Recovery for Mom

Dara Torres' Workout and Recovery Plan

Experts agree that the two-hour window after exercise is an important, yet often neglected, part of a fitness routine. One of the best ways to make sure you're maximizing those precious hours you spend in the gym is by properly refueling after work out. For active people at all fitness levels, what you do after you finish exercising is just as important as the exercise itself.

To help make the most of a workout and stay in top shape for the next workout, it's important to refuel your body with the right mix of protein and carbs. What a lot of moms don't know is that chocolate milk, something that may already be in the fridge, is one of the best recovery beverages available - and it doesn't break the bank! In fact, studies suggest that chocolate milk has the right mix of carbs and protein to help refuel exhausted muscles, and the protein in milk helps build lean muscle.

Milk also provides fluids for rehydration and electrolytes like calcium, potassium and magnesium that both recreational exercisers and elite athletes need to replace after strenuous activity. Plus, chocolate milk is naturally-nutrient rich with the advantage of additional nutrients not found in most traditional sports drinks. Of course, it tastes great too!

Grab some chocolate milk and follow Dara's favorites for a workout plan and recovery routine that is perfect for busy moms who want to make the most out of their exercise!

How Dara Does It:
Dara blasts her music and hits the stair climber for a bone-building workout. Or, on a nice summer day, you may find Dara and her daughter playing in the park - fitting in playtime and exercise all in one.

How You Can Do It:
If you don't have access to a gym or a stair climber, running, aerobics, dancing and even brisk walking can give your bones a boost. You can also use the stairs in your house for an at-home stair climb or walk the stairs instead of the elevator at work. Find what works best for you and stick to it. Enlist a buddy or find activities to do with your kids to help you stay motivated.

How Dara Does It:
Dara likes to show her strength on the pull-up bar (she can outdo many of the guys!).

How You Can Do It:
If you're not quite ready for pull-ups or chin-ups, try a bicep curl to work the bicep muscles. Grab a weight and slowly curl your arms into your chest. You can even use a milk gallon as your weight! Or, grab a friend at the gym for a pull-up assist and work your way up to a full pull-up.

How Dara Does It:
A balance ball is the basis for Dara's dumbbell fly - working her chest muscles. Dara rests her upper back and neck on a stability ball, with her feet firmly planted on the floor. Holding two weights directly above her shoulders, she slowly lowers her arms out to the side with her arms bent, and returns back to starting position.

How You Can Do It:
Try a fly at home, resting on a solid surface (a bench, or even a bed) and use household items (try canned vegetables) as homemade weights. Slowly lower and raise your arms out to the side and back up.

How Dara Does It:
Squats are a staple in Dara's routine - to keep her legs and bottom toned and lean. Dara does a one-legged squat and uses her core to stay balanced.

How You Can Do It:
You can do basic squats just about anywhere and work your way up to one-legged squats. Make sure you're protecting your knees. When you bend, be sure your knees don't go forward past your toes.

How Dara Does It:
Dara does reverse hyper-extensions to work the muscles in her lower back and legs. With the help of her trainers, she places a stability ball on a bench and leans her stomach on the ball (her arms grip the bench). She slowly lifts her legs (and arms up) so she's balancing on top of the ball - arms and legs out.

How You Can Do It:
You can work the same muscles without the ball. Lie on a flat surface (like a bed) with your hips at the edge and your legs down. Use your core to slowly lift your legs up so instead of an 'L,' your body forms a straight line.

How Dara Does It:
To work on balance, flexibility and lower body strength, Dara stands on an upside down balance ball or balance pad and does reverse lunges, alternating her legs into lunges behind her.

How You Can Do It:
Try a standard reverse lunge. Standing on the floor, place your hands on your hips, and move one leg behind you into a knee bend. Move back to standing and alternate legs.

How Dara Does It:
Dara makes sure to stretch after exercise - her technique is called 'resistance stretching.' Resistance stretching uses your own force in strengthening and elongating of muscles to help increase flexibility and muscle performance. It can also help heal old injuries and help prevent future ones.

How You Can Do It:
Check out www.innovativebodysolutions.com to learn more about resistance stretching and get useful tips and stretches direct from Dara and her trainers.

How Dara Does It:
Dara reaches for lowfat milk during the two hours following exercise - the recovery period. Some research suggests milk may be just as effective as some commercial sports drinks in helping athletes refuel and rehydrate, plus it has additional nutrients not found in most traditional sports drinks.

How You Can Do It:
Stock the fridge with lowfat or fat free milk and grab a glass to refuel after your next workout. Milk gives you fluids for rehydration and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium that recreational exercisers and athletes alike need to replace after strenuous activity. The combination of carbohydrates and protein in chocolate milk help muscles refuel.

How Dara Does It:
No workout routine is complete without a little R and R - rest and recovery. While Dara's a busy mom on the run with little free time, she spends time with her daughter, for a much-needed recharge before her next workout.

How You Can Do It:
Find your own recovery routine. Carve out some 'me' time to focus on your overall wellness, and give your body a chance to recover.

For Your Muscles
Milk is a good source of high-quality protein and has been shown to help build muscle when combined with exercise. In addition to aerobic activity, which helps build your endurance and promotes cardiovascular health, it's important to include some type of muscle-strengthening activity. This kind of activity, which includes resistance training and lifting weights, causes the muscles to work or hold against an applied force or weight. Muscle-strengthening activity can be done by using weights, elastic bands or by using your own body weight for resistance - such as doing push-ups. Muscle-strengthening activity not only helps keep your body looking lean and toned, it's important to help avoid the decline in muscle mass, which can happen as we age.

Your Recovery Routine
Dara knows that what she does after exercise is just as important as her routine before and during her workouts. The best recovery routine should replace fluids and nutrients lost in sweat and provide nutrients that help muscles recover.

Below are some simple tips to help keep you going!

To maximize time spent in the gym, refuel and rebuild your tired muscles with a post-workout snack. Lowfat chocolate milk is my favorite post-workout snack since it's delicious and has the right balance of protein and carbs to help me recover.
It's important to have strength, but just as important is flexibility. You've got to strengthen and stretch!
Play a sport! It's never too late to get back in the game. Whether it's cross country skiing in the winter or rollerblading in the summer, getting active can be more than just time in the gym.
The Buddy System: sticking to an exercise routine is always easier with a friend. Plus, working out with a partner can motivate you by adding a bit of competition.

Before beginning any workout routine, check with your healthcare professional.