Whether you’re a surfer or a yogi, whether you’re a personal trainer or a tennis player; aromatherapy is a natural solution for athletes. Essential oils help to maximize performance and recovery and they improve overall health and balance.
The main benefits of using essential oils for athletes are:
1 – Improve immune support
2 – Boost performance
3 – Soothe muscle aches and joint pains
4 – Heal microbial exposure
Let’s take a closer look to each of these benefits:
1 – Improve immune support
Training is good for the body and it improves the immune system. However hard trainings or too much training may actually have the opposite effect, because it may stress the immune system and therefore leave the athlete depleted and vulnerable.
Essential oils help block viruses and bacteria and some of them can even modulate the immune system itself. Clove, Frankincense and Eucalyptus are amongst some of the most adequate for athletes to boost the immune system response and to support during hard training.
2 – Boost Performance
Another concern that athletes have is the performance: how to be better? A good supporter to boost performance is Peppermint. This essential oil has been tested for its performance boosting abilities and it was concluded that there was improvement in endurance and respiration. Another benefit of Peppermint is that both topical application and inhalation showed to improve pain tolerance (one of the reasons it is used for migraines). Adding Peppermint to the training regimen will boost the athletic performance.
Another oil that can be added to your practices, especially if they take place indoors is Wild Orange. I like to combine Wild Orange and Frankincense in the diffuser for yoga, qi gong and meditation practices. Wild Orange will boost your energy while Frankincense will enhance a deeper focus and help you flow at higher meditation levels.
3 – Soothe muscle aches and joint pains
After intensive workout, it’s common to have aches and sore muscles. Both a bath with essential oils and an aromatherapy massage can soothe those conditions. Essential oils relax the body while reducing inflammation and pain. The two main essential oils used by athletes for this purpose are: Lavender and Peppermint. Both are very good to relax after training, Lavender is very soothing and Peppermint leaves a cooling sensation that relieves sore muscles. Fir, Wintergreen or Eucalyptus are very powerful for joint pains and muscle relief.
Athletes may also have to face cuts or skin damage and essential oils are powerful allies to minimize these injuries, helping the body heal faster. Lavender, Myrrh, Geranium and Tea Tree Oil are amongst some of the most powerful oils to apply on the skin for helping it heal and disinfect in case of cuts.
4 – Heal microbial exposure
Another thing that essential oils are quite powerful for – and particularly useful for athletes – is to create natural non-toxic solutions to clean sports gear. Instead of cleaning your clothing and/or accessories with toxic products, you can use essential oils such as Lemon, Wild Orange or Lime to disinfect them and have them smelling fresh.
Picture by Kirvan Baldassari
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