As an athlete who’s tried different sports and martial arts in my life such as football, soccer, kickboxing/boxing, basketball, futsal, Jujitsu and weight training… an important factor I found was recovery.
I didn’t realise how important it was till a few years ago until I started taking it seriously. Different ways of recovery I used and learned that were effective and made a big difference, not only physically but mentally as well were, Stretching frequently, swimming, massage, sleeping, discipline and awareness.
Making time for swimming was hard and I never thought I would see myself doing it consistently… but that made a huge change in my recovery.
The benefits of swimming are not only good as a form of exercise in terms of cardiovascular health but help to free up the joints and the production of synovial fluid that runs in joints.
Also if your local pools or wherever you swim has a spa/steam room or sauna, that helps as well. You can use the spa jets as a self care massage over your muscles.
Stretching and dynamic movements are very important for pre/post training and everyday to have a routine weather it is to stretch and warm up, for performance or everyday activities. Using a trigger point foam roller/spikey ball to release tension and trigger points is another excellent active recovery tool for athletes.
To completely stretch and lengthen a muscle it takes at least 60 seconds and at the end of the day if people aren’t ready to sacrifice 10-20 minutes a day stretching/warming up, in the long run it won’t be very pleasant with injuries, tension and pain developing as a result.
“Health is wealth” you only have one body so look after it, you come first!
Myotherapy and Massage are a key factor in recovery regarding general maintenance and overcoming injury. I’m lucky I’ve never had a major injury through out all the physical activity I’ve done but getting maintenance and seeing a Myotherapist once every two weeks helped me significantly through out. People have to understand that you don’t have to be an athlete to have athlete types of injuries such as, tennis/golf elbow, ACL tear, shin splints and etc.
What I’ve noticed and respect is clients who have been through injuries/wear and tear in the body and have developed the awareness and discipline to do whatever it takes to get back to being pain free and being able to do what they love. As a Myotherapist and athlete, this type of person is my favourite types of client… because not only do I get satisfaction and joy out of helping, but being apart of the journey is an amazing feeling.
Movement… Not only physically but Mentally as well. Everyone is different. You must keep moving. These are my tips and the ways in which I recover. I hope it is helpful to who ever is reading this.