Day 11 - Recovery

Today is a recovery day for me. Seeing as how I am under the weather, and feeling pretty crappy, I figured I would do some research and pass along to you guys info on recovery in athletics.

There are a lot of helpful ways to get your body back into proper shape when you are feeling down, or just in general after a workout. The best way to stay fit and healthy is to create a healthy and proper lifestyle both within, and outside of your workout routines.

Nutrition is a major part of health. It relates to all aspects of our well-being. Eating improperly can cause your body a lot of problems. Especially in those with an active lifestyle. For athletes, foods high in protein content, such as meats, beans, and cheeses, are essential. Carbohydrates are especially good the day before and, the day of big workouts. They are also good post workout to help your body have some reserve energy to aid in recovery.
In general, its always a good idea to try and get proper nutrition, even if you aren't on a diet or trying to lose or gain weight. Vitamins, and minerals found in a lot of healthy foods are essential to overall well being and good health.

Water is another big aspect of health and recovery. Staying properly hydrated helps an athlete perform better during intense workouts. It replenishes sweat stores, and its keeps your body breaking down enzymes so that you can produce energy at an cellular level, which is where a lot of your energy stores come from. Without water, your body can't perform ATP conversions in the cells to produce energy. It can't properly process waste out of the body. There are several uses for water in the bodies processes. There is no definitive rule on how much water you should be drinking every day. A lot of people say a lot of different things. But in general athletes need more water in a day that a sedentary person. Keep a water bottle with you throughout the day, and you will drink more water throughout. Cut out sugary sodas as much as possible, the carbonation and the sodium content in them actually depletes your waters stores more than it adds to them. All in all, its not hard to make sure you are properly hydrated throughout the day, and its one of the best benefits to your body to be hydrated.

One thing overlooked a lot by athletes is stretching. During off days, and even pre- and post-workout its important to stretch out the body, especially those muscles used during the workout.
During workouts, the muscles used contract and shorten, and without stretching, will remain sore and painful longer following a workout. By stretching after a workout, you elongate those muscles, and give them their full range of motion back, thus eliminating a lot of the time it takes to recover. There are a lot of right ways to stretch certain muscles, but there are also a lot of dangerous and wrong ways to stretch muscles, so when you look to get into stretches, read up about them first, and make sure you are taking care of your body. Injuries are debilitating to athletes, and one should take caution in avoiding them any way they can. Listen to your body, and don't overdo yourself. It kills...believe me.

So that's about it for now. I am gonna dive into some more depth later and elaborate on these and other topics in their own posts throughout the week or so. But today, I am gonna focus on my nutrition and water intake, as well as do some light stretching and exercise to help boost my recovery.