Places Pointer: Recovery
Rest, recuperate, recover
Recovery is a vital component to any health and fitness routine.
It’s a main ingredient that cannot be skipped. Like leaving out flour from a cake recipe. Forgetting to rest your body will never end well – ruining all the progress you made so far.
No matter what exercise or intensity you choose, your body needs its time to recuperate in order to reap the benefits and recharge before going again.
We cover 3 main areas of recovery that anyone can perform in order to speed up and ensure the process of recovery:
Nutrition
Making mindful food choices is incredibly important when it comes to fuelling your body and allowing it to recover properly. Carbohydrates provide our body with energy – great for those who perform lots of high-intensity exercise or cardio. Protein-rich foods contribute to muscle and cell repair, essential to any diet.
High-fibre and gut-friendly foods have health effects that affect overall performance and energy that offer benefits far beyond recovery. Along with proper hydration – ensuring to keep on top of a healthy and varied diet will greatly impact your body’s restoration.
Movement
Movement might seem like quite the opposite to rest and recovery, but it’s the fool proof post-workout way to unwind. The intensity will vary depending on the form of exercise performed. Some will benefit greatly from a calm stroll, gentle swim, or light jog to improve circulation and reduce soreness.
Stretching is also hugely beneficial for everyone. Relaxing muscles and increasing blood flow to accelerate the healing process.
Rest
Rest is perhaps the most important pillar of any fitness routine – more specifically in the form of sleep. Maintaining good sleep hygiene has a vast number of benefits including time to regenerate cells and repair muscles. It also reduces stress levels which in turn allows the body to rebuild injured tissues more effectively.
We don’t need to tell you about the importance of sleep on our physical and mental health – which directly affects your ability to turn up in the first place!
So, whether you’re working on gains in the gym, practicing for a race on land, in the water or just like to challenge yourself in our range of workout classes – be sure to take recovery seriously after every session to make the most of your health and fitness journey.
Sources: The Importance of Recovery After Exercise (nifs.org) | Take a Rest Day: Why You Need Active Recovery (verywellfit.com) | Why rest and recovery is essential for athletes - UCHealth Today