Maybe I’m getting old and ‘realizing things’ but post-pandemic, I’m spending a lot more time – and money – on what I believe to be self care (since the definition of ‘self care’ truly varies for each person).

A minor trapped nerve situation in my hip – which I have diagnosed via Google as meralgia paresthetica –  has made me rethink my training and recovery routine. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I love to run, wherever I am in the world, and have recently taken up Barry’s Bootcamp and Rumble Boxing classes via Classpass. So overall, you could say that my muscles are tight.

The combined many weeks of not stretching enough, squatting to beat the band, and sitting at my desk with my legs crossed made my left hip and leg go numb – the nerve was trapped and it gave me a shock. I took a break from the running and started yoga to stretch it out which helped. I did massages, acupuncture, at-home massage gun, and stretches to try release the tension in my hips which has helped me massively but all quite tedious and expensive.

On top of all of that, I often get a build up of lactic acid if I don’t stretch/rest/massage properly. There is nothing worse than being 10 minutes into an exercise class you start to feel the burn just because you didn’t recover properly. Of course drinking loads of water every day helps but I’ve found electrolytes good for flushing out the build up of acid too.

I’ve put together some recovery tips in case they’re helpful. It’s a full time job but I like to call it self care too!

• At-Home Massage Gun: I bought this Deep Tissue Handheld Massager off Amazon about 3 years ago and have not regretted it since. You can adjust the speed and intensity and the charge lasts REALLY long. It’s even great for tough areas like glutes. Highly recommend.
• Acupuncture: I started going to WTHN acupuncture who have locations in NoHo and Flatiron. I’ve gotten acupuncture for years when I was younger and loved it…no matter what you’re going through acupuncture will help! WTHN is really affordable too – it’s a $75 flat rate for your first session! More on this as it progresses 🙂
• Yoga: I’m a total newbie but really loving it. The fact that it’s a challenge for me pushes me to want to do better- yogi’s don’t come to play! I’m doing hot yoga in Sui Yoga in SoHo and highly recommend it. It’s available via Classpass (about 7-8 credits) and they have classes every day of the week. Yoga is so awesome for stretching and increasing mobility, I’m trying to go about twice a week at this point.
• Massage: I used to think massages were a luxury but honestly, I think a weekly/bi-weekly massage is something I will no longer shy away from. I get really great relief from lactic acid build up and overall tension in areas of your body that stretching or self-massage can’t reach. I don’t have a specific massage spot I go to, but many low-cost massage spots in Greenwich/West village are and awesome and you can customize were you need the massage (ie. shoulders, lower back, etc.)
• Electrolytes: I always overlooked electrolytes but they’re really effective for getting rid of lactic acid build up or replenishing hydration when you’re doing back-to-back workouts. I’ve used Liquid IV and Pedialyte which is sugar free and both worked well.