Active Recovery!
What is it?
An Active Recovery pretty much sounds like what it is. We are continuing to be active even into recovery.
Now why would we do this?
When we are active during a “rest” day or “recovery” time period we are allowing more blood and nutrients to circulate throughout the body. This will allow the body to heal faster from a hard workout; furthermore, you will help the body to use and process energy (calories) that you have consumed.
What exercises would count as active recovery?
These would be activities such as walking, yoga/stretches, swimming and lighter activities will count towards active recovery. There are many other activities that we can choose from as well.
Here is a short list:
Walking
Hiking
Swimming
Kayaking
Bike riding
Tai Chi
Yoga
Backyard games such as badminton, Spikeball, frisbee and other games that require you to move around.
How to incorporate it?
Let us remember to keep it simple! There are so many ways to stay active; however, you have to think about what works best for you. Here is an example from my life: I try to find ways to incorporate my kids into my active recovery because family time is important to me.
On the other hand, if you do not have kids or they are grown up, this is a perfect time to explore a new hobby such as kayaking or hiking. In the meantime, while you are thinking of creative ways to stay active you can simply take a walk the day after your workout. This is by far the easiest way to incorporate it into your routine.
We can also in corporate the “active recovery” type mindset into the workout itself. When you are in a recovery portion of your workout, it is great to add some walking or marching in place to keep your heart rate right in that heart rate “training zone”. This is your ideal heart rate zone in order to optimize the aerobic benefits.
Let me know how you like to incorporate active recovery into your workout or rest days. I would love to hear from you, feel free to email me Hybrid-Training, LLC functional fitness (Hybrid-Training)