Active recovery is an important part of training, whether you’re a gym junkie, training for an event or play Football/Netball on the weekends. Active recovery is performing low intensity activities instead of rest days which can help increase your performance and decrease the chance of any possible injuries – including corky recovery. Not to mention also it’ll make you feel feel so much better all round!
Here are some of our favourite ways to keep active on your recovery days here at Living Health:
- Yoga
When using yoga as a form of recovery, you should aim to try a more of a restorative style with a focus on slower movements, stretching and breathing. Yoga is fantastic for helping to ease those tight muscles and de-stress from your busy work/life balance.
- Walking
Walking not only helps improve the blood flow to your sore muscles, but also is the perfect excuse to get outdoors. On top of hitting your daily step count, we recommend getting out and going for a longer walk on your rest days to keep yourself moving and get your daily Vitamin D. Your physical and mental health will thank you for it.
- Light Resistance Training
Resistance bands and light weights are great for keeping yourself moving while recovering. We recommend against a hard high intensity circuit or replicate your usual gym workout; just spend 10-15 minutes moving through a set of low intensity stretches and focusing on keeping that good form. You can use this opportunity to add in a little bit more volume to any body part you want to work on, or do a full body routine.
- Get a Massage
Getting a remedial massage on your rest days is a perfect way to relax, unwind and set yourself up to perform better next time you train or compete. Between your regular massages you can also use a foam roller and a spikey ball to massage yourself. Try doing 20-30 passes over each main muscle group (front and back of thighs, back of your calves, top of your back) with your foam roller and use the spikey ball for harder to reach places like your glutes, chest and even feet. (We feel your pain don’t worry.) Click here to learn more about the benefits of remedial massage.
- Swimming
Swimming is generally a low impact tool to use for recovery. Doing some laps can increase the movement in your joints; is good for practising your breathing and is complementary to most sports and exercises.
Try implementing your favorite methods above to step up your recovery game and get back to doing the things you love quicker.
