVE it!! That is my favorite way to recover. I need to foam roll more though but it hurts so much!
Drinking a lot of water and eating a healthy meal is also a must for me after I exercise, but I should probably do more stretching!