As the world of fitness continues to change, with new trends coming and going, one thing remains integral to success – recovery. All the lengths of the pool, kilometres on the treadmill, or reps on weight machines are only worthwhile by actively including recovery in your routine. There’s plenty of different ways to recover but in general the 4 Rs are the basis to achieving your goals and they are rehydrate, refuel, repair, rest. So, let’s dive right into what each of these entails.
Rehydrate
As we all know, a good workout usually means a fair bit of sweating, which is your body trying to regulate your temperature as you burn the calories away. However, as we sweat, what we’re doing is losing water from our body’s store as well as electrolytes, both of which are vital to our daily function, meaning they need to be replaced. Without replacing them, you run the risk of dehydrating your body, as well as reducing your workout performance levels and replenishing them is as simple as drinking plenty of water or electrolyte-based drinks. A common mistake people make is that they don’t drink the same amount of water before, during or after they swim as they do when they are completing their routine in the gym due to the fact the water is often cooler, but this is a dangerous idea as our body loses just as much, if not more fluid at times in the pool and without replacing it people often feel tired or have headaches after a few lengths swimming due to dehydration.
Refuel
Each and every workout requires a certain amount of energy, which depletes our body’s store of glycogen (internal stored energy). The harder you work out the more energy is used, which may feel great during your workout as your endorphins are pumping, but if not properly replaced, you can be left feeling fatigued both mentally and physically. The key to boosting your energy levels are carbohydrates, with foods such whole-grains, legumes, fruits ideal to restoration, and aid in recovery of the body overall. For those of you who partake in high-intensity training or longer forms of exercise it is important to remember that you may need a higher carbohydrate intake for recovery to ensure you see the best results and remain as energetic as possible.
Repair
Whatever form of workout you’re doing fromrunning to weights or swimming to spinning, you are using your muscles, in fact, what is actually happening is that you are creating tiny micro tears in your muscles each time you head for a session. This is essential in allowing muscle growth, but the key is consuming enough protein. Protein helps accelerate muscle growth, reduce muscle soreness, plus much more, as your body repairs and replaces the damaged cells. The best sources of protein include lean meats, eggs, dairy, legumes, beans, nuts, etc, and these are essential in repairing along with rebuilding your muscles after each workout to set you up to hit the next session just as hard.
Rest
One of the most under-rated elements of any workout routine is rest, with rest being vital to maintaining consistency. The most obvious source of rest is sleep, which allows our body and mind to recharge as well as repair as mentioned above, with muscle growth happening during this period. As well as that rest allows you to reduce overall stress along with decreasing inflammation of any injuries as your body repairs. However, rest doesn’t just mean you have to sit down all day, active recovery is also a hugely popular form of rest, which means performing low-impact exercises such as walking, swimming, cycling and so on which don’t put stress on your muscles or joints, allowing them time to recover, setting you up nicely for your next workout.
Recovery is Key
There you have it, a quick breakdown of the 4 Rs of recovery; rehydrate, refuel, repair and rest. Each of these should be actively on your mind if you want to achieve the best results possible in your workouts as they help you perform to your top level each and every day. For the most part, you will already cover these in your routine, but it is important to make sure you get enough of each element during a busy schedule and to adjust them depending on the intensity of your workouts. Planning ahead is essential to ensuring you cover each of these and remember no matter what exercise you perform it is vital to set up a recovery strategy after.
How Aura Leisure Can Help
At Aura Leisure you have access to all you could need to stay active as well as recover with our state-of-the-art gyms and swimming pools, allowing for intense workouts to low impact recovery sessions. We also offer personalised fitness programmes which incorporate the best recovery strategies for you whether you are a beginner with Aura Fit for Life being ideal, or more advanced with Aura Lean3 the perfect option. Not only that but most of our centres have a health suite with saunas and steam rooms available to help you reach total relaxation. The best part is that our members get access to all of this as well as our fitness classes, InBody analysis and much more at no extra cost.