There is nothing quite like the competitive edge of sports and games, and naturally athletes are always on the lookout for useful additions that can shave off the last few seconds of a race, or help get back into the game faster in case of an injury.
Training and recovery are important components of athletes’ wellbeing, so they spend a great deal of time and money on it. However, one natural technique is gaining attention for its potential to improve recovery and boost performance: Earthing, also referred being grounded.
Earthing is a natural technique that uses the science of grounding barefoot on the earth or using simulated materials to achieve the ground connection inside structures. Though it might sound simple, the concept of grounding has many benefits that are pertinent in the world of athletes; ranging from managing inflammation to improving recovery duration. In this blog post, I will explain what grounding is and how it can improve athletic performance and recover in both research and case studies.
What Is Grounding?
Earthing, also known is Grounding is the process of touching the earth through the bare feet or walking on the soil and sand and at home by using the grounding mats and sheets for indoor purpose.
The Earth also has its own electric charge, and the concept behind earthing is that the body can create attachments with free electrons that are known to lessen the effects of dangerous free radicals that lead to inflammation and poor cellular function.
This may well be a matter of life and death for athletes, who submit their bodies to intense physical pressure in the course of a race or match. In this manner, the grounding process could facilitate the enhancement of quickest recovery and increase the performance of athletes to the greatest possible extent that is consistent with the observed effects.
In What Ways Do Athletes Benefit from Grounding
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Reducing Inflammation
During strenuous exercise for those in the athletics, the muscles and joints become inflamed. The healing process involves inflammation, but injury is likely where the inflammation is chronic or excessive. There is evidence that grounding decreases inflammation as it enhances circulation and decreases oxidative stress. This explains why grounding can eliminate markers of inflammation in the body making it helpful to athletes who need fast healing after an injury as well as athletes who want to perform better.
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Quicker Rehabilitation After Stressful Exercises
Perhaps one of the main struggles that athletes face is dealing with the rest periods between workouts/competitions. DOMS can make athletes sore for days just walking, let alone affecting their ability to train at their fullest potential. It may also help decrease the rate of recovery in the body’s inflammatory response once exercising which may make recovery, quicker. As a pilot study for grounding and DOMS, the study found that athletes who grounded themselves after particularly strenuous workouts had less pain and experienced a faster recovery than those who didn’t.
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Improving Sleep Quality
Protection of sleep is an important means of maintaining and improving athletic performance. Lack of sleep negatively affects not only the physical performance of an athlete, but also their fatigue, poor concentration, and more. Research has shown that grounding affects sleep by helping the body regulate its natural biological clock and decreasing cortisol levels, a stress related hormone. According to the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, people using ground mattresses for sleeping reported improved quality of sleep together with the feeling of waking up more rested. This is important for athletes, as better sleep has an overall positive effect on bodily recovery and performance.
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Balancing Stress Levels
Stress is as common as oxygen for athletes; the term can refer either to physical or mental pressure. Hormonal stress, which results from the increased pressure to perform due to rigor of training, may cause an increase in cortisol. Although cortisol is helpful in regulating stress, excessive amounts of it over time are detrimental to optimal performance and results in an increased likelihood of sustaining an injury. Another benefit of grounding has been evidenced to be the ability to control cortisol levels so that the body can handle stress. This can be especially helpful for those involved in sports because they need to perform optimally during high pressure situations.
Real-Life Experiences: How Grounding aids Sportsmen
However, despite the relatively young scientific evidence in favour of grounding, numerous athletes can testify to its effectiveness on their own experience. Here are a few examples of how grounding has helped athletes improve their performance and recovery:
Tom’s Recovery Story
Tom is a marathon runner in his late 37 ages who frequently experienced muscle soreness and tiredness after exercising. However, no matter what was attempted in the form of recovery tools nothing seemed to provide a long term solution. About six months ago a friend recommended that I try grounding and the results have been incredible, said Tom. Not wearing any shoes, for at least twenty minutes after every run I take in my garden, and discovered that I recover from every run in half the time I used to. I am again to training at a much lower level and the next day I’m much less sore that I used to be.
Emma’s Performance Boost
Before races, Emma mismanaged her sleep and was an elite professional triathlete. ‘I realized sleep was an issue but inspite of practicing meditation, consuming supplements, it did not change,’ she says. Once a coach recommended the use of grounding and I’ve been using a grounding mat under the bed for the last four months. This is not just about the fact that I fall asleep faster, though that is helpful as well: I wake up feeling more rested. The race times have come down and I get what I feel is the best recovery possible.”
Grounding and athletic performance: The Science
It is not just a hearsay when people say that grounding works for athletes. Several studies have explored the impact of grounding on recovery, inflammation, and overall health:
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Reduced Inflammation: According to a study in the Journal of Inflammation Research, grounding can reduce inflammation biomarkers including C-reactive protein by a large extent. For athletes, this means they can recover much quicker and they don’t have to suffer through the soreness after working out.
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Improved Sleep Quality: The research that appeared in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health showed that grounding positively affect sleep quality and corrected the cortisol rhythm of the body. This is particularly so to athlete because body needs to be rested in order to perform to the best way it can.
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Faster Recovery: the study about grounding and DOMS proved that athletes who engaged in grounding their feet after workouts felt they recovered much faster than other athletes who did not exercise this method.
How Grounding Can Be Applied By Athletes
If you’re an athlete looking to try grounding to enhance your performance and recovery, here are a few simple ways to get started:
- Go Barefoot Outdoors: Spend 20-30 minutes after a workout walking or standing barefoot on grass, sand or soil. On the following pages we learn that it is one of the simplest methods to bring ourselves back to earth and obtain the result.
- Use Grounding Products Indoors: But if going outside cannot be done all the time, there are indoor grounding mats, sheets, and yoga mats that you can use. These products are particularly applicable for individuals exercising, to assist them in recuperating in zones that are resting or sleeping.
- Combine Grounding with Recovery Techniques: It might be helpful to combine grounding with other recovery activities such as foam rolling, stretching or doing yoga. This can also be helpful towards making improvement in general recoveries and relaxations after any form of exercise.
- Make Grounding a Daily Habit: It means that if you want to get the maximum impact from the grounding, you should be quite constant. Make it a habit to practice grounding at least once a day, after exercise, during the work hour’s break, or before going to bed.
Final Thoughts: ED as Natural Recovery Tool for Athletes
Athletes in all types of sports know that the focus is not only on performance, but the physical replenishment of the body is also vital, and grounding provides a fast and effective means to achieve both. It doesn’t matter if it’s decreasing inflammation, increasing the healing process or enhancing sleep, grounding needs to be part of an athletes toolkit. With increasing scientific substantiation and actual successes of individuals in their everyday lives, it is evident what is now a hot topic globally, that is, grounding not only needs more exploration as a promise of a new burgeoning field of wellness, but that it is, in fact, nature’s recovery tool to produce optimal performance and longevity of sportsmen and athletes.
So, if you are an athlete in need of a simple and effective method to improve performance and recover without a need for extraordinary procedures and additives, just try grounding. It may just be the answer to what you have been looking for in that training and recovery cycle.
Sources:
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Journal of Inflammation Research: “Grounding and Its Impact on Inflammation and Recovery in Athletes”
A study that explores how grounding can reduce inflammation and speed up recovery after exercise.
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Journal of Environmental and Public Health: “The Effects of Grounding on Sleep Quality and Cortisol Levels”
This study investigates how grounding can improve sleep by regulating the body’s natural stress response.
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Earthing Institute: “Case Studies on Grounding and Athletic Performance”
A collection of personal stories and scientific research on the benefits of grounding for athletes.