You may have taken your training to the next level this year. You are more focused than ever on your fitness and health goals. You found a training routine that works well for you and gets you closer to your goals. We know, however, that training is only half the battle. To get the most benefit out of your hard work it is essential to focus on recovery. In this article we want to focus on our favorite ways to focus on recovery here at DirectHemp.com

Recovery can be elusive at times. We know that when we train, we break down our muscle fibers and prepare the body to build itself back stronger. We have looked into ways that can help speed up this process and get us back to doing what we love.

Scroll down to find out more about each recovery method

1: CBD

We may be a little bias here, but we’re huge fans of CBD for recovery. As we have discussed in other articles, CBD stimulates our Endocannabinoid System. Our ECS (Endocannabinoid System) is our bodies, homeostatic regulatory system. What this means, is that our ECS is in charge of keeping our body within balance, or homeostasis. When our body is in homeostasis it is in the perfect state to give us the best ability to recover.

When our ECS is in balance it helps regulate our circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats on each rotation of the Earth roughly every 24 hours. When we have a healthy circadian rhythm, we get more beneficial sleep and sleep is a huge factor in how our bodies’ recover.

2: Heath Data Tracker

If we’re talking about the best ways to recover, we should probably discuss how we measure the data so we can track results of our efforts. A famous quote by H. James Harrington says, “Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”

We agree! There are many options out there to track your personal health data and see improvements over time. Here at DirectHemp.com, we use the Whoop fitness tracker, but there are many others including; Apple Watch, Vivoactive 4, Polar Grit, Fitbit, Samsung Galaxy fit and more. These devices allow us to measure things like sleep, Heart Rate Variability, Resting Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Calories burned and more! We also obviously recommend using one so you can see objectively how CBD effects your recovery!

3: Hydration

You cannot talk about recovery without talking about hydration. Water flushes toxins out of the body, transports nutrients into the cells and helps regulate body temperature and pH balance. Water can also help with muscle soreness and tension. According to Whoop.com, proper hydration is the no.1 way to boost recovery.

Roughly 60% of your body is made up of water. How hydrated you are affects the volume of your blood, thermoregulation, lubricating joints and more. Recommendations for how much water to drink per day can vary from source to source. Most sources recommend .5 ounces to 1 ounce for every pound you weigh. For a person who weighs 160 pounds this would equate to 10 – 20 8oz glasses of water a day. For athletes or anyone who regularly sweats, it is suggested to consume 1 ounce of water per pound that you weigh.

4: Nutrition

At the end of the day, CBD and protein shakes are just supplements to what is hopefully already a healthy diet. Adequate nutrition is vital for recovery. Focusing on high-quality protein foods aids in muscle recovery and keeps your immune system strong. Also, focusing on foods that have good amounts of vitamin C and zinc are important. Vitamin C is needed to make a protein called collagen is needed for repairing tendons and ligaments. Zinc is a mineral found mostly in animal foods.

You also want to focus on getting enough vitamin D, calcium, and fiber in your diet. Calcium and vitamin D are nutrients associated with healthy bones. Lastly, many recommend focusing on getting in healthy fats for healthy hormone function. Eating healthy fats releases hormones making the body feel full and reduces the odds of developing insulin resistance. Also, avoiding alcohol is a key-component to healthy nutrition and recovery.

5: Mobility/Mindfulness

Our 5^th tip for best recovery comes as a bit of a catch-all. Stretching, mobility and mindfulness all fall into the same category because they can be done together with a bit of intentional focus.

Stretching is a vital part of improving your range of motion, flexibility and assisting the recovery process. Stretching allows your body to more easily move through the full range of motion when it comes to hitting weights, in effect creating long, full muscles instead of stunted ones. Exercising creates toxins in the body as muscles are exerted. By stretching the muscles after exercise, these toxins move into the bloodstream and out of the muscles, where they can be broken down and eradicated.

According to Wendell Liemohn, Ph.D and Fellow for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and for the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, “…having functional ROM (range of motion) at all joints of the musculoskeletal system is desirable to ensure efficient body movement; this is one reason why flexibility is a key component of physical fitness.” Enhance the effectiveness of your training programs for years to come by adding some of these mobility and recovery techniques.

Mindfulness is also a great practice to help our bodies recover. Mindfulness can be done by practicing meditation, receiving cryo-therapy (iCryo if you’re in the dallas area!), attending a float tank session and more. Mindfulness helps put the body into a parasympathetic state, and in this state is how our body restores and heals.