5 Best Ways To Optimise Rest And Recovery For Your Race...And Life!

Some great tips here from our partner BL Physio

Getting enough quality rest and sleep is important in so many ways as we all know, yet we always seem to run short! Life is busy, the to-do lists are long, there’s not enough hours in the day. Sounds familiar?

But setting aside time to wind down and prioritising this will benefit us in the long run. There is research showing that lack of sleep is a contributing factor in a range of health conditions. Also, the repair and recovery of our body happens when we sleep!

Here’s 5 tips from me for winding down and ensuring good quality rest and recovery:

1. Get enough magnesium. Magnesium is involved in countless body functions. It can help with muscle tension, cramping, quicker muscle recovery and also calming the nervous system. In Queensland we sweat so much exercising and it is difficult getting enough magnesium through food. A good quality supplement daily really makes a difference.
2. Go to bed the same time during the week to create a routine for your body. If you know when you are getting up and how many hours of sleep you need - count backwards and create the habit. When you’re waking up on time before your alarm you know your circadian rhythm has adjusted.
3. Try no screen time for the last hour before bed (no iPhone scrolling)! The light from our devices can impact our melatonin production and so negatively affect our sleep. Melatonin is a sleep hormone which is produced when we are in a dark environment.
4. Do a 5-10 minute meditation routine before bed or first thing in the morning. If you don’t like the guided ones try this - lie flat on your back. Breath slowly in through your nose and out of your nose. Slowly go through gently being aware of each part of your body starting from your right toes - then your right foot - right knee - right hip - belly - heart - chest - right shoulder - elbow - right hand, mouth, cheeks, eyes, and then do the left side (all the same as the right) until you’re at your left toes.
5. Breathing exercise to slow down the nervous system and relax. It’s called “box breathing”. Slowly filling your lungs breathing in from the nose counting to 4. Then hold the breath at the top counting to 4. Then slowly release the breath counting to 4 as you breath out, then hold the empty lungs counting for 4 to complete the cycle. Then slowly breathe in again counting to 4 and keep going with the same 4-4-4-4 breaths for 10 cycles.

Getting your rest right will help your nervous system function which in turn helps controls your muscles. So it's win win win.
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Enjoy!

Physio Anna 😊