Many wouldn’t think that the life outside of training would have a major effect on one’s recovery. We are not talking about the obvious activities, like stretching, having a massage, eating and sleeping well and so on, but all the activities that are more or less detached from everything training and recovery related.

Enjoying life and doing things you love, surprise surprise, have an essential role in how vital and energetic you feel, how you cope in front of setbacks, how you perform in life and so on. These things are no-brainers for many but still we see how oriented individuals with ambitious goals neglect the fundamental well-being of their mind and body.

Why does it work?

When we do things that produce happiness and joy, our parasympathetic nervous system* activates (*the one that controls e.g. our circulatory and digestive systems). When the parasympathetic nervous system activates, a lot of good things happens in our bodies. To name a few, heartbeat drops, breathing frequency steadies and blood pressure and stress levels decrease.

Now, just stop for a while and think if you have had lately a feeling that you wanted to do something that you love but you didn't have time. Maybe something of the following?

Nature

As an increasing number of people are living in cities, the distance between human and nature has grown significantly during the last century. It has a strong correlation with the increased number of allergies and several chronic diseases.

Nature is proven to have an immediate decreasing impact on the heartbeat and blood pressure. It also reduces the muscle tension. However, the biggest impact nature has on people is that it calms the mind and reduces stress. So, why not spend the next active recovery day by taking a walk in nature?

Meditation

Breathing exercises, yoga, taking a walk, going fishing, praying… Meditation can be done in many ways and it is more about relaxing and letting the everyday stress and thoughts go for a while. The direct and especially the indirect benefits you can gain by meditating regularly are huge and scientifically proven. It, for instance, increases the immune function, decreases the inflammation on a cellular level, decreases depression, anxiety and stress, and also increases focus, improves memory AND actually changes your brain by increasing the grey matter and cortical thickness in the areas related to paying attention.

Positive attitude

Positive thinking and optimism are skills that can be practiced and are extremely useful tools in coping with setbacks and, therefore, relieving stress. The optimistic approach helps you to act more productively by addressing and solving problems instead of rage quitting and falling into depression.

For instance, one bad workout is just one bad workout, nothing more. It doesn’t mean anything in the long run, so why bother to worry? Those will come and go. Or if you catch the flu just when there is an important competition qualifier coming up. Yeah, it sucks, but you simply can’t do anything about it. In general, try not to stress about the things you can’t control.

Social relationships

In the hectic world we live in, the importance of social relationships is easily forgotten. Having important people in your life and spending time with them has a huge effect on one’s quality of life and, therefore, health. Even though we seem to have more people inside our social circle thanks to the modern technology, we actually have less close friends and like-minded people than the earlier generations. Luckily there are a lot of like-minded people at the box whom with we get to laugh and share the joys of working out! Remember, CrossFit is not only about training - it’s also about the friends and social relationships!