4 Ways To Recover Like A Pro
Hey AC Fam!! We are excited to introduce you to Brittney! As a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a Registered Yoga Teacher, Brittney educates people on rehabilitative therapy and women’s pelvic health through her powerful innovative Program, Period Truth S.L.O.P.E. Her mission is to grant easy access to knowledge that encourages and moves you to learn more about yourself so that you can live the most fulfilling life you can dream up. Brittney wants to be your advocate, be your resource, and give you the tools you need on your road to Being Better! Today, she’s sharing ways you can recover like a pro.
Take it away Brittney!
Hi AC Fam! I’m honored to be sharing with you. I’m going to jump right in… the more I research, the more I realize there is a missing link in all arenas of life: recovery.
Why is it that we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, yet we don’t spend 1/3 of our activities in recovery? The burnout is REAL but also totally preventable.
HERE’S SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Our energies, bodies, and world run on familiar cycles. The seasons of the year, days turning into nights, and of course, the menstrual cycle run on these patterns of ups and downs, high energy, and low energy. They help us survive and maintain balance. Our workouts should follow this same pattern if we want to be active for life.
Hopefully, this is obvious. Generally speaking, for one typical workout session, we start with a warm up, lead to harder tasks and high performance activities, and end with a cool down and some recovery methods that help us return back to activities efficiently with minimal down time. But there are ways to incorporate mental and physical recovery not just daily, but weekly, monthly, and annually.
HERE ARE THE RECOVERY METHODS THAT I'VE SEEN WORK WONDERS.
YIN YOGA
A completely supported and muscular passive yoga practice that challenges your mind to be as still as your body. The longer posture holds help get deep to the connective fascia, rather than just your muscles. It also targets your parasympathetic nervous system - the one we need for rest, recovery, and repair. Try adding one session a week as a reset for your mind and body.
FOAM ROLLING
Taking different shape foam rollers to the parts of your body that you just used in your workout will help keep the fascial lines freely moving. That way, your body doesn’t feel as tight the next day. Feeling tight can lead to discomfort, prolonged delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and a harder time getting back into activity the next day. Don’t just lay on it - scrub those sensitive muscle bellies if you can. Add it on to the last 10 minutes of your workout.
ICE
If you have access to an ice bath, try it! Not only will this help with any excess inflammation, but it will challenge your breath and mind like Mr. Wim Hof. No chance of hopping in a tub full of ice? Just grab an ice bag and place it over your worked muscle or joint for 10-15 minutes. If any pain lingers for more than a day or two, have a physical therapist or trainer check out your form next time.
SLEEP
This one is extremely important and does way more for you than you can ever imagine, yet our society sacrifices this first to get things done. The quality of sleep may be even more important than the time, but according to Matthew Walker, sleep expert from UC Berkeley, the average adult should get 7-9 hours of sleep. Do yourself a favor. Turn off the electronics, and let yourself have the sleep, especially in the winter time when the nights are longer anyways.
Need more guidance on any of these points? I’m here for your questions and comments and can help lead you to the answers, just leave them for me below!
You can also connect with me here:
Instagram: b.ellers
Facebook: Britt Ellers
Website: wearebeingbetter.com
YouTube: Brittany Ellers
Work Email: hello@wearebeingbetter.com
Thanks for reading! I look forward to connecting and seeing you soon.
Cheers,
Brittney
“Add Positivity to the world!”