Tuesday 4 March 2014



RECOVERY.

Two great things that everybody can, and should, be using to better aid recovery from their workouts; are magnesium oil and a foam roller.

Magnesium oil is a fantastic supplement with a list of benefits longer than a monkey's arm, but I will try and focus on the ones you will be interested in and benefit from!

People who work out a lot put their body under stress. This is in addition to the normal, every day stress we all have, which is a great deal sometimes just on it's own.

Magnesium oil is in fact a super-saturated water solution that you apply directly onto your skin which you absorb more effectively than if you took an oral supplement. If you have low levels of magnesium in your body, you may experience a tingling sensation when applying it, but as you build your levels up you won't feel the tingling any more.

Here comes the science bit..
Magnesium helps to optimise DHEA levels (which acts a backup to testosterone), pregnenolone, insulin, seratonin and growth hormone, amongst others. These hormones are the ones that keep us young, help us to sleep better, be more active, have healthy sex drives, burn fat more effectively and build muscle tissue.

The more we stress our bodies with exercise (and just 'normal' stress like finacial worries, family issues, poor sleeping patterns, etc) the lower our magnesium levels, which has a cascading effect on the adrenal function of our bodies, which in turn makes us feel sluggish, look and feel tired all the time, loss of sex drive, thinner hair and poor complexion... the list goes on.

The good news is that you can change all that just by applying magnesium oil twice a day to your skin after a shower. In fact, if you have a particular area that is tight or painful from exercise, you can apply it directly to those muscles, as magnesium oil also acts as a muscle relaxant. If you have no particular areas of discomfort, applying it to the abdomen or just the larger muscular areas will be best.

Benefits you should notice within a week or two are generally a better sleeping pattern, better recovery from exercise with less muscle soreness, and an elevated mood.

The second thing you can and should be doing to better aid your recovery is foam rolling. A foam roller is a foam cylinder that is available in varying sizes, densities and designs, but largely all do the same thing. My preference is THE GRID (Google it).

Basically you position yourself onto the roller, and 'roll' back and forth. Think of this as ironing out the wrinkles in your muscles - it's the next best thing to a massage. When your muscles are tight and sore, you have adhesions or maybe even scar tissue, and the rolling helps to release the adhesions (knots) and break down scar tissue build-up. This helps to reestablish proper movement patterns which will allow you to function better not only after a workout, but generally in life too as sometimes we go about with poor posture, or other lifestyle factors that inhibit our muscles and movement patterns.

So there you have it! Very simple yet extremely effective tools to aid recovery and just generally improve our lives and longevity. The key thing to remember is these things should be used ALL THE TIME. Apply the oil twice a day EVERY DAY. Foam roll every day, or at least EVERY OTHER DAY. It is the cummulative effect that will make the difference.


---

Personal coaching can help you achieve the results you desire, as well as giving you the necessary effective tools you need to keep striving forwards, to keep changing and progressing on your journey.


Challenge everything, especially yourself.

Alex Kay Grimmer


Contact me for Kettlebell classes and Personal Training in Southend-on-sea.
Please visit my website: ALEXKAY