Whether you’re training for a marathon or in the middle of your athletic season, there is a good chance that you are not pursuing intense athletic activity every single day. While it’s important to strengthen your muscles and challenge your body to improve your overall performance, pushing yourself too hard and failing to give your body adequate rest can be counterintuitive to your goals. Too much physical exertion without enough recovery time can lead to overstress injuries, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean that you just need to sit on the couch on your off day.
You can still be active and productive on your off days, so long as you are smart about your pursuits. In today’s blog, we share five tips for getting the most out of your recovery days.
What To Do During Your Off Days
Everybody will recover a little differently based on their physical exertion and their overall goals, but what’s most important when it comes to adequate recovery is to figure out what your body needs and prioritize that action. For some, your body and your brain may be physically fatigued and crave sleep, so make it a point to get at least eight hours of continuous sleep. For others, they may be battling soreness as a result of yesterday’s activity, and proactive recovery techniques can promote healthy tissue regeneration. Figure out what your body needs, and find ways to give it what it craves. Here are five ways to ensure your body gets what it needs during a recovery day.
- Stay Active – As we mentioned above, you don’t just need to lounge around all day during a recovery period. Being active and pursuing some light physical activity can get your blood pumping, which brings more oxygenated blood to recovering structures. Going for a walk or doing some light biking on a stationary bicycle can get your heart rate up and promote tissue recovery.
- Stretching Exercises – Many athletes also find it helpful to pursue some stretching exercises to help maintain flexibility in certain muscles. After intense athletic performance, our muscles can constrict and tighten, and they may benefit from light stretches to help keep them loose and flexible. Gentle stretching or stretching-focused activities like yoga or Tai Chi can be a perfect complement to a recovery day routine.
- Fuel Your Body – It’s also important that you give your body the nutrients it needs to fuel activity and recover after a grueling workout. Consume a range of healthy vitamins and minerals that promote tissue recovery and bone production. Also make it a point to drink plenty of water, as you may be a bit dehydrated as a result of intense physical activity from the day before. Staying hydrated also makes it easier for this oxygen-rich blood to reach tissues that are recovering from the rigors of athletic activity.
- Head To HyperCharge – Athletic recovery is one of our specialties at HyperCharge Clinic. We offer a number of different strategies to promote muscle recovery and to eliminate soreness so that it doesn’t hinder your upcoming activities or your recovery work. Red light therapy and whole body photobiomodulation can energize your cells so that they can more efficiently perform cell repair processes that are essential for tissue recovery, while other techniques like vibration therapy can help eliminate sources of mental and physical stress on your body. We can help athletes take their athletic performance to the next level, and oftentimes we do this by making their recovery days more productive so that they can get back to full strength sooner.
- Sleep – Finally, as we touched on above, you want to help your body recharge by giving it the sleep it needs. You may not want to sleep hours past your normal waking hours, as dramatic shifts in your sleep schedule can work counterintuitive to your resting goals, but prioritizing sleep and making it easier for yourself to fall asleep and stay asleep can help your body overcome the physical, mental and emotional fatigue that comes with exercise. Practice healthy sleep habits on exercise days and on recovery days so that you can attack each day with more energy.
For more information on how you can make the most of your recovery days, or to talk with a specialist about how we can speed up your recovery after athletic performance, reach out to the team at HyperCharge Clinic today.