• Fish Oils
• Post-Workout Nutrition
• Hot/Cold Contrast Showers
• Meditation / Sleep
• Epsom Salt Baths
• Massage

Fish Oils: Post-WOD we experience localized inflammation in joints and muscles and well as systemic inflammation. Fish oils are a great, natural anti-inflammatory. Barry Sears, creator of the Zone Diet, says fish oil is "close to a miracle drug." Click here to see this interview with him on the subject. Very compelling stuff. Lots of people ask "how much do I take?" There is a great fish oil calculator on the Whole9 site to help you figure it out.

Where to get them: Trader Joe's sells "odorless" fish oil for $8.99. Cheap, work great, odorless. Highly recommended.

Post-Workout Nutrition: This one is easy: milk. If you opt for chocolate milk, steer clear or brands  with high fructose corn syrup. That stuff is bad news. If you're eating Paleo: sweet potatoes. Especially on Paleo, you want to get most of your daily carbs post-WOD so this is a great chance to load up. Follow it up with fat and proteins post-recovery.

Hot/Cold Contrast Showers: Alternate between 30 seconds of cold water and two minutes of hot water for 3-5 cycles Post-WOD contrast showers can be effective in lowering both heart rate and the levels of lactate in your blood. The locker rooms at Ironworks both have saunas - try the sauna/cold shower technique at longer intervals. It feels great.

Meditation / Sleep: High intensity workouts put a great deal of stress on the central nervous system. Meditation and sleep are the two best ways to recover from this CNS stress.

Sleep - Americans are infamous for their poor sleep habits. On average, we get 5-6 hours a night. Most of us need at least 8. As very active adults, we need more like 7-9 hours, depending on the individual. Magnesium is a natural sleep aid and the better the sleep, the better your recovery will be. Try a few tbs of Natural Calm before bedtime to help your sleep and reduce your stress levels.

Meditation: Five minutes, two times a day. Make a little space for yourself, close your eyes, do nothing, think nothing, just chill. 

Epsom Salt Baths: Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) are an anti-inflammatory agent. Add them to a hot bath and they are absorbed through the skin to help reduce muscular pain and general aches. It also helps increase your levels of magnesium and may help reduce water retention. Don't skimp on these - they sell them in large cartons and they're very inexpensive. If you've had a tough WOD, put the whole thing in the bath and enjoy.

Massage: General benefits of massage include pain relief, reduced levels of anxiety and depression, and temporarily reduced blood pressure, heart rate, and state anxiety. For an active athlete, massage is a critical part of recovery and injury prevention. CFEB highly recommends Ed Rockowitz, owner of Ahhh Massage. For the past two years, Ed has been working on CFEB athletes and was the official CrossFit Games masseuse for the 2009 and 2010 Games. This man knows how GSD and help get you recover from a tough workout schedule.