How Essential Oils Can Improve Your Workout

Some days it can be a serious struggle to convince yourself to hit the gym and work out, don’t worry, we’ve all been there. Often the hardest part is just getting started and making movement a habit in your life. The key to feeling fit and reaping the rewards of exercise (of which there are many!), is consistency. One way to enforce this habit is with scent. 

Scent triggers the olfactory bulb of the limbic system, which is in charge of our automatic behaviours and habits. When we associate a scent with an activity, like exercise, it triggers a pavlovian effect. As we continue to use the scent, it helps to encourage the behaviour we want to happen. So, if we are using an essential oil blend every time we go to the gym, it will trigger the opposite where if we smell that essential oil blend, it will make us want to go to the gym. 

It’s even more beneficial when you use a scent that helps you to be more alert and feel energised. Our essential oil blend Energy + Strength is designed to help invigorate the body before and during exercise using incredible, scientifically proven essential oils including grapefruit, may chang, peppermint, and camphor.

Grapefruit, a key ingredient in Energy + Strength, is linked to a number of health benefits. While more research is needed on grapefruit essential oil on its own, citrus oils have been proven to be the most effective for energising the body and mind (1). Grapefruit on its own is proven to reduce fatigue and exhaustion in the body and mind (2). 

May Chang is an amazing essential oil that has healing, uplifting and relaxing properties to help ease anxious feelings and clear the mind. Its refreshing scent has been proven to help with memory loss, anxiety, insomnia and encourages revitalisation (2). It’s an effective tool to help encourage the body to feel reinvigorated. 

Peppermint can invigorate the senses and help to keep you alert. It’s been proven that “peppermint essential oil can increase alertness and mental clarity and decrease the perceived physical workload,” (3). In addition, one study found in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that inhaling peppermint essential oil before exercising improved, “the exercise performance, respiratory function variables, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory gas exchange parameters,”(4). It’s an effective tool for keeping alert and improving both cognitive and physical performance. 

Camphor is an effective vasodilator, which widens the blood vessels and increases blood flow (5). An increased blood flow helps to decrease inflammation, stimulates the circulatory system more effectively, helping with muscle recovery after exercise, and is essential for maintaining the metabolism (5). Camphor is also an expectorant which helps improve respiration, a key aspect in maintaining oxygen homeostasis whilst working out (6). 

When you combine these essential oils together, the effects build upon one another, helping you to stay motivated and begin your exercise routine with a positive attitude, whilst also supporting your performance and your muscle recovery. We recommend applying Energy + Strength before, during and after your workout to help you reap the benefits of this incredible oil. 

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5684592/
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115001033#sec4
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5684592/
4. https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-15
5. Clinical efficacy of polyherbal formulation Eezpain spray for muscular pain relief.Pak J Pharm Sci 2015 Jan;28(1):43-7.
6. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/6/1092