Finish Your Workout Feeling Fabulous
By Cathy Garrard
Prevention
You know exercise makes you feel good. Why not feel great? Harnessing—and maximizing—the restorative powers of your workout can send your mood soaring and get you psyched for tomorrow's session. Prevention pored over the research and consulted experts, including PhDs and even a hypnotist, to find easy, effective strategies to keep you revved long after you've unlaced your walking shoes.
Drink Caffeine
This stimulant doesn't just give you the energy to start your workout: New research suggests that it may help you feel better once you're done, too. Women who consumed the equivalent of 2 1/2 cups of coffee an hour before a 30-minute bike ride reduced leg muscle pain by nearly half, compared with those who didn't have caffeine, according to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Caffeine appears to work on the inflammatory agent known as adenosine.
"It may block the chemical from binding to brain or muscle receptors associated with pain," says lead researcher Robert Motl, Ph.D., an assistant professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Even just a cup of joe might add some oomph to your moves while easing pain.
Use Your Nose
Stimulating scents wake up your brain and body, suggests a study at Wheeling Jesuit University. Athletes who walked on a treadmill for 15 minutes while inhaling a peppermint aroma felt more invigorated afterward than those who walked without smelling anything.
"Peppermint increases brain activity in areas that heighten alertness," says lead researcher Bryan Raudenbush, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology. The rejuvenating scent can also help enhance your workout so you experience that natural high faster. Although sniffing peppermint produces the best results, you can get a boost from flavored gums, mints, or a beverage such as Metromint water.
Another feel-good fragrance? Jasmine. Raudenbush says inhaling the sweet aroma after exercise helps your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal more quickly as you cool down, allowing your body to recuperate faster from a tough workout.
Breathe Deeply
Oxygen-rich blood keeps your heart, lungs, and muscles operating at optimal efficiency so you feel fired up—not drained—during and after exercise. A great way to maximize oxygen flow is with tai chi, a Chinese system of exercise that emphasizes deep breathing from the abdomen. "Focusing your breath this way enhances lung capacity, and the subsequent increase in oxygen boosts energy," says Ron Knaus, DO, author of A B Chi.
Try tai chi breathing between strength-training sets: Standing tall with feet hip-width apart and arms at sides, take a deep breath into your belly as you clench fists and raise both arms out to sides and over head. Relax hands, lightly touching thumbs and forefingers, and slowly exhale as you lower arms back to start. Repeat 10 times.
Take the Right Vitamins
Two-thirds of adult women don't get enough iron, an oversight that saps energy. We need this mineral to make hemoglobin, the red-blood-cell protein that carries oxygen throughout the body. "The deficiency is more common in active people because the body loses iron and other minerals through sweat," says Leslie Bonci, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh. Adult women need 18 mg of iron a day (8 mg after menopause). Get it from red meat (2 to 3 mg per 3-oz. serving of cooked lean beef), fortified cereals, or a multivitamin.
Low zinc levels can also leave you dragging. Exercisers who didn't meet their daily requirement had less-efficient heart rates and more trouble breathing during exercise, found a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "Besides helping to make muscle, zinc regulates hormones that allow our bodies to access stored energy," says study author Henry Lukaski, PhD. Poultry and beans are good sources for getting the 8 mg you need a day.
