Valspar Championship

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    Drink more water

    Jon Rahm: 3 things I always do to recover after a long flight

    June 22, 2023
    1498242526

    Ross Kinnaird

    The World No. 2 has played five times since his victory at the Masters in April, jumping from southeast to Mexico to New York, then from Ohio to California, and now to Connecticut this week.

    For anyone's body—let alone an elite professional athlete like Jon Rahm—it's a lot of miles to put on the clock. But Rahm has learned how to manage it. And speaking this week at the Travelers Championship, shared some good advice for the rest of us to help our body recover, too.

    "It goes back to basics," Rahm says. "If you just sit for five hours and then you arrive late, have dinner, and go to bed, I don't feel my best the next morning."

    1. Get hydrated

    You may have heard this one before, but probably because it's important. Airplane cabins have lower air pressure and lower humidity levels. It draws more moisture out of your body, and can leave you feeling dehydrated in a hurry. Which is why Rahm's first piece of advice is simple: Drink more water!

    "My main thing if I have a long flight like that would be staying hydrated, making sure I'm hydrated," he says. "You can get dehydrated on a plane when you're there for five hours very, very quickly, so making sure I'm keeping up [on drinking water] takes care of a lot."

    2. Get your meals in

    Your body draws energy from food and water. We just learned why drinking water can be a challenge, but eating can be just as tricky. Especially when you're jumping ahead time zones. You could go to bed after an exhausting journey having lost an extra meal, which will make it harder for your body to recover.

    "Making sure you get your meals in so your body can recover after a long week like the U.S. Open is very important," he says.

    3. A little exercise can go a long way

    The first two tips were relatively easy—eat more and drink more—but Rahm's third piece of advice will probably help you the most.

    We get it, you get off a long flight, you're tired, you just want to crash and go to sleep. But that's one of the worst things you can do.

    "If you just sit for five hours and then you arrive here late, have dinner, and go to bed, I don't feel my best the next morning," Rahm says.

    Why? Because when you're sitting for long periods of time, your muscles get deactivated. The relative lack of blood moving through them can cause them to get stiff, achy, and painful. Some form of active movement can get blood moving through your system, and prevent soreness the next day.

    "If you have time and a gym, whatever it may be, get a little bit of exercise in," he says. "It doesn't need to be crazy. It could be 30, 40 minutes of just some kind of stretching or walking on a treadmill to get the blood flowing a little bit more so your body can just naturally recover and get things moving."

    Three relatively simple things that will loosen up your golf swing and have you feeling great, physically. When you win your buddies trip and they ask you what your secret was, credit Jon Rahm.