Active Recovery

 

The other day, I was doing an interval workout and in between the high pushes, the instructor indicated we were not cooling off but having an active recovery.  By definition, an active recovery allows your muscles to recover after a push in exercising.  It is also known as a strategic recovery.

The active recovery is a low impact exercise such as walking, cycling, stretching, or swimming. It allows you to stimulate your muscles without causing additional damage or strain to the muscles. In other words, it activates key muscles,  stabilizes muscles, and helps reset your whole body.

An active recovery allows for an increased blood flow to your muscles while removing the toxins such as lactic acid, which built up during the push. In addition, it helps reduce muscle soreness. Furthermore, it helps maintain joint mobility, and range of motion, both of which are lost when you are not as active for longer periods of time.

Active recovery also helps stimulate the nervous system, and maintaining neuromuscular pathways that developed while you exercised. It also helps maintain muscle mass which is especially important as you age. In addition, it can boost athletic performance because you are able to recover faster. 

There are three forms of active recovery.  The first type of active recovery is incorporated as part of interval training.  It is done between the high intensity periods so you have a chance to catch your breath and recover.  The second is done as part of a cool down and finally, instead of doing something high intensity, you just walk for a rest day.

So make sure you do some sort of active recovery when ever you exercise.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.