When in the middle of a rigorous training regime, your body is going to take a beating and need some tender loving care to keep your body and mind as fresh as possible. Here are the 5 best ways to keep injury and stress free as well as improve your performance throughout our training program. In an ideal world you would do all of them, but of course people have careers, families and friends to think about, so try implementing one of these strategies consistently for 10 weeks and then add just one more when you are confident.
1. Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage helps to release the tension and stiffness from the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and fascia. It helps to break down old scar tissue and adhesions. Other benefits include pain relief, improved mobility, posture and enhanced physical performance.
Make sure you invest the time to find a good massage therapist and if they happen to be more expensive there is probably a very good reason for it. Do not skimp when it comes to massage therapists as when you find a good one for you, you will probably stick with them for a minimum 5 years.
We recommend seeing a massage therapist once a week and at the very least twice a month. You will thank yourself later.
2. Yoga
Although yoga is not everyone’s cup of tea, finding a teacher style that suits you takes time and patience.
The four most commonly used styles are
- Ashtanga which is very fast and dynamic with the same poses repeated in order.
- Vinyassa which is similar to Ashtanga, and is a more flowing class where poses are choreographed in a way that “flow”. No two classes are the same, so those who like variety will enjoy this style
- Hatha is more of a gentle introduction to poses and stretches and will leave you feeling looser, longer and more relaxed
- Restorative is particularly rejuvenating with blankets, bolsters and blocks used to prop you in passive positions and breathing is practiced
It is important to attend yoga classes with an open mind, remember that you are investing in the hour to stretch when you would never do it yourself with that focus, you will improve your breathing, clear your mind and even if you are not doing the posture 100% correct… they are helping. Just be patient and enjoy it as much as you can as you will get better with consistency.
We recommend doing yoga at least once a week with a fat loss training program. If you are particularly stiff and it is a priority for you to improve flexibility then hit it 4 times a week.
3. Meditation
Meditation is about mindfulness, stillness and focus. One of the most popular styles used by our clients is “Transcendental Meditation” http://www.tm.org/meditation-techniques. This style encourages you to meditate for 20 minutes two times a day.
The benefits include, stress relief, better sleep, clearer more purposeful thinking, relaxation and increased creativity.
For more benefits check this link.
http://www.tm.org/benefits-brain
4. Epsom Salts Baths
If you have a bath in your home, then you will soon find this one of your relaxation havens on a more frequent basis.
Epsom salt baths benefit you by replenishing magnesium levels (which get depleted through training and the nutrient density in modern foods), increasing serotonin levels which improves your mood, relieves muscle pains, cramps and eliminates toxins from the body.
Epsom salts also help optimise how well our muscles and nerves function, improve insulin sensitivity and relieve constipation.
For more in depth information check out http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/epsom-uses-benefits.asp
We use “WestLab” in the UK- http://www.westlab.co.uk/epsom-salts
5. Sleep
As mentioned in many of our blog posts, sleep is the one thing we can control and start improving today. Ensuring we get 8-9 hours of high quality uninterrupted sleep takes a little commitment and practice to fit into our lifestyles, but is well worth it when we get it right consistently.
Sleep improves almost everything about us from our skin, to our mood, memory, creativity, stress levels and general outlook on life.
The scary thing about poor sleep is that our memory declines, our brain ages from increased stress levels, our productivity dramatically decreases, our mood gets worse and our performance in life declines without any perception from us that we are actually getting worse!
Practice getting to bed one hour earlier each night starting today, and continue until you are getting 8-9 hours. Try it for 3 nights in a row and make a note of how much better you feel each day onwards. The results will pleasantly surprise you.
Read our tips on how to get the best night’s sleep ever for more info