Recovery Workouts
How to boost your training with active rest
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We all need a break, and our bodies are no exception. The solution: recovery workouts. How they can help you with training and what you have to consider.
Recovery workout – that sounds like a contradiction in terms. Because “recovery” means recovery, and “workout” means a training session. Like right now? Are we resting now, or are we training? Both! Because after an intensive workout, our body needs time to regenerate. And he gets that even better with gentle movement than with television on the couch.
What exactly are recovery workouts?
Recovery workouts are gentle sports units that you can perfectly incorporate into your “rest day”, i.e. on your rest day between intensive training sessions. Our body needs rest after a hard workout. He benefits most from this in the form of quiet movement units that stretch the muscles and gently challenge them. In this way, the muscles are well supplied with blood and kept flexible and can ultimately be strengthened better with active workouts. A positive side effect: You can use it to alleviate sore muscles.
Perfect is suitable yoga or stretching as a recovery workout. Because the combination of mindful strengthening exercises and stretching postures has a relaxing and stimulating effect at the same time. But also To swim can be a good recovery unit. Here you should of course make sure not to exhaust yourself in the water, but rather to swim a few lengths in a relaxed manner.
who one foam roll can also use it very well for his recovery workout. Fascia and muscles benefit optimally from the intensive massage and are thus perfectly prepared for the next demanding training session.
By the way, the simplest variant for a recovery workout is a stroll. Depending on how intensively you train otherwise, it can be a bit faster. This gently gets your circulation going, you activate your muscles, but without exhausting yourself.
What is there to consider during the gentle training sessions?
Recovery workouts are about balance. They are a perfect balance to strenuous sports sessions and give our body a well-deserved break, which it needs to stay fit and healthy. It’s important that we only do light training and don’t overdo it.
If you previously had a very intense workout, it can also be a good idea to take a break from training for not just one, but two or even more days. The most important thing is: You should really use the recovery workout for regeneration – and not approach it with performance thinking.
Sources used: healthline.com, justmoving.de