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Health June 03, 2024

4 Tools to Optimize Your Performance & Recovery

Discover the ultimate tools for equestrian athletes! From Eight Sleep's cooling mattress for better recovery to WHOOP's health tracking, LMNT's essential electrolytes, and infrared saunas, elevate your performance with these cutting-edge products. Read more to optimize your health and recovery!
4 Tools to Optimize Your Performance & Recovery

At American Stalls, we pride ourselves in building the highest quality stabling equipment for many of the world's finest barns. From luxury horse stalls to stall mattresses to HDPE fencing, we build products that are meant to serve you for generations. 

Our products are the perfect choice from everyone from the casual equestrian to elite equestrian athletes including Olympians. Our products are designed and built to deliver safety and functionality that our clients' horses need. 

While we specialize in crafting the very best stable equipment, our team recognizes the importance of overall health and continuous health optimization. When speaking to our team members, you will realize that many American Stalls team members are fitness and health fanatics. We are pushing the boundaries not only in our equestrian journeys, but also in our health optimization.

That’s why we're excited to share some incredible tools and recommendations that will help you be the best rider possible. From fitness wearables to sleep technology, these products will help you recover faster and perform at your best in the arena. 

Enhance Your Sleep Quality

Speak to any athlete and they will mention the importance of sleep. After all, sleep is the cornerstone of recovery. Sleep is when our body cleans cellular damage, builds muscle, and so much more. That being said, it's no surprise that many individuals struggle with sleep. The issues be various whether it is temperature issues, insomnia, or something else. 

This is where a new sleep technology has emerged in the Eight Sleep which offers a state-of-the-art cooling mattress system designed to improve the quality of your sleep. The Eight Sleep comes in two options – both as a mattress system, but also as a mattress cover. Whether you sleep cold or hot, both products can heat or cool your bed to help you sleep better. You can tweak the temperature in the Eight Sleep's iPhone app. It also features an AI-driven autopilot mode which adjusts the temperature automatically based on your sleep tendencies. Lastly, it provides a host of sleep data analytics which help you gauge your recovery and accordingly push yourself during your training clinics. 

By regulating temperature and creating a better sleep environment, the Eight Sleep can help you achieve more deep sleep and REM sleep – leading to better recovery and performance in the ring.

Track Your Health Metrics

Once you are up from bed, it is important to have a real-time read of your health metrics. The Eight Sleep provides a host of sleep and recovery-related metrics such as heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, body temperature fluctuations, respiratory rate, and more.

The WHOOP takes these metrics to a new level by not only providing sleep metrics, but also by calculating your health metrics while you are active. As modern individuals and athletes, we know how important it is to understand your body’s needs and responses to stress, training, and nutrition. The WHOOP is a wearable device – similar to an Apple Watch or Fitbit – that provides detailed health data such as heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and more.

It is unique from other fitness trackers in that it provides you "strain" to help you accordingly push your body - instead of just steps, calories, and other generic data. One will be shocked by the data and correlation between your day-to-day behaviors, nutrition, and sleep. For example, there might be certain foods or beverage that you consume which will trigger adverse recovery results.

These sorts of data points are essential to perform at the highest levels in our equestrian sport. By understanding these WHOOP metrics, you can make informed decisions about when to push your limits and when to rest.

Stay Hydrated with the Right Electrolytes

For humans and horses alike, we understand the power and importance of proper hydration. It is is key for maintaining optimal performance and recovery. As athletes, many reach for "electrolyte" drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, and other mainstream drinks. However, many of these popular electrolyte drinks actually have very low amounts of electrolytes, but instead way too much sugar. 

This is why we love LMNT as it offers a science-backed electrolyte formula tailored for athletes. It is formulated with everything you need and nothing you don’t. Proper electrolyte levels help you stay hydrated, maintain the proper energy levels, and prevent cramps during intense training sessions. Whether it is in the arena or at the gym, we recommend electrolytes such as LMNT to fuel your hydration routine. You will see major improvements in your energy levels, sleep, and performance – especially if you use a Whoop or Eight Sleep to track it! 

Boost Recovery and Circulation

Last but not least, we would like to recommend a way to boost your blood circulation, decrease inflammation, and boost your recovery. The health benefits of sauna and steam room usage has been well documented for decades. However, we are seeing an explosion of more consumer-friendly infrared saunas that are available to the general public.

Whether you are a casual equestrian or an Olympian chasing their next medal, it is well documented that many sports medicine practitioners insist that their athletes sit through post-workout sauna sessions to prevent injuries and speed recovery. By doing so, equestrian athletes can benefit by:

  1. Improve blood circulation to promote muscle repair
  2. Loosen their muscles and joints to increase flexibility
  3. Reduce lactic acid which is built up during training and competition 
  4. Improve your ability to handle  anaerobic activity

Combining the usage of an infrared sauna with the above tools can help you recover from strenuous training with more efficiency. 

Achieving Peak Performance

At American Stalls, we are dedicated to building environments in barn where our clients and their horses can achieve peak health. That is why we prioritize natural sunlight, ventilation, visibility, socialization and more in our designs. While our luxury stable equipment provides the foundation for a safe and functional barn, we strongly believe in these additional tools that can help you optimize your health and performance outside of the barn. We believe that a holistic approach to wellness is key to achieving greatness, both in the arena and beyond.

Do you have any questions on the above? Is it time to get your barn build set up for your horse’s competition success? If you can dream it, we can build it! Contact us today by completing our Contact Form, calling us at (855) 957-8255 or emailing us at sales@americanstalls.com. We look forward to working with you to bring your barn vision to life!

Health  

Updated: September 24, 2024

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