Self-Care: The Keys to Optimal Performance and Longevity

“Go hard, or go home.” “No pain, no gain.” We are bombarded with such strong messages inferring we must train harder, work harder, suffer, and rise to do it again and again. We don’t stop until we are injured to a point that we need professional intervention and services to fix and rehab an injury. This is no longer the best method and there are growing cases of evidence and research that leads us to a new mentality of being proactive rather than reactive. Proper nutrition, rest, and recovery are important components to achieve fitness goals. Of these, the recovery phase and the notion of self-care are often neglected and not emphasized enough as part of an overall training program. One of my favorite quotes as it relates to training has been, “Wok smarter, not harder.” In that respect, I have embraced the concept of self-care over the past few years and it has opened my mind and improved my training exponentially.

Movement and mobility are essential to reaching optimal performance levels. When one of these is out of alignment, performance is compromised and injuries can occur. Much like having a pebble in your shoe…over time the discomfort causes pain, the pain causes a limp, and your muscles must now shift to work differently and overcome the pebble’s impact. This could then trigger other issues, not in your heel any longer, but in the hip or lower back, because the body’s natural motion is thrown off. The goal of effective self-care is not to treat the hip pain or back pain, but to find the source of the problem, which in this example was the pebble in the shoe. Self-care can go a long way in addressing issues that may arise over time and keeping mobility and movement in proper alignment. With any athletic endeavor or in the pursuit of better health and fitness, the key is longevity. Caring for the body and assisting in its recovery is essential to ensuring optimal performance over a long period of time.

Rest days

The concept of “more is better” is not always true. When it comes to training, the body needs time to recover so that it can repair itself and adapt to the stress placed upon it from previous training sessions. It is a myth that one would lose their “gains” if they do not workout every day, or close to it. Any training plan should emphasize rest days as much as training days. Rest and recovery days are important for both physical and mental aspects.

Nutrition

Proper nutrition is important to support intense training sessions, promote better recovery, and fuel the body for optimal functioning at all times. The body is a machine and in order for it to perform properly it needs quality fuel and that means paying attention to what sources of fuel the body receives. That doesn’t mean never eating desserts, pizza, or ice cream. Instead a balanced and well –informed approach is needed to meet the body’s needs and demands to continually train hard and push further.

SMR - Self-Myofascial Release

Due to training regimens, physical activity, body mechanics, and learned or altered movement patterns, muscles become tighter and need to be relaxed and almost reset to their normal length and function. This is where stretching and flexibility strategies are beneficial as is self myofascial relase – SMR.

The fascia is a thin layer of tissue that surrounds the muscles and other organs. Research trends have been suggesting that targeting the fascia is as an important part of keeping muscles functioning at optimal levels and addressing the fascia through SMR techniques.

Foam Rolling

Foam Rolling is one type of SMR technique that can be used by individuals with relatively little equipment. Foam rolling is a form of self-massage. Foam rolling involves targeting muscle bellies and applying pressure through a variety of tools to help relax and lengthen a contracted or tight muscle. A foam roller is a common tool used to accomplish this release, but one could also use lacrosse and tennis balls, rolling pins, or a store bought version known as a tiger tail to foam roll. Since the muscles are ‘short’ and contracted, there can be a bit of pain associated with foam rolling. This furthers the importance of using SMR on a consistent basis and as a regular part of a self-care program. While foam rolling, it is advised, not to only keep the foam roller in position under the tenderest points for 3-5 seconds before continuing to roll the rest of the muscle. Gradually, the painful, or tender spots, will decrease over time as the muscle begins to relax and lengthen again. Foam rolling will also help increase blood flow through the muscles helping further recovery.

Foam rolling can be used anytime. Some people use foam rolling as a warm up before a workout to help get the blood flowing through the muscles and providing some stretching of muscles as well. Foam rolling can also be used post workout to help decrease recovery time and relax tight or sore muscles. On rest days, foam rolling is great way to promote recovery and target specific muscle groups or the entire body in a strategic routine.

Massage

Massage can be another great tool in one’s self-care arsenal. Similar to foam rolling, massage can be a proactive tool that addresses muscle imbalances. However, there are a lot of different types of massages and techniques. Not all massages or massage practitioners are the same. Talk with your massage practitioner before the massage, so you know what you are getting into. The practitioner can work deeper and more strategically than the foam roller. However, massage should not necessarily mean something deep and painful. It should be about working with the athlete and where they are at in terms of muscle imbalances and mobility. Most people could benefit from receiving a massage once a month or so from a state or nationally certified massage therapist.

Proprioceptive Taping

Recently, I had the pleasure to speak with Jill Magee, owner of Take Action Performance, and a certified RockTape professional, about the role and importance of self-care and recovery. We discussed various methods used to prevent or rehab an injury, promote healing, and improve mobility, and thus, athletic performance, and she shared with me the benefits and uses of RockTape.

Proprioceptive taping is a more recent form of care, both proactive and reactive. Proprioceptive taping offers help for the nervous system by alleviating compression and pain of muscles and injuries; thus allowing the body to move correctly in the right plane, without forcing it. It teaches and allows the body to move the right way with less inflammation and better neural pathways of information about the area. Also, the tape allows for better circulation which enables the body to heal the injured or agitated area more quickly.

RockTape is used when something is not working. If there is pain or inflammation in an area, indicated with the nerve signal from the brain to the muscle, the result is a change in the movement pattern. This, of course, can lead to other problems. When RockTape is applied to the area, it is not used to constrict or compress the area or muscle. In contrast, it is used to decompress the area, by lifting the skin and fascia enough to alleviate the compressed muscles and nerves and allow the body to work in the correct plane of movement again. The tape teaches the body to activate the right muscles first and muscles to fire correctly, thus improving movement and mobility.

Proprioceptive taping is not meant to be a long term necessity rather a very short term and strategic tool. Most issues being addressed only require one, sometimes two tapings. The tape, once applied, will be kept on for 3-5 days. The purpose of the first application is to alleviate pain, improve circulation to the area, and allow the body to move better. If a second taping is determined to be needed, it can be applied a day or two after the first taping.

RockTape: About the brand RockTape puts primary emphasis on education of athletes and practitioners by offering classes and certifications through their Functional Movement Training Program. As practitioners of RockTape are discovering new results, uses, and experiences, RockTape is proactive in expanding those case studies into wider based scientific research. RockTape provides plenty of videos and literature on their website to further inform and educate consumers, and drive home the point that the use of the tape is temporary and not a product that will be used for the long term.

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Feel free to catch up with me online on Facebook at www.facebook.com/frankgigantenaturalpro. If you want to continue this discussion, I encourage you to email me at: frankgigantenaturalpro@gmail.com. If you want even more hands on help or detailed plans check out my online coaching site www.naturalprofitnesscoaching.com and let’s work closely together to keep you on track and moving forward throughout this year.