Rest is one of the most overlooked aspects of fitness. It can be the reason you're progressing or failing your goals. I am someone who likes to always be active and moving, I cant stand still for too long or else I get really antsy and sometimes grumpy. But rest is necessary in order to for your body to heal and adjust to new fitness levels. There are a number of thing you can do to make sure you get the proper rest for your body: Sleep, hydration, nutrition, stretching and self-myofascial release.
Sleep
Sleep is the most important time for recovery. We all lead busy lives and hold so much stress that its becoming a lot hard for us to get quality rest. I used to train and work with people that used to say " I can sleep when I'm dead" but after putting their body through so much hard training and sleeping 4-5 hours to wake up early in the morning to get the first of many workouts done, their body just couldn't handle it anymore. Good quality sleep can provide you with great mental health, hormonal balance as well as muscular recovery. A good amount of sleep should be within 7-9 hours for most athletes. A few tips to ensure you are getting quality rest
- Remove artificial light at least 1 hour before you go to bed. Sleeping in a natural setting improves the quality of sleep you get and tends to make sure you fall asleep sooner.
- Cooler temperatures improve quality of sleep
- sleeping the hours before midnight are more effective than those slept after.
- Using a real Alarm Clock rather than your phone. eliminate any electronics before bed and first thing you wake up.
Hydration
Drinking the right amount of water is essential to your health, energy and performance. Water helps with a lot of the bodily functions from nutrient uptake or lowering levels of stress on the heart to helping clean out the waste in your body or even hair growth. There is no other better alternative to water and sports drinks should be taken before, during or after strenuous training or competition. Consuming sports drinks simply for the taste would not be a very healthy decision. If you get too tired of the taste of water try adding lemon or limes instead of those flavorings.
Nutrition
Eating properly can aid in the restoration and healing of your body. The things you eat can have a benefit to how it recovers and the opposite holds true as well. Feed yourself crap then you feel like crap, feed it nutritious healthy foods and you feel like a champ! A big part of nutrition that many don't seem to realize is that there is no perfect diet or program. It takes awhile to experiment and hone in on what works for you and your body/lifestyle. So keep that in mind when trying things out and adjust your nutrition through your experiences rather than what you read. Tips to having a great nutrition:
- Meal plan: make food ahead of time. home cooked meals are always healthier than eating out, you know what you put in the food you make.
- having snacks ready to go. pre packaging snacks is a good way to make sure you don't get tempted to eat bad.
- if eating out is a must then do your homework. knowing where you are going to eat and looking at the menu before hand can also aid in making better decisions.
- Bay Area people: contact TAClifestyle@gmail.com for weekly deliver meal plans customizable to your lifestyle and needs.
Stretching and Self-Myofascial Release
Keeping your muscles loose will ensure better mobility and a more pain free body. Performing dynamic stretches in your warmups can prevent you from pulling, tearing or injuring parts of your body and static stretching at the end of your workout can aid in a better recovery. You don't want to be walking around stiff in the joints and muscles all day so proper stretching before and after training sessions can keep you from looking like a statue. For more of those trigger point problem areas, self-myofascial release is a great way to get those stubborn kinks out of the way. From foam rollers to therapy balls and theracanes, there are a great number of tools out there to help you get quality recovery and rest. Some of the tools I use are the X - grid foam roller and therapy ball from Trigger Point and for the deep annoying knots I use the Theracane. I swear by all these products and it keeps me ready to perform at my best in the next session or competition.
BONUS: Recovering from Injury
For those of you going through an injury such as muscle strains, ligament sprains or other bruises and injuries, the best way to describe how you should deal with it is simple: R.I.C.E
Rest - stop doing any activity that may further injure the area
Ice - aids in relieving pain and swelling. 20-30 minutes of cold treatment 3 or more times a day.
Compress - wrapping the area can keep swelling down as well. but not too tight!
Elevation - keeping it above the level of the hard will lower the swelling
Sometimes after icing it for 2-3 days, you can apply heat to the sore area to promote blood flow. generally, adding heat should be done when swelling has already gone in order to loosen the muscle. Cold treatments restricts blood flow and lowers swelling and heat does the opposite and should be performed when swelling is not in the picture.
Proper rest and recovery can help your body heal faster from the hard training you do. It is an essential part of fitness and training and is often overlooked. I hope these tips on how to get the proper rest and recovery really help you. If you find yourself plateauing in fitness even though you are training hard then maybe its time to take a day or 2 to let the body recover while you think of new ways to challenge yourself. Fitness is a lifelong activity for most of us and our bodies need to be taken care of properly in order to enjoy the benefits of having a healthy, fit and happy life. Until next time, Visualize the goal, Embrace the path and Conquer the struggle!
