Irish spring time is well and truly here and the long bright evenings are enticing us out walking, running, jogging and exercising in general! However, for some of us it has been a while since we've been partaking in regular exercise. So we must be careful not to do any damage to our muscles and joints. Here are some post-workout recovery tips to help your muscles and joints recover after exercising.
Post-Workout Recovery Tips
If you are exercising, post-workout recovery is super important. There are a number of things you can do to make sure you don't injure yourself and allow your body to wind down after a workout. Follow these useful post-workout recovery tips to avoid sore muscles and joints!
1. Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated is one of the most obvious and most important post-workout recovery tips! While exercising, we can lose a significant amount of body fluid through sweat, especially during high cardio activities like running, team sports and boot camps.
If we become dehydrated, this can lead to an imbalance in our potassium and sodium levels. This can trigger muscle cramps and delay the post-exercise recovery time. On average we should aim to drink a minimum of 1.5 litres of water daily and even more on days we exercise.
Possible Recommendations: Coconut water, a small pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt in our water
2. Try a Muscle Rub
Another of our top post-workout recovery tips is to warm up and cool down. It is essential to ensure we get the most out of our workout. However, sometimes if we have a longer than usual run or a harder gym session than normal, we might feel it in our muscles the next day or the day after.
Muscle rubs are a way to prevent this and encourage quicker muscle recovery. We recommend that you use the warming balm on your legs, arms and back where required.
Possible Recommendations: Horse Balm, Arnica Oil or Better You Magnesium Muscle Body Spray
3. Allow for Muscle Recovery
Our large skeletal muscles are being worked whether we're lifting weights, running or practicing yoga and it's important that we maintain flexibility of these muscles to maintain long, lean arms and legs.
In our muscle fibres, we need calcium to help contract the muscle and magnesium to relax these muscles. Therefore, the more we work them, the more of these minerals our bodies require.
Possible Recommendations: Magnesium 365 or BetterYou Magnesium Gel
4. Take Care of Your Joints
Over time continuous weight bearing activities, especially distance running, can take its toll on our joints, in particular knees, hips, ankles and vertebrae. Maintaining the integrity of our joints is key to keeping us mobile and preventing any wear and tear that may cause us pain and inflammation.
Possible Recommendations: Revive Active Joint Complex (1 sachet daily)
All of the products mentioned in the above article are only guideline suggestions and anybody taking prescribed medication from their GP should always consult their GP or Pharmacist to identify any contraindications.
Please note, this blog is for informational purposes only and should not replace medical advice.
It’s always best to consult your doctor before taking any new supplements, treatments or remedies if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medication.
If you like this, we think you'll love our blog 'Pre-Running Snacks: What to Eat Before a Run'
Checked and updated: 19 September 2021
