When you look at the history of fitness, it’s clear that recovery has often gotten short shrift. It’s only recently that the time when we’re not working out has drawn the same kind of attention that the time during a workout is.
The truth is that the things you do prior to and after a workout can be just as essential to your longterm health as the exercise you take part in. If you don’t set your body up to cope with the stress you’re putting on it when running, swimming, cycling, or engaging in any number of sports and physical activities, you could end up facing an injury in the long run.
A new report offers some tips on the types of recovery techniques that athletes can put into practice in the wake of a strenuous workout. When you combine some of the strategies discussed with stretching and an ample amount of rest in between bouts of exercise, you protect your body and your health.
After you’ve completed a workout, the first thing you’ll want to do is get your body under control. Your body’s muscles and processes are working overtime to deal with the stress they’ve just been put through, and you want to establish normalcy. That can be accomplished by transitioning into a more restful state through a breathing regimen.
If you were going to jog for an hour, take a small chunk of time (even five minutes would help) out of that workout to focus on recovery. When you’re done working out, breathe in and out deeply, holding the breaths like you would if you went to the doctor’s office for a checkup and he or she asked you to take a deep breath. This can allow your body to gain oxygen and get into a state of recovery more easily.
When people work out to the point where their muscles are sore, rest and stretching are needed to recover, but these tactics can be supplemented with a good massage. A trained specialist should be able to work the muscles that are giving you the most grief. When you find a qualified message therapist, you can point out problem spots and get a massage that helps ward off pain and accumulated damage.
Persons can also improve their workout as a whole by striving for balance. In doing, the recovery process becomes a lot easier. If you run for an hour each day, you’re getting a decent workout, but you’re subjecting your knees and ankles to repeated impacts that could take their toll.
Instead, think about supplementing that run with a series of stretches and movements designed to get your entire body in the zone. Work on your ankles, your hips, and your shoulders, as well as any other muscles you want to pay attention to. A trainer should be able to help.
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