Essential Oils and Exercise

Exercise is a wonderful thing, but along with it comes some not so wonderful stuff.  Sweat, stinkiness, injuries, pain, soreness, fatigue (with too much exercise), etc...  The list could go on.   I have been using essential oils for all kinds of health concerns for a while now, but it took me a while to really start digging into them to help with my issues with fitness.  I am a runner and I also do as much strength training as I can fit in.  I teach a group fitness Cardio-Core Blast class as well.  There are some days that I squeeze in 3 workouts a day.  You can imagine the soreness and burnout I get from this.  I wanted to share with you some of the essential oils I've used to help my body cope with my fitness issues.

First and foremost, I recommend that all athletes take a multivitamin.  Yes even if you jog, you are an athlete.  You are exerting effort when you don't have to...in my mind, you qualify!  I not only recommend a multivitamin, but a whole food multivite!  You don't need all the synthetics that come along with the vitamins and nutrients that typically come in your most popular OTC multivitamins.  My favorite multi that I personally take is doTERRA's Lifelong Vitality Pack.  This pack comes with a cellular complex, a food and nutrient complex, and an omega 3.  The three of these combined give your body everything it needs in a completely bio available recipe.  There are no ingredients in them that don't come from the land or the sea.  LOVE THEM!!!!

If you still find that you need more energy, I love doTERRA's Mito2Max.  It's a cellular energy complex that gives your body, down to the cellular level, a little boost of natural energy.  Having two kids, working a full time job, and teaching classes at the gym, I really benefit from the Mito2Max.  It helps me get through those tough days when I have my own workout to do, decide to go for a jog, and still have a class to teach.  Once again...LOVE IT!

So BEFORE you go workout, if you have a little trouble getting off the couch like me, I like to inhale one or more citrus oils to elevate my mood a little.  It makes me a little happier and my attitude for getting up all of sudden turns a corner.  Two of may favorite oil blends to get me out of a pre-workout slump/funk are Elevation-the Joyful Blend and Citrus Bliss-the Invigorating Blend.  They just make me happy.  I also like to put a couple drops of wild orange and peppermint in my GLASS water bottle before my workout too.  I start sipping about a half hour before I have to get at it.  If you do your workout in the morning, peppermint can really help wake your mind as well as your body.

If you are one of those people who get to the gym or starts out on a run like they competing in the Olympics and then all of a sudden about half way through, you feel as if you're digging your grave and just wanna get back to the couch, I love using the Breathe blend on my chest.  It really opens up my airways and allows me to get more oxygen to my muscles, thus increasing my stamina to last a little longer.  Another little trick I like to do is get a damp towel (some gyms offer these) and put a drop or two of wild orange and peppermint on it.  This is wonderful during those terrible DREADMILL workouts when you just want to give up.  Peppermint helps to cool your body down so it's able to give it's energy back to it's muscles and doesn't have to try as hard to cool itself off.  :)  I will also do this in the summer and put the cold damp towel around the back of my neck to help me stay cool.

I also take my water bottle to the gym with me with a citrus oil in it, such as lemon, wild orange, or lime.  Some people like grapefruit...I'm not a huge fan, but that is an option if you do like it.

Then there's those issues that you get after a tough workout.  Sore muscles, fatigue, maybe even a little pain, but hopefully not because you injured yourself.  :)

So for those AFTER a workout problems, Deep Blue is probably one of my faves.  It's amazing for joint pain and sore muscles.  Another oil blend that I'm absolutely in love with is AromaTouch.  Because Deep Blue is so awesome, sometimes AromaTouch gets left behind.  Personally, I like AT better for soreness and DB better for pain and aches.  AT really helps with circulation so be sure to use it if you've built up a lot of lactic acid in your body accompanied with some citrus oil in your water to help flush out the acid internally.  For pain, I really like the combination of marjoram and frankincense either applied topically to the site or taken internally (ONLY RECOMMENDED FOR doTERRA CPTG (Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade) ESSENTIAL OILS)!!

I hope this helps many of you with any workout or fitness problems you may have.  If you are note currently using essential oils and are interested, let me know.  I'd be happy to talk with you about them and what they can do for you.   You can contact me by email.  I'd love to hear from you.