written by Flow Trainer, Erin White.
I’m sure we have all been there. Finished workout after workout, but yet not quite having the energy or strength to finish the workout fully satisfied or feeling accomplished. Or how I put it is – everything feels so heavy today, I feel like I took a couple steps backward.
Sure we will have good days and bad. There will be times your body is just not always feeling it. But a big part of us being able to have the energy, endurance and strength for our workouts is nutrition and RECOVERY.
1. Mobility/ stretching- (BEFORE + AFTER) So often we want to dive right into a workout, ( I myself am guilty!). What we need to remember is to prep our muscles for movement. We need mobility and stability. Meaning we stretch and lengthen those muscles we are using, open up those joints (example- shoulders, hips) and then we get those muscles firing or activated with smaller movements. (we get those muscles warmed up and ready to GO!) And yes it’s a before and after kind of thing. After the workout a lot of times a self myo-fascial release technique will also help (example: foam rollers and lacrosse balls).
2. Hydration. We all better know this one. H20. H20! So many incredible benefits for the body from hydrating, drinking tons of water. But especially when trying to keep our bodies hydrated through intense exercises. Try adding some natural electrolyte mixes into your water next time. And think CLEAN, less additives the better. But take a peak at ingredients and make sure you got those good electrolytes.
3. Pre/post workout fuel (food)– We always want to make sure we are working out with some food/nutrients in our system. This can be discussed more with nutrition. But yes food is fuel so it’s incredibly IMPORTANT to stay on top of your nutrition. Post workout is also so crucial. We put out a lot of energy during training, therefore we need to refuel our bodies. Thinking about a good clean protein and carb to replenish our glycogen stores and feed our muscles, to help them maintain and grow. (example: protein shake with some almond milk and bananas/fruit of some kind). Need more examples? Feel free to ask any of our trainers.
4. SLEEP – One of the most important factors, that most Americans don’t get enough of. I get it, life can be crazy. There might be some nights where we aren’t getting those 7-9 hours of sleep due to schedules, jobs, kids. That’s life, right? But making fitness a priority, we also need to somehow make sleep one as well. If not at least try to catch up on it when we can. If we aren’t letting our bodies repair and recover, those workouts will eventually suffer. Remember to take care of your bodies. When we train hard, train like athletes we need to recover and eat like athletes as well!