A question I often get asked, especially from my midlife female clients is how to recover well after workouts.
Exercise in itself places a ‘stress’ onto the body. Your muscles use energy in the form of glycogen to fuel activity, the type of, and duration of your workout affects how much you use up this energy. Depleted glycogen leads to fatigue, reduced performance and recovery, so it’s really important to replenish those stores.
Women are more sensitive than men to under fuelling during activity, due to menstrual cycles, the menopause transition, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Women should be cautious with intermittent fasting and exercising hard, both of these deplete glycogen stores, so taking on a small carb low GI rich snack a couple of hours before your workout will help you sustain your session. Incorporating it during activity if its endurance work and then replenishing after is also critical.
You’ll hear me after workouts saying rehydrate, take electrolytes and include protein with your meals. Your body needs to get rid of the by products of exercise ( metabolic waste), patch up the tiny micro tears created in the muscles, restock your fuel stores, and generally recharge and rebuild so you don’t get injured and you can progress with your fitness.
As mentioned before, age and the hormonal changes that come with menopause mean our recovery process is even more important. Why? Because our bodies work a little slower and have less of the hormonal support to do their jobs. I know I take longer to recover than I did in my 30’s and 40’s but you can really support yourself moving forward whatever your age.
MY TOP TIPS TO SUPPORTING YOUR WORKOUT & RECOVERY NO MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE//
1. WARM UP & COOL DOWN
Warming up, (doing whatever activity you’re out for at a lower intensity)—power walking before running; easy spinning before cycling; lifting lighter weights before going heavier, is essential to get the blood flowing, lubricate joints, and warm muscles. It helps recovery by minimising stress, and preventing injury plus research shows it improves performance by nearly 80%. it also prepares you mentally for the workout ahead
Cool downs are SO important, because our blood vessels are slower to expand when we start working out (i.e that warm-up matters) and to shrink back to normal post-exercise, which can leave blood pooling in your extremities if you don’t cool down. Cool downs also help lower the stress hormone cortisol, this is needed for exercise but if it runs high all the time can contribute to mid section weight gain in menopausal women
2. FOOD & HYDRATION
Protein, protein all the way, for repair and growth of muscle. Aim for 1.2 -1.6 G protein per kg of bodyweight per day, spread evenly over three meals.
If you have a hard workout, have your protein ready so you have one of those doses after you’re done to stop muscle breakdown, lower cortisol, and stimulate muscle growth. A repeated dose of small amounts of protein such as 20 g every 3 hours is really beneficial.
Don’t forget electrolytes – these are incredibly helpful for replacing lost nutrients when you’re sweating, you can buy them anywhere but I like E-Lyte which is a liquid, I add a tsp to my water, it has no hidden nasties or added sweeteners – I use this all day everyday in my water. An ‘isotonic’ drink has carbs in which are readily absorbed and perfect for more high energy, prolonged sports such as tennis, running, cycling.
CREATINE
Creatine helps improve performance and strength in the gym. It helps us produce more energy rapidly, and research shows it has numerous other benefits too such as slowing the loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) as we age, slowing bone loss as we age, and it may even help with brain function.
It’s found naturally in our muscle cells and provides energy when we do high intensity exercise. It’s made from the amino acids in protein and can be found in food sources rich in proteins, such as red meats, fish and even dairy. It’s also made synthetically and sold as supplements, to help increase muscle mass and reduce fatigue while doing intense physical exercise, and for strengthening muscles and helping with short-term bursts of exercise.
Creatine comes in both powder and capsules. powder for me is the better option, it’s easily absorbed by the body meaning it can do its job faster. .It’s recommended that you take it at the same time as you might have carbs. You could have your capsules with a meal, for example, or mix your powder with a small amount of fruit juice. There are loads of creatine products out there to choose from, I use Clean Supplements & Nutrition Geeks.
3.MOBILITY & SELF MASSAGE
Work including foam rolling, stretching, massage, etc can help prevent tightness, tension, aches and niggles that can slow recovery and reduce performance. This is really important if you tend to be fairly sedentary outside of your regular workouts. Before bed, or in the evening while you’re winding down watching Netflix grab your tennis balls/prickle balls and foam rollers and work on those areas that need attention. I never sit on a chair – I sit on the floor and stretch, roll and massage, it’s really good for sleep and reducing tension. I also use and encourage my PT clients to use a Powerplate, its incredibly good at aiding recovery (amongst other things) through vibration therapy, if you’re interested in more of this, please do fill in my enquiry form and I’ll get back to you.
4. MASSAGE & PHYSIO
Massage helps breaks up adhesions (knots) that can form from overuse, its also incredible for your mental health, releasing tension and giving you a fabulous sense of wellbeing, helping sleep which in itself is vital fro recovery. If budget allows I would recommend a 6 weekly massage and a quarterly to 6 monthly physio – like you would keep onto of your car, specialist holistic support especially if you’re very active is massively helpful. Massage guns are also very effective for this, but you can also get the job done to a certain extent with tennis balls and foam rollers.
5. HOLISTIC SESSIONS//
Don’t forget to incorporate stretch, breathing, pilates and yoga work to complement your recovery! This is so important for women as we age, to reduce stress and balance your Yin and Yan. Constant hardcore workouts can lead to muscle imbalances and tension, poor sleep and injury; so a mix of sessions, or active rest such as swimming, walking are all part of your active journey.