How to recover like a PRO

It's not always easy to grasp the idea of recovery the right way, and it's not just (even though we like the idea as well) about going for a cake and coffee after a workout. That's why we've collected some tips and ideas for a recovery that will leave you feeling well-rested and refreshed.

👍Here are some benefits of recovery after your workout:

• eliminating toxins

• keeping muscles flexible

• reducing soreness

• increasing blood flow

• helping you maintain your exercise routine

🤘If you take regular rest days, it:

• prevents muscle fatigue

• reduces the risk of injury

• improves performance

• supports healthy sleep

Many people overlook their body's signals. Our body is so smart that it will let you know when it's too much. If you notice any of the following signs, it might be time to take a break:

- Sore muscles. Persistent soreness is a red flag, and it means your muscles haven't recovered from past workouts.

- Tiredness. Pay attention to extreme exhaustion. If you feel tired, let your body rest. Everything can wait!

- Pain. It might be a sign of an overuse injury.

- Emotional changes. When you're physically burnt out, hormones like serotonin and cortisol become imbalanced, and this can cause changes like irritability and mood swings.

- Sleeping issues. High levels of cortisol and adrenaline can make it hard. 

⌚️SMART GADGETS

We always make sure to track our wellbeing - so we know when to rest, and of course, we can always track our overall progress. 

• Apple watch - Move. Exercise. Stand. Track all the ways you're active. Apple Watch tracks your favorite ways to work out. It controls your heart rate and also sleep.

• Oura ring - It monitors your heart rate around the clock, giving you the insights you need to make the most out of your days and nights. It will know when to start rest to improve your sleep quality. Oura also supports all sleeping patterns by automatically recording your naps.

• Whoop - A bracelet that monitors key metrics like heart rate, resting heart rate, heart-rate variability, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels to better understand your body's overall health.

Besides your fitness progress, you can track your sleep or heart rate. Those gadgets help track your daily habits, so you can get to know yourself better and stay in touch with your own body. Besides these, there are also other gadgets with only one primary function - smart water bottles, shoes, or even yoga mats, that can track your fitness habits and can be very helpful with your recovery.

💆‍♀️FOAM ROLLERS

If rolling isn't yet on your after-workout "to do" list, you should start now. What are the benefits? 

• Release of muscle tightness, soreness, and inflammation.

• Increase your joint range of motion.

• Increase muscular performance.

• Restores muscles and prevents injury.

• Improves postural control and corrects muscle imbalances

• Simple self-massage.

When to foam roll? You can add rolling to your warm-up or cool down, and the best thing is that you can do it almost anywhere and anytime - while watching TV or listening to your favorite podcast. Check Nike trained on Spotify. 

❤️RED LIGHT THERAPY

Have you heard of red light therapy yet? No? You should check it out! These days it's a big biohacking trend, and we can only recommend it. How does it work?

• It regenerates our cells.

• It works by acting on the "power plant" in your body's cells called mitochondria.

• Increases blood circulation to the tissue.

• Reduces inflammation in cells.

And has a very positive effect on our overall physical and mental wellbeing. It helps regenerate our skin, helps wound healing hair growth, and improves our daily emotional state. Are you intrigued yet? Check out Red Light Therapy Benefits on Youtube :)

💊VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS 

We in YG always like to stock up on our vitamins and supplements. The body is usually very smart and tends to keep the "good stuff" where it needs to be - redistributing all the vitamins in a brilliant way where we need them and when we need them. But it is always a good idea to give the body some extra supply. 

Some PRO tips: 

• Inulin - a prebiotic, very important for our microbiome and its wellbeing. It reduces cholesterol level.

• Magnesium - essential for our muscle and nervous system function. It reduces fatigue and exhaustion and helps to normal mental activity.

• D3 - one of the vitamins we tend to lack the most. It works the best with vitamin K2.

• K2 - good for your healthy bones! Effects of vitamin D3 & K2 are: healthy teeth, immunity support, it is an antidepressant and reduces the risk of infectious diseases!

• Green powder - A mixture of green superfoods like green barley, young wheat, spirulina and chlorella. It helps with digestion, detoxification of the organism, immunity, and energy. We recommend only organic quality!

You can read about each vitamins' benefits and recommendations on several websites and online stores but don't forget to talk to your doctor about what supplements are best for you :) Always discuss with a professional!

🧖‍♀️SAUNA OR A GOOD MASSAGE 

Of course, this comes probably as the 1st thing when we think about the word "recovery." Both sauna and massages can:

• Very quickly relax you,

• Help out with stiff muscles (just 10 minutes of sauna after sports significantly contributes to muscle regeneration),

• Improve heart health,

• Flush toxins,

• Cleanse your skin,

• And can help with healing any musculoskeletal pain. Strengthening immunity is also one of the biggest benefits of sauna. Both also positively impact the mental state.