Why you should add recovery exercises into your workout routine

Written by Anthony Morando

At Sanford Sports, our performance training programs are built on strength, conditioning, nutrition and recovery.

Recovering after a workout will help your body regenerate and reenergize muscles to avoid overtraining and injuries.

Exercise + rest = success

Finding a balance between exercise and rest is essential to improving your performance training. Your body recovers in two ways: actively and passively.

Active recovery is low-intensity workouts like walking, swimming, yoga or even foam rolling. These exercises increase blood flow, reduce soreness and more.

The best time to use active recovery is a cool down following a workout or on rest days.

Passive recovery is inactivity. This can be resting your legs with a night lying on the couch or going to bed early to fight off physical or mental fatigue.

The best time to use passive recovery is when you’re in pain, injured or overly tired.

Other performance recovery approaches

Compression garments are tight-fitted clothing items that add support while you work out and ease soreness while you recover. 

Types of compression garments include:

• Leggings
• Sleeves
• Shirts
• Shorts
• Socks

Stretching before and after your workout is beneficial to your recovery by:

• Improving the range of motion around a joint (flexibility)
• Improving the range of motion within the joint (mobility)
• Optimizing alignment, length, control and efficient movement
• Relaxing muscles on one side of a joint to allow the other side to contract (reciprocal inhibition)

Hydrotherapy is a warm water bath that uses pressurized jets to soothe your body after a strenuous workout. You’ll wear a swimming suit and either sit or lie in the bath.

This recovery therapy technique treats:

• Muscle pain
• Stiffness
• Swelling

Soft tissue mobilization is a recovery therapy technique that prevents injuries such as tendonitis, contusions, sprains and strains.

This recovery therapy technique helps:

• Restore and maintain tissue structure
• Increase blood flow (nutrient delivery) and lymphatic flow (waste product removal)
• Break up scar tissue and trigger points in the body that can compromise or inhibit a muscle’s ability to perform properly

If you need help incorporating recovery exercises into your workout routine, contact our team.