Exercise and nutrition have long been recognized as some of the best ways to maintain optimum physical, mental, and emotional health.
Consider the fact that Non-communicable diseases are on the rise globally and across all demographics. Yet the World Health Organisation is positive that exercise alone can reduce the risk of dying from a Non-communicable disease (NCD) by up to 30%.
While we all agree that exercise is extremely important, exercising without incorporating useful body recovery tips can easily wear down your body defenses – and bruise you – instead of building you.
In this article, we’ll look at why body recovery is important and practical ways to help your body recover post-workout.
Just like a car that needs service regularly, our bodies cannot endure ceaseless activities.
Why Body Recovery Is Important
Promotes Muscle Recuperation
Intensive, continuous exercise can destroy and harm muscle tissue. It can even cause the tissues to break down.
However, perhaps the most important reason why you may want time for muscle recovery is the fact that you’ll need to replenish the glycogen stores in your body.
This is how it plays out.
Glycogen, Glucose, and Body Recovery
Sugar usually gets a bad rap, but come to think of it—our bodies actually run on sugar in the form of glucose. It’s the body’s primary source of fuel. Don’t get it wrong, you don’t have to get this glucose from candies, pastries and soft drinks. There are many go-to wholesome sources.
When there’s excess glucose, the body will lump up a dozen glucose units into a single glycogen molecule. It then stores excess fuel source in this form—in an insulin-mediated process.
So when you undertake some intensive exercise for a long time, your glucose level—the immediate source of fuel—will get depleted, or reduced. But the body also shifts automatically to glycogen sources.
Usually, there are some little stores of glycogen in the liver and substantial stores in the muscle, for very good reasons. The muscles power most of our actions and movements.
So when you exhaust your glycogen stores, you’ll feel extremely fatigued and exhausted. Your brain can also become foggy and hazy. You’ll feel that you’re not able to lift your feet and make the final dash to the finish line.
This has the potential to damage your muscles.
There’s another consequence. The capacity of damaged muscle to store glycogen is usually severely restricted as well. You may not have the sufficient reserves of energy to sustain yourself. It’s like going into a football match with less reserves—or worse—no reserves at all.
The good news is that you may not easily reach the point where your glycogen levels are completely depleted.
Still, you should ensure that you replenish your glycogen levels ever so regularly.
If you’ve been cycling for two hours, for instance, a single day on a high carbohydrate diet can restore up to 93% of the muscle glycogen.
But rest is also an extremely important factor in the restoration of glycogen in the body. That’s why you should never view the time spent in a Jacuzzi as wasted. Your body will thank you for restoring its dwindling glycogen levels.
However, it’s not all about glycogen.
Promotes Relaxation
Body recovery usually involves some time off in a spa or a sauna to achieve optimum relaxation.
Relaxation, in turn, is very beneficial to the body. Several studies have shown that relaxation activates the parasympathetic nervous system which, when activated, induces a calm and tranquil feeling both in the mind and the body.
Also, the activated parasympathetic nervous system can help facilitate several important body functions including aiding digestion, modulating the heart rate, and—promoting body healing and recovery.
Body recovery also prevents overtraining and makes our bodies to become more efficient in future.
So, what exactly can you do on a regular basis to achieve consistent body recovery and hence achieve the above benefits?
Tips to Help Recover After a Workout
Hydrotherapy
You might be surprised at just how much hydrotherapy can change your life.
But what do we exactly mean by hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy is a body recovery technique that involves applying the therapeutic properties of hot tub water or water in other setting—on our bodies to achieve healing and recovery. The healing agent in hydrotherapy is just plain water though in its many forms.
Hence the name “hydro”.
For eons, water has been known to possess amazing healing properties. Hippocrates, the celebrated father of medicine, recommended bathing in spring water for various kinds of diseases as way back as the 4thCentury BC.
While hydrotherapy can be used in a modest span of conditions ranging from fibromyalgia to arthritis, one of the biggest benefits of hydrotherapy is exercise-related body recovery.
So how exactly can hydrotherapy help your body regularly recover after strenuous exercises?
For starters, water has a soothing effect on tense and sore muscles—just what intense exercises routinely cause.
The effect of water on our muscles mirrors that of a Swedish massage. Warm water dilates blood vessels and helps improve blood circulation. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), poor blood circulation has a negative effect on muscle tone. So when blood circulation improves, muscle tension invariably reduces.
This is because blood carries with it oxygen and several life-giving nutrients which restore health, tone, and essence to your sore and painful muscles.
The following are other beneficial effects of water on sore muscles:
- Water helps dull the nerves:First, water’s hydrostatic pressure causes sustained signalling of the nerve endings. In an attempt to manage this hyper-activity, the nervous system dulls a network of neurons in the brain responsible for touch sensation. This calms the muscles as well.
- Hot tub jets, like deep tissue massage, can help loosen your tense muscles and alleviate pain.
Sore muscles can put you out of shape and out of the track for good. However, if you are a regular weight lifter, or a person who engages in other intense exercises, you shouldn’t be too glum and anxious about sore muscles.
Truth is, you’ll definitely experience them—of course, more than the average person next door.
But if they are becoming more frequent and bothersome, it may be time to consult a qualified medical doctor.
In between, you’re better off applying hydrotherapy regularly.
Our Jacuzzi hot tubs support faster muscle recovery and enable athletes to train harder and more often. Any hydrotherapy expert will tell you that it’s not about the quantity of water jets but the quality of the jets. Our hydro-massage uses a technique that perfectly mixes air and water to deliver a jetted massage that:
- Reduces stress and lower back pain
- Improves sleep
- Quickens post exercise recovery
- Alleviates restless leg syndrome, and
- Eliminates cramps
There are Jacuzzi hot tubs—and then there are other hot tubs.
If you want to experience body recovery through hydrotherapy and the magic of water cure, try our Jacuzzi hot tubs. They’ll also give you peace of mind. Our products come with up to 10 years warranty.
Steam Baths
There’s a reason many gyms and health clubs have saunas. The popularity of saunas may be traced to their beneficial effect on health and body recovery.
But first, what exactly is a sauna?
The word “sauna” is actually Finnish and is derived from the Finnish word— “savuna,” which literally means “in smoke.” The Finns recognized the health and restorative benefits of saunas—and they had even a proverb to the effect that “if the sauna won’t help, then the disease is fatal.”
Today, Saunas are generally enclosed rooms that are heated to temperatures of about 1700 F. Sometimes, the temperatures can go even up to 2000 F.
You’ll want to know that Saunas are not created equal. While there are many different types of saunas, the following are the main types:
- Electrical Dry Heat Saunas: These are saunas where heat is produced and regulated using electricity.
- Wet Saunas: These are saunas where you can sprinkle water onto the heating object for the production of steam.
- Infrared Saunas: These are saunas where infrared lights are directed to your body to generate heat and sweat.
- Wood-Burning Saunas: Traditional saunas where wood fire was used to heat the rocks to generate warmth in the enclosure.
- Sweat Lodges: Where rocks are heated outside the enclosure and only brought to produce sweat to the person.
However, regardless of the type, most saunas produce body recovery and healing through the same mechanism. The warmth on the body increases the pulse rate and dilates the veins and arteries. Dilation of blood vessels will invariably increase blood circulation hence higher levels of oxygen inside the cells of the body.
These will reduce muscle soreness and pain.
In addition, muscles tend to grow well—and usually tend to have more strength and power—after a sauna visit. This might be related to the fact that saunas release heat shock proteins and growth hormones which aid in muscle build-up.
Then there’s the effect on mitochondrial activity.
Mitochondria are the cell’s powerhouses since they produce most energy needed for the cell’s functions. Healthier mitochondria—as a result of the effect of saunas—means more energy. And this is the dream of every athlete.
While the benefits we’ve highlighted specifically relate to body recovery for regular athletes and those involved in other strenuous exercises—there are other amazing health benefits that saunas bestow.
However, you need to be a tad more careful with saunas especially if you have chronic low blood pressure or some other cardiovascular condition. That’s the reason you should still consult a qualified medical doctor if you want to incorporate any new measure—like saunas—into your exercise regime regularly.
At Euphoria Lifestyle, we have a variety of sauna models that you may want to check out. Our experienced experts will help you pick the one that perfectly fits your needs among the many varieties available in our award-winning dealership.
Infrared saunas can be a great choice particularly if you want to maximize on overall body health and recovery. This is because, compared to other saunas, they may help induce the production of more toxins from your body.
Swimming
We are used to viewing swimming just like cycling or any other exercise. This is true to an extent. Swimming is an active sport and can be strenuous with attendant muscle weariness and exhaustion. Yet swimming can also be restorative and aid in body recovery.
A study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine showed the beneficial effects of swimming as a body restorative measure. Athletes who dipped themselves in a pool for some easy swimming significantly out-performed the ones who took a rest—in subsequent races.
Other studies have also confirmed that athletes actually run better—and longer—after sessions involving recovery swims.
This is the mechanism.
Lactic acid is the main contributory factor to muscle pain and soreness. After a strenuous exercise, there’s usually a modest build-up of lactic acid in your system. Recovery swimming works to counteract this effect by lowering the levels of lactic acid in your body.
Researchers have also previously found the levels of c-reactive proteins to be lower after sessions of recovery swims. This is important because c-reactive proteins are linked to inflammation—and inflammation causes muscle and joint pain.
Then there are endorphins, the happy hormones that are known to strengthen our immune systems. Swimming usually induces the production f endorphins.
However, bear in mind that this is a recovery swim. So, if you do it fast and hard, you may not get the beneficial body recovery effects. You may want to opt for easy options like:
- Aqua aerobics
- Water biking
- Aqua yoga
- Swimming with a kickboard
At Euphoria Lifestyle, we have an unmatched variety of swim spas and other swimming pools that are fast and easy to install—and also affordable. With as little as £400, you can start swimming your way to recovery.
Help Your Body Recover With a Sauna or Spa
Water is one of the cheapest yet one of the most beneficial agents in body recovery. For more than a decade, we’ve helped thousands of satisfied customers stretch out, relax and soak their worries away in some of the world’s finest hot tubs, saunas and swim spas.
Contact us today and schedule a chat with our experienced experts. Our friendly and efficient team will also narrow down your search to the right hot tub or swim spas to suit your style, space, and budget.
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