Outfit: Kira Grace | Photographer: Emilie Bers
If you are focused on maintaining or getting back to your optimal health after our year and a half of downtime and experiencing stiffness or soreness after your workouts, here are a few things that may help your body recover from your movement activities. My recommendations are purely from personal experience and my deep love for pushing boundaries and challenging my body in hopes of helping you grow and learn.
Myofascial Release Work and Foam Rolling
A MFR or solid foam rolling session can go along way after your workouts. With a couple of tune up balls or foam roller, choose the area you would like to focus on, spend 5-20 minutes to reap the benefits of releasing tight tissues, hydrating the muscle, and breaking up MFR tissue that encapsulates your muscles.
Percussion Therapy
By now most of us have heard of these percussion therapy guns where they use rapid speed percussion to penetrate the muscles relieving soreness and stiffness. They are great for a warm-up and what I typically use mine for is recovery.
Restorative Yoga
Never underestimate the power of a short restorative yoga class (like this one for your shoulders). You can typically find these focused on a particular body part or region and are usually slower moving but very intentional. I liken their benefits to a full body massage.
Supplements
For as long as I live, I will always include collagen peptides in my morning coffee and smoothies. I find that it helps my muscles to recover a lot faster so that I can keep up my daily workouts. Most collagen has been marketed to help with anti-aging and skin benefits but I find the muscular and recovery benefits are far superior. Just sayin’.
Magnesium powder has also become a standard in my routine, I find this allows me to relax a bit easier as I settle into bed and that my muscles recover faster as a result of the rest as well. I mix a bit into 4oz. of water every night and enjoy before settling into bed.
(click the images above to find where you can get your own)
Ultimately, finding optimal health is all about striking a balance between energy output and restoring the body. The more you can take care of your body in between gym sessions, the greater longevity you’ll be able to create. Do you have any tips for recovery after going hard in the gym?
With love and sweat,
Paige