Recover from Your Workout

No pain no gain: The mantra is real, but the pain part doesn’t have to be so awful. Recovery can happen for you in a natural and healthy way.

Recovery plays an important role in an active person’s life. If you are a heavy weight lifter or a long distance runner or even a yoga practitioner, pain is your friend. “No pain, no gain” mantra works like a charm when one is active. Your body going through inflammation and soreness after a strenuous exercise is considered healthy as that is the only way you realize that your muscles are building and getting stronger.

While working out continuously and getting stronger is great, some resort to painkillers in order to cope up with workouts .Commonly used painkillers such as Ibuprofen are known to reduce inflammatory pain which helps people go harder on their workout and helps them recover faster. However, using painkillers for recovery can, in the long run, affect kidney and liver function as they tend to block biochemicals such as prostaglandins. Instead of taking pain killers, here are some natural ways to beat inflammation and soreness so you can recover in a healthy way.

Ice Baths

Ice baths have been used since ancient times to build a stronger immune system and for beauty purposes. Sitting in an ice bath after a workout can drastically relax your muscles by reducing inflammation, closing those open pores, and by cooling off your system .This is not just great for your muscles but excellent for your skin.

Sleep

Nothing screams recovery louder than a good night’s rest. Your body recovers at its highest rate when you are sleeping. It’s the time to give your muscles and organs a good break and helps get rid of lactic acid and aids in muscle recovery. Six to eight hours are generally recommended. If you are physically active for more than two hours a day, you should extend your sleep to ten hours a night.

Massage

Being physically active has great benefits but can simultaneously cause havoc on your body when you have pushed it over a certain point. Massages are a great way to relax your mind and body. Massage relieves lactic acid, remove knots in your body, improves blood circulation, and helps with mental relaxation. Getting a massage once a week is ideal if you are strenuously active.

Nutritious Diet

The healthier you eat, the faster you recover. It’s that simple. Focus on eating wholesome and organic foods and sources of carbohydrates and protein that come from places other than red meat and peanut butter. Focus on quinoa, almond butter, lentils, and loads of greens to support your active lifestyle and speedy recovery. Sunwarrior has some great protein powders that are organic and fabulous tasting to help you with your post work out nutrition.