When it comes to fitness, we are constantly hearing that we need to give our all during every workout to be as fit as possible, which is a key factor in reaching your fitness goals. However, an area that lacks respect is that of recovery. While it is important to push yourself in your workouts, it’s equally important to allow your body the time it needs to refuel, in order to hit your next workout just as hard and we’ve got some top tips on how to make the most of your recovery time. We’ve put together five key ways that you can boost your recovery after each workout, so let’s jump right in.
Active Recovery
While rest is the ultimate goal with recovery, if you’re someone who finds it hard to sit still, then active recovery could be perfect for you. Active recovery doesn’t mean go out for an intense run, what it means is working your muscles while putting minimum stress on them, which usually comes in the form of low impact exercises. These can range from yoga to light swimming, walking to cycling at a leisurely pace and beyond. The goal is to remain active but not enhance the stress put on your body through your workouts or through other elements of your busy life and it is especially useful if you can do these activities outdoors as it boosts your mental health too.
Stretches
Whether it’s before or after your workout, stretching can be one of the most useful ways to aid in your recovery and prevent injuries. Warming up with some stretches before your workout allows the blood to flow around your body and prepare you for your workout, while cooling down ensures your heartrate naturally decreases after a tough workout as well as relaxing tight muscles. Dynamic exercises such as walking lunges, arm rotations, calf raises, and so on are ideal for either pre or post workout. Overall, stretches encourage flexibility and blood flow in the body which allow you recover with less pain in your muscles.
Nutrition
Nutrition is vital in all aspects of fitness, but what most people neglect is the power of nutrition when it comes to recovery. When we work out we burn carbohydrates along with fats as well as sweating out our water resources, all of which need to be replenished after a good workout with best way to refuel being healthy eating and drinking plenty of water. In terms of food the best post workout meals usually contain complex carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, beans, etc and a source of protein whether that be natural protein in the likes of chicken, lentils, eggs, etc, or through protein supplements. Meanwhile, throughout your workout it is important to maintain your electrolytes through water, sports drinks or supplements to keep your energy high as well as keeping your body’s water levels up, all of which will help your body recover faster as you provide it with the resources it needs.
Equipment
Another way to speed up recovery is through the use of different forms of equipment. The likes of a foam roller are a fantastic way to reduce the tightness in your muscles, while massage guns are becoming a more popular piece of equipment among gym-goers to speed up the recovery process. Other forms of recovery are through ice baths or even an ice-cold shower to help the body get back down to the correct temperature following an intense workout along with reducing muscle soreness. Depending on how often you work out, the tempo or intensity of your workouts, along with other factors, these may be useful for you to check out, especially if you are someone training for an event or part of a sports team.
Rest
Last but certainly not least for good recovery is rest. The best form of rest is undoubtedly sleep, as during sleep our bodies naturally mend themselves and get themselves ready for the next day, with 7-9 hours of sleep a good target for people that work out regularly. Although, even outside of sleep it is important to allow your body time to recharge and repair itself, so whether that’s sitting down to watch the latest show on Netflix or reading a book, take time to simply put your body at ease. The other factors are great to incorporate into your routine but ultimately making sure you have enough rest in your schedule is key to recovery.
Top Tip
As well as the above we have a couple of top tips to not only help in your workout recovery but also prevent injury. Firstly, we recommend alternating which days you work specific areas of your body, don’t just work your arms every day exhausting them, do arms and back one day, legs along with core another, etc, alternating between muscle groups to avoid fatigue, allowing other groups to rest. Secondly, we’d advise against taking huge leaps in your fitness journey, whether that be lifting a heavier weight or running a much longer distance as you can not only cause yourself an injury but also put too much strain on your body and negatively impact your recovery. Instead, use a gradual approach to build up your fitness level, giving your body time to adjust to each new element of your workout in terms of tempo or consistency, and ultimately giving yourself the best chance of reaching your fitness goals.
The Recovery Round-Up
Overall, there are many ways to boost your workout recovery, and we have only touched on a few. However, by simply incorporating just a couple of these methods you can enhance your recovery massively and in turn hit every workout as hard as possible to achieve your targets. While these are all useful tips, it is important to also do what works best for you in your schedule and always consult with a medical practitioner if you are making changes that could drastically alter your lifestyle. These are just some of the ways to get ahead on your recovery and we hope they help you in building a healthier, happier you.
How Aura Leisure Can Help
At Aura Leisure, we have personalised fitness programmes for people of all fitness levels through Fit for Life and Lean3, during which our fitness instructors will advise you on not only how to workout but also how to make the most of recovery time. We also have a range of fitness classes as well as our state-of-the-art swimming pools in which you actively recover. In terms of nutrition, the Aura Fitness Nutrition Range is available in all our centres and offers a multitude of products to help you get the most out of your workouts. Our members get access to our swimming pool, gym, fitness classes, personalised fitness programmes, and much more for free in order for you to reach your fitness goals.
