Photo credit: Elle Basten at Crossfit 604
As Crossfit continues to grow in popularity worldwide, more people are opting to participate in this high intensity, functional form of fitness.
Pushing physical and mental limits while performing the WOD (work out of the day) is routine for Crossfitters. While the benefits of this style of exercise are immense and produce fast results, as with any elite fitness it can take its toll on the body. Recovery and rest can become just as important as the actual training.
Here are a few tips to help you recover from this highly intense workout:
- Ensure your body receives proper nutrition. Feeding your body what it needs to repair those torn up muscles is an important element of recovery .
- Stretching over worked muscles will aid in recovery and diminish the risk of injury.
- Massage and/or yoga can be highly beneficial in muscle recovery, getting rid of toxins in your body and overall relaxation.
- Getting ample sleep is also a vital part of helping your body heal fast from those tough workouts. The body needs to spend quality time in its restorative state in order to keep performing at its best in the gym.
While yoga classes and restful sleeps are highly beneficial to an athlete they are not always possible. Luckily there are things you can do to aid relaxation and recovery in your own home.
- One option is self massage, using the Saje Muscle Melt lotion. You can rub in to tired and sore muscles to release some of the tension caused by hard workouts. It smells fantastic, is completely natural and will make your skin super soft as well.
- Another way to relax sore muscles is with a hot bath using bath salts. It is fast, inexpensive and also very good for your immune system as it pulls toxins from your body and puts minerals in. A great Saje product is the Après Sport Muscle Soothing Bath Salt.
- Sometimes it is hard to calm down at night when it is time for sleep, perhaps you can't turn off your brain and find that peace you need to drift off. Diffusing or using lavender, valerian, roman chamomile or a relaxation blend of essential oils is a great aid in calming down. This is a healthy,100% natural alternative to many unnatural and chemical-laden sleep aids available.
- Calloused hands are a trade mark of crossfit workouts. If you let the calluses grow and get too big, they will tear. When this happens it is very painful and can take weeks to heal. The best way to deal with this is to not let the tear happen by keeping your hands soft. The Saje Healing Hands or Tingle Mint lotions work wonders. Just a few times a day is all it takes, they have a nice fragrance and work on the rest of your body as well. When crossfit hands do tear however the Saje Recovery Skin Balm will help the wounds feel better and heal faster.
- After a sweaty workout at the gym one might not always have time to shower, or head home to do so, and a build up of sweat and dirt on the skin can cause acne. Saje has a great product called Acne Zap that is an all natural spray toner for acne-prone faces. Its easy to keep in your gym bag and use after workouts to minimize breakouts.
- One of the biggest chemical culprits in the body care department is deodorant
- Most people don't head to the gym without putting some on, and they might hear complaints if they did. Saje has a highly effective completely natural and chemical free "crystal fresh" spray on deodorant. This is such a wonderful alternative to drugstore varieties and also to the health store varieties that just don't work or smell nice.
The delicate balance between work and rest so often lands heavy in the work side. Take the time to take care of yourself, it will help you lead a healthier life. Whether you are at the Box, at work, or just at home with the family, rest and recovery is what keeps you able to continue performing at your best.