Whether recovering from a new injury, nagging aches and pains or trying to improve fitness and performance, many factors are at play outside of the work you put in at the gym or in physical therapy. Yes, moving your body daily and being committed to your rehab are 100% important and necessary for improvement in physical fitness, injury recovery and injury prevention. However, those efforts in isolation can be slower, less effective or maybe not even noticeable without attention to sleep, nutrition and stress management.
I’ll dive into some more details on each of these factors below:
1. SLEEP
Sleep has health benefits! Lowering chronic disease risk, improved brain functioning (think less brain fog and improved focus), immune system function and improved mood to name a few. It also is correlated with pain! Impaired sleep negatively affects the body’s ability to process pain. It is critical for injury prevention and overall recovery and performance as well.
A few tips for improving sleep:
- Keep a consistent sleep schedule regardless of duration (ex-go to bed and get up at the same time each day)
- Keep your room cool (~65 deg F)
- Minimize light before bed (screens…) and expose yourself to natural light upon waking
- Minimize caffeine and alcohol
- Utilize white noise
2. NUTRITION
You may have heard the saying that “gains are made in the kitchen.” Many would argue and most would agree that you can’t out work a bad diet. We would agree with this sentiment at CrossPhysio. You can workout as hard as you want, but with a crummy diet full of processed foods, lacking sufficient protein and whole foods, your results will be lacking. Additionally, a poor diet can trigger inflammation within your system which contributes to poor performance and slowed or lack of recovery. So what should you do?
A few tips for nutrition:
- CrossFit’s founder Greg Glassman sums it up well…”Eat meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar”
- Eat sufficient protein! 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight (active population recommendations). Protein is REQUIRED for maintaining optimal metabolic function and lean muscle mass
- Drink 50% of your body weight in ounces of water per day
- Try tracking your intake for at least 1 week. MyFitnessPal or pen and paper work great.
3. STRESS
It’s no secret that stress negatively affects our health. Stress in isolated amounts can be beneficial. However, most of us are in stataes of chronic high levels of stress. What does this do? It contributes to things such as chronic disease, poor mental health and weakened immune system function. Both acute and chronic stress can also amplify your body’s sensitivity to pain. Stress also causes your body to release a hormone called cortisol which can lead to increased inflammation and pain as well.
A few tips for stress management:
- Utilize relaxation techniques such as prayer, guided meditation or deep breathing
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating health, exercising regularly and sleep all reduce stress.
- Spend time outside
- Make social connections
- Limit screen time