The trend of self-care went viral years ago, and it is one of the very few trends that actually stuck. Taking care of our bodies has fortunately taken precedence in all of our lives. It’s important to take care of our skin, hair, nails, and general health. The main reason self-care is incredibly important in our generation is because of the prioritization of our mental and physical health.
Though the self-care trend might be relatively new, self-care in it itself is not, unmistakably. One group of people who have been taking an incredible amount of care for their bodies are athletes. Athletes of any sport have to train incredibly hard to try and compete for their team, their country, and themselves. They need to be the best, and that’s what they try to accomplish with everything they do in their sport. Pushing their bodies to their absolute limit is something they are used to, which is why it is equally as important to care for and nourish their bodies properly.
Here are a few ways athletes have to take care of their bodies to keep them going.
Cupping therapy
This trend became quite prevalent among athletes in recent years, though it has been practiced in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. The way cupping works is by placing a heated glass cup directly on the skin in order for the suction to help release tension in the muscle of whatever area needs the therapy. Many times it is used by athletes to help speed up recovery time after getting injured in some way.
Ice baths
After a strenuous training session, competition, or game, athletes take ice baths. After they work their bodies to their limit, their muscles will be sore and a way athletes like to remedy that is by taking ice baths. When they step into the cold water of their icetubs it acts as an ice pack that envelopes their bodies. The icy water will help reduce swelling and reduce damage to their muscles.
Sleep
This one might get an eye-roll or 10, but it is an extremely important action to do when taking great care of your body. Athletes know how essential a good night’s rest is for their body, mind, and spirit. Without a good amount of rest, their bodies won’t be able to perform the best they can. The goal would be between 7 to 9 hours of sleep, and if that can’t be achieved taking naps throughout the day does wonders. Taking naps is a lot more practical for athletes as most of their training times start quite early, luckily those napping hours add up to the sleep they need.
Massages
You might consider athletes lucky for getting regular massages, but the massages they get are not the same as the ones you might be thinking of. After a lot of hours of working out and training, their muscles get quite tense in many different areas. To get those knots of tension out, athletes need to endure some brutal massages going deep into their muscle tissue to help unravel all that tension. This can be quite painful for someone who isn’t used to it, but once they’re done the relaxation will be unparalleled.
If you are working out regularly and pushing your body to its limit too, make sure to take the same amount of time or more to nourish your body as well. Your future self will thank you for it.
Veeramachineni Lalitha
I am Finance Content Writer. I write Personal Finance, banking, investment, and insurance related content for top clients including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Edelweiss, ICICI BANK and IDFC FIRST Bank. My experience details : Linkedin