“Mexican food is actually really easy to make vegan: fajita vegetables, black beans or pinto beans, rice, salsa, and guacamole,” she says.
2. Find some favorite stretches and incorporate them often.
For Morgan, stretching is essential during active recovery days, especially to improve leg flexibility and prevent injury.
“I do a lot of general stretches for my hamstrings, calves, hips, and quads,” she says. “A lot of times it’s kind of active, like restorative yoga, but [without] Pause too long. “
one of her favorites? Pigeon pose is a very effective hip opening stretch that relieves tension in the lower back.
“The hip flexors get really tight too, so I do a lot of lunges and crescent poses,” says Morgan. She also spends time on her thoracic spine, which helps with rotation and other movements.
Playing a preventive game is also important, Morgan says, rather than just focusing on the muscles that need attention at the moment. She and her athletics, her trainers and physical therapists look at her body holistically and could actually be the unscrupulous culprits contributing to problems that could affect her performance. I’m also looking at other muscles that have strength, and then I’m going to turn my attention to those areas as well.
3. Foam roll daily.
“Foam rolling is huge,” says Morgan. She sets aside time for her foam rolls each day and usually uses her vibrating foam rollers (which help improve flexibility and blood flow) in her 10-minute sessions.
The roller has a timer, and when the timer rings, it’s done. The entire bubble-rolling routine is pretty quick, but Morgan says you’ll definitely feel it once you let the routine slide.
“If you start doing it only once or twice a week, your IT band will get tighter, as will your glutes and lower calves,” she says. However, deploying these areas will help you avoid that tightness before you get up.
4. Next, give the muscles additional TLC.
She runs 10Ks after every tough match, but stretching and foam rolling alone won’t help her muscles recover. That’s when Morgan turns to deep tissue massage.
“this is [definitely] Not a zen dark room with candles, [where] I end up falling asleep,” she says. “It takes a day or two to recover from it. [massage]So I would like to avoid getting too close to the match. “
However, she found that a lighter pressure massage helped during the preparation phase of the game.
“If I’m getting [the massage] If you do it a day or two before a fight, you’ll feel as light as your muscles tone and you’ll be back on track the next day,” says Morgan.
5. Hydrate early and often.
Staying hydrated throughout the day is very important, but drinking too much before bed is no big deal for Morgan.
“I try not to drink too much at night because I don’t want to wake up to pee,” says Morgan. “It kind of disturbs my sleep.”