Massage and a Halfa Workout

Yesterday (Monday) we were given the day off of work, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to cash in on a gift card for a massage that’s been burning a whole in my pocket since Christmas.

I’d never had a massage before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out to be the most relaxing and enjoyable thing I’ve had in a long time. One hour flew by faster than I wished, but I know that won’t be my last massage.

At the very end my massage therapist specifically told me to hydrate the rest of the day and take it easy. Um. Okay? I let her info float in one ear and right out the other and went about my day.

Two and a half hours later I was at the gym doing walking lunges, weights, and cardio for BBC. And then I started to feel sick. I got super dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out and was ready to throw up. I thought this was odd considering the workout wasn’t any harder than any of the previous days, but apparently our trainer could tell something was up because she told me to sit down immediately and drink water.

She said I had symptoms of dehydration, which made sense since I didn’t drink my usual amount of water during the day, but it wasn’t until this morning that I realized the massage may have had something to do with my sudden under-the-weather feeling.

I looked up “massage + hydrating” today at work and this is what I found out:

Our bodies are comprised 80% of water. Water is second only to air in the importance for life. We can survive many days or even weeks without food, but only a few days without water. Therefore, we should be consuming at least 6-8 cups of water per day and especially after massage treatment. Consuming water after a massage treatment will aid in ridding the body of toxins that have been released. During the massage session, the therapist is working on releasing the soft tissue and allowing for proper blood flow through the muscle. When the muscle is tight it is not receiving the proper blood flow due to built up toxins in the muscle, and that is part of the reason why our muscles get sore and tight. This is why drinking water after a massage session is beneficial as it will aid in flushing the toxins out of our system. (source)

Interesting, huh! I only wish that I had taken up my therapist on her advice to drink more water. Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?

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