Recovery is a vital part of working out. Your muscles and other soft tissues repair and rebuild during recovery to stay healthy and develop. Whether you are a beginner or an elite athlete, proper recovery is essential to sustain your workout routine and optimise your gains.
During a workout, your body experiences stress to overcome the physical demand of your exercises or tasks. This controlled stress is essential for your body to develop and improve your performance. Muscles and tendons get damaged and undergo ""micro-trauma"" during exercise, which signals the rebuilding process, resulting in stronger muscle fibres.
Here are some recovery tips to help you maximise the benefits of exercise and reduce the risk of injury.
Stretching is often overlooked in a recovery and exercise program. However, keeping your soft tissues flexible is essential and prevents stiffness of your muscles and tendon. An optimised stretching routine can help you prevent muscle strain and other injuries.
Static or isolated stretching is a technique used to improve the flexibility of soft tissues by holding a stretched position for an extended period.
Stand straight with your feet together.
Gently bend down from your waist and use your arms to reach your toes.
Hold this position for 30 seconds.
Dynamic stretching can improve the flexibility of your muscle through movements of muscle groups.
Stand straight with your feet together
Reach for your toes as you walk forward.
Reach your toes with every step you take.
Using these stretching strategies will allow you to improve and maintain your natural flexibility muscles and mobility of your joints. Try doing dynamic stretching at the beginning of your workout and incorporate static stretching during cool down.
Our body relies on balanced nutrition to optimise our energy and aid recovery after working out. You can maximise the benefits of exercise by refuelling your body with a healthy amount of macronutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats.
Most importantly, always drink lots of water to rehydrate your body from lost fluids during your exercise sessions. Water is crucial in regulating your temperature and maintaining joint health. It also allows your body to eliminate waste build-up in your system efficiently. Always include water in your essentials when going to the gym or doing physical activities.
One popular recovery method following extreme physical activity or an injury is RICE. It stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. This technique helps decrease pain and control swelling around the joints like your knees and shoulder.
If symptoms persist after several days following an injury or workout, consult a physiotherapist for advice and further assessment of your condition.
Listening to your body is vital to recognise various signs of fatigue, soreness and pain. Your body gives these signals to tell you areas of your body that need your attention and to prevent overtraining and overuse injuries.
Do not base your training on peer pressure. Instead, use it as a motivation but let your body tell you what is best for you. This way, you can push yourself harder without compromising your safety. When starting a new exercise routine, you can ask your physiotherapist for guidance and advice to help you perform your exercises effectively.
Doing the same series of exercises over and over for a long time can limit your progress. The absence of variation in exercises can result in overtraining and plateau. These are states where you can no longer benefit from the activities that you do.
Adding variation to your exercise is both fun and beneficial. You can constantly challenge your body with different tasks without over-stressing your soft tissues, thus, preventing overuse injuries.
For example, swimmers can gain tremendous strength training in the gym by building different muscle groups and allowing momentary rest and recovery of specific muscles repeatedly used in the pool.
A physiotherapist can help you identify muscle groups that may have deficiencies or be at risk of injuries based on your workout plan. You can coordinate with your physio to optimise your exercises based on your needs.
Planning allows you to manage your time efficiently. When you are busy with your daily schedule, managing your workout and having a sufficient recovery routine afterwards is hard. Therefore, it is recommended to have adequate time to take care of yourself after each workout session to ensure that your body is given enough time to heal and rebuild itself properly.
Plan your workout schedule, including your recovery routine, ahead of time to ensure that you are rushed, and you can give quality time yourself to rest and recover.
A lot of body functions are activated when we sleep. Sleeping boosts our immune system and promotes the body's natural healing process. Not taking sleep for granted is vital because it is your body's primary way of recovering from injury and stress.
According to the CDC, you need at least 7-8 hours of sleep each day if you are an adult and 9-10 hours for teens to stay healthy.
To achieve meaningful sleep, you can try the following advice:
Have consistent bedtimes
Avoid blue light from electronic devices a few hours before bedtime
Take a warm/hot shower before you sleep.
Avoid drinking caffeinated beverages a few hours before bedtime.
You may notice that you have better sleep quality when you exercise. Furthermore, exercise becomes more pleasant and effective when you achieve proper rest and meaningful sleep.
A physiotherapist can help you optimise your exercise routine and develop an individualised program to help you maximise your recovery and minimise your risk of injury.
Physiotherapists are movement and health experts who can guide you in achieving better physical health and improving your quality of life. Visit a physiotherapist today for an evaluation.
