You know, here at the studio we get people from all ages and stages of life. From hard-working moms to hardcore athletes and everything in between, we’re thrilled to be a place for people to recharge and recover from the stresses and challenges of life. Today, though, I want to chat specifically about athletic self-care..

I’ve had the opportunity to meet many incredible athletes since we opened Vortex a year ago and there’s a common thread that I find fascinating:

Regardless if people are CrossFitters, cyclists or marathon runners – people who can force themselves out of their comfort zone and regularly push their bodies to the limit – it’s seriously impressive. That said, there’s one thing I’ve noticed too many athletes absolutely suck at… we’re talkin’ recovery, baby.

Slowing down is the fast track to success

Even the most hardcore of athletes seem to struggle with the idea of downtime as something that actively assists in their fitness journey. They either can’t/won’t/don’t practice the art of recovery or they simply don’t understand the importance that rest and recovery plays in our mobility and, more importantly, longevity. 

Imagine  you’re a shiny sports car, zipping around, showing off your horsepower. Even the sleekest, most powerful cars need to refuel and get a tune-up, right? Your body is no different! Taking time to rest and repair your muscles can help prevent injuries, improve performance, and boost mental well-being. Studies show that prioritizing recovery leads to a 20% increase in muscle strength and a 50% decrease in muscle soreness. 

“But I have goals to crush!” – I hear you… but here’s the thing :overtraining can lead to a weakened immune system, increased risk of injury, and decreased performance. In short, you’re sidelining yourself. Ouch! Don’t do that!

If you’re gonna work hard – you’ve gotta recover harder.

It’s time to give your body some love and discover why slowing down is the fast track to success (take that, burpees!).

training your inner athlete

I’ve never considered myself an athlete – I started workin’ on my fitness later in life than most,  My journey previously included mostly yoga – not squats, deadlifts or bench presses – so when I did start to dabble in more athletic pursuits like HIIT training and lifting weights, my body said “what the !@#$ are you doing!?” and it wasn’t quite sure what to do with the aches, pains and the newfound soreness in muscles I didn’t even know existed.

To be totally honest, I never really pushed myself too hard physically because I absolutely hated the stiffness and soreness that came along with hard work. AND my lack of knowledge of recovery habits became my excuse for my lack of training and progress.

Lucky for me, in the process of designing Vortex we were able to dive into all the amazing recovery tools available, bring them under one roof, and then build a space for people to take care of themselves and feel better faster.

In terms of physical recovery, here’s a few of my recovery “must-have’s” to feel good faster.

Compression

This one’s obvious because it was designed as a recovery tool to give you “fresh legs faster”. It always blows my mind when hardcore athlete’s haven’t tried a compression session before because if I’m benefitting from it then people who work harder than I do certainly should! 

Compression is a complete and total game changer. It’s basically a robot massage that squeezes your muscles, breaks up lactic acid, and gets your blood flowing like nothin’ else. Personally, I feel that using compression decreases soreness by at least 50-60% depending on what you’re recovering from. No joke, I truly would never train my legs if I didn’t know I could squeeze the $#!% out of my legs after. Nobody enjoys that feeling of not being able to walk up or down stairs or get off the toilet. 

Red Light

Who would have thought that soaking up red and near-infrared waves could allow for a faster recovery? Well, luckily some sassy scientists figured this out because it’s been an amazing tool in the recovery toolbelt for myself and many others. Red light stimulates ATP production on a cellular level, so you’re literally creating energy in your body to help your muscles repair themselves faster. It also helps improve your mood, sleep and hormones, which are obviously super important aspects of your health to keep in check when you’ve got fitness goals.

Lucky for Vortex visitors, we’ve got the exact same set up as pro sports teams and Olympic training facilities – two big ass walls of red light that will charge you up in just 10 minutes.

Tune

Our newest session (which I’m currently obsessed with) is a vibroacoustic instrument that you lay down on and receive medical-grade frequencies. Here’s the thing – you don’t just listen to the frequencies, they vibrate through your whole body and stimulate regeneration and recovery – oh…and it recalibrates your nervous system in 15 minutes. I have been using Tune consistently since we got it a couple weeks ago to see its effect on my day-to-day life and I’m totally lovin’ it. 

After doing repeated front squats in a CrossFit workout (my least favourite movement on planet earth) I knew my ass was in for some pain the following days. So I hopped into a “Recover” session on the Tune, and I kid you not – the next day I barely had any soreness. I kept with it, and did Recover the following day and my legs and glutes felt amazing. 

NuCalm

Our most popular session isn’t just for turning off your stress response and getting the benefits of 2-5 hours of sleep in 1 session, it’s also a recovery tool that puts your body into a restorative state so you can recover faster. So, not only do you get to recharge with the best powernap on the planet, your body gets to repair itself while hovering in an unobstructed flow state.

In fact, athlete William Goodge is currently running across America from LA to NYC – 50 miles a day (yeah, good for you Will… I’m good with my 10,000 steps) and he’s using NuCalm every day to support his recovery and keep moving. I won’t be running across any countries anytime soon, but this goes to show the true power of NuCalm!

For the times you can’t get to Vortex for some self care, try to at least make sure you’re sleeping like a champ,  stretching and rolling, and fueling yourself up properly. 

Remember, self-care is the ultimate form of badassery. Embrace recovery and watch your performance skyrocket. Rest days, here we come!

Take it easy… for real!