Welcome to the first instalment of my “Two things I know..” blog series. The idea here is to highlight two pieces of information you can easily take on board and implement within your weekly routine. With so much information out there it’s easy to become overwhelmed and overthink change – this often leads to procrastination and ultimately nothing gets done! Well, not on my watch!
At Fitter Food we are huge fans of step change and feel it’s the best approach for long-term success and sustainable health & fat loss. Each post in this series will offer just two nuggets of information that will allow you to implement positive changes to support optimal health, fitness and ultimately improve the quality of your life.
The posts are short and sweet with some clear action points. Plus you can start immediately, so there are really no excuses.
This week we focus on post workout recovery. Everyone is time poor these days and many of us focus on getting the essential training sessions completed but don’t invest in measures to ensure the body is able to recover effectively. Here are two things I know:
1. Pimp Post Workout Nutrition With Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Post work out nutrition is incredibly important and choosing anti-inflammatory foods helps to lower the inflammatory response caused by exercise. Certain foods are highly effective at this, here are a few suggestions:
- Omega 3’s = Add wild salmon or mackerel to your scrambled eggs.
- Antioxidants = Add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and frozen berries to your post workout shake and wash it down with a strong green tea.
- Joint nutrients = Have a cup of bone or add 2 tablespoons of supplemental collagen to your shake
2. Stretch and Move Throughout Your Day
Everyone assumes post workout stretching should be done immediately after finishing a workout, however, some studies suggest benefits can be had by actually performing a stretch routine later in the day – especially if your session is followed by long periods of being sedentary in an office job or similar. Not only will your joints and muscles quickly cease up in this scenario, blood flow is also essential to recovery so it’s important to take regular breaks from sitting and do some mobility drills and stretches 2- 3 times across a training day or just aim to move as much as you can.
