Kaitlin Hawayek Shares Tips and Tools for Recovery

POOF! (Cue dramatic cloud of smoke appearing out of thin air.)
 
That is precisely how I felt the last two months have come and gone! As I am sitting down to write another blog for the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone, I cannot believe we are already into March, with the end of another season approaching quickly! January and February were filled with intense weeks of training gearing up for our U.S. Championships in Detroit, followed quickly by a trip to sunny California for the Four Continents Championships, and have finished up with more training for the grand finale of the season - the World Championships in Saitama, Japan!
 
Between training, traveling and competing constantly these past two months, one of my top priorities has been recovery. Being able to perform at your peak, whether in practice or at competition, requires you to make sure you are fully recovering in your "down" time. With that in mind, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share my best tips and tools for recovery with you!
 
Tips for Recovery

1. Hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate more. This is a big one, people! There have been studies upon studies conducted that show a direct relationship between performance output and hydration levels. From personal experience, my energy level is much higher when I am fully hydrated and my muscles recover quicker when physically exerted if I am properly hydrated. Usually, I try to get in at minimum 64 oz of water a day to maintain a proper level of hydration!
    
2. In your "down" time, keep active. Just to clarify, I don't mean run a marathon or become a heavy weightlifting champion on your days off. But, one thing that I have found super useful on my rest days is to keep my body moving in one way or another. Sometimes, that means taking my dog for a nice, slow-paced walk; other times, it's taking a yoga class, or during the warmer months, taking a bike ride around the city. I find that doing some kind of light activity helps flush out my muscles from an accumulation of fatigue that can build after a long week of training, versus being stagnant on rest days and feeling stiff as a board come training Monday morning!
    
3. Catch up on sleep. This one is especially important when coming off of travel. Experts say that eight hours of sleep a night is what your body needs (at a minimum) to function properly, but if you have a day with no set plans, one thing I find really beneficial for my recovery is to allow my body to sleep until it wakes up naturally on its own - no alarms needed! Sometimes that means eight hours of sleep… sometimes that means twelve.
    
4. Eat foods that are iron rich. Through working with a nutritionist over the past many years, I have learned that when my energy feels low or my body feels tired, eating foods that are rich in iron (i.e. red meat, legumes, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds) can help facilitate in a faster recovery. I also highly recommend consulting with a nutritionist or expert on what vitamins you might need to incorporate into your diet. I get all my supplements from Thorne Research because they are NSF certified and safe for sport and have a great variety of options depending on what you might need.

Tools for Recovery

1. Foam Roller. This tool has the great versatility to aid in recovery, and it is simple to understand and use. It can be used to help facilitate stretching, and you can use it for self-massage, or what people often call "rolling out" post-workout.
    
2. Multi-Grip Stretch Strap. Basically, this is a canvas strap with several loops along the length of the strap. This is great because depending on (a) the level of flexibility you have and (b) the deepness of the stretch you want, you can adjust which loop you use to facilitate the stretch. I got mine off of Amazon, and its called the OPTP Stretch Strap (though there are many different brands that sell them).
    
3. Rad Roller. This tool is small but mighty, and can help get into the smaller, harder to reach spots that a foam roller might be too large for. A lacrosse ball is a great alternative to this, but the feature that I love about the Rad Roller is that it is essentially like two lacrosse balls attached together, which fits perfectly on the spine, helping reach the muscles that run along each side of the spine.
    
4. NormaTec Recovery Pant System.  This is a big "investment piece" to keep in your recovery tool belt, but as an elite athlete, this is one of the best investments I have made. I bring my NT Recovery Pants to every competition I travel to, and I practically live in them each evening during a rigorous week of training to help rejuvenate my legs for the next morning.

5. Epsom Salts. During the peak training season, you can see me taking baths anywhere from 4-7 nights a week - it's practically a nighttime ritual! I usually add 2-3 cups of Epsom salts, and a drop of eucalyptus and lavender essential oil to my water to create the perfect recovery bath. The combination of heat, magnesium sulfate in the Epsom salts, and essential oils help muscles recovery and relax, and I find it is a great way to wind down my day before falling asleep.

Hopefully, these tips and tools will help you out, whether a figure skater, an athlete in a different sport, or someone just looking to rejuvenate their body after feeling run down from the winter blues. Our bodies are the canvas to this painting we call life, so we might as well do all we can to take care of it and treat it well!

Until next time, 
Kaitlin