Speed Up Recovery with These Tips

We all dream of a speedy recovery after a hard workout or challenging exercises. There are many ways to help the body and muscles recover after exercising. Speed up your recovery by using an ice-cold bath, magnesium salt bath or contrast therapy.

How Does An Ice Bath Work?

You probably have seen footy players jumping in a cold-water bath after a game and wonder why the hell would you do that for? The answer is simple: better and quicker recovery after a game.

Coldwater immersion or ice bath is a form of cryotherapy. This type of therapy puts your body into cold water for a period of 10 to 20 minutes. The water is chilled between 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.

When you first begin this type of therapy, it’s best to start with a short period to get your body used to it and eventually increase the time. It will feel uncomfortable and painful when you start but stick with it to build up your tolerance and see the benefits.

How Can Ice Baths Help You? 

After exercising, your body will retain a lot of waste products (lactic acid), which makes you sore. This “soreness” is known as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). No one likes DOMS. It makes your body sore and fatigued, which can prevent you from going back to the gym for a few days. Speeding up the recovery process after a session can help you maximise performance and reduce fatigue.

When you immerse yourself in ice-cold water, your blood vessels tighten, which will then send blood to your core and heart to keep you warm. Once you get out, your vessels dilate, and the process of contraction and dilation will help your body flush out toxins.

The Benefits Of Ice Baths:

• Promotes healing of muscles and joints
• Reduces inflammation after physical exercise by flushing lactic acid
• Increases metabolism as your body responds to a temperature change
• Speeds up recovery after strenuous exercise as well as injuries
• It May help burn fat as your body will need to burn more energy to keep you warm.

How Does A Magnesium Salt Bath Work?

Magnesium salt bath or Epsom salt bath is a form of recovery therapy that many athletes use to soothe tired muscles. You’ll immerse your body in a warm bath with Epsom salts. You need to soak for at least 15 minutes. The amount will depend on how much you want to use it.

You can use your own bath and Epsom salt at home, or you can go to a Float Tank centre, where you’ll immerse in a float pod with a concentrated amount of Epsom solution.

How Can Magnesium Salt Baths Help You? 

When you practice strenuous exercise or exercise regularly, your body can start to feel tight and sore. This can prevent you from going back to the gym or not performing to your full potential. Speeding up your recovery can make all the difference so that you can get that one extra rep or set.

When you immerse your body in an Epsom salt bath, you’ll help to relax muscles and your mind after a hard workout. A magnesium salt bath can also help increase the absorption of magnesium and sulphate as they are easily absorbed through the skin.

The Benefits Of Magnesium Salt Bath:

• Decrease inflammation after physical exercise
• Speeds up recovery after strenuous workouts
• Relieve muscular soreness as it acts as a muscle relaxant
• Minimise the effects of painful muscular cramps

Contrast Therapy:

This type of therapy uses both cold and hot water immersion. The hot water will open and dilate blood vessels (vasodilation), while the ice-cold water will constrict blood vessels (vasoconstriction). By alternating between the two, you can create a muscle pump effect. This blood flow contrast will effectively flush out your system from lactic acid and waste.

How Does Contrast Therapy Work?

With this type of recovery therapy, you’ll immerse your body in cold and hot water baths. You’ll expose your body to contrast temperature by jumping in an ice-cold bath for a few minutes and then jumping into a spa or hot shower.

The Benefits of Contrast Therapy:

• Better improved circulation of blood
• Relief to muscle joint and muscles
• Increase of metabolism
• Reduce mental stress and anxiety
• Better deeper sleep and clearer skin

Other Recovery Methods:

There are other methods used to speed recovery these include:

• Deep tissue massage
• Light stretching
• Foam rolling
• Dynamic range of motion exercises such as yoga
• Acupuncture
• Cupping

Summary:

Whether you are thinking of immersing yourself in ice-cold water or having a relaxing magnesium salt bath, this type of therapy gives you many benefits to your body and mind. From a speedy recovery after strenuous exercise to better sleep, ice and magnesium baths are also very effective to get rid of toxins. Try it out and speed up your recovery so you can get back to exercising again!