Why Do Muscles Get Sore?
Due to the demands placed on your body during exercise, you may experience muscle soreness and fatigue afterwards. Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, occurs when new or intense activity causes micro-tears in muscle fibers.
Active Recovery
The goal of recovery is to return your body to its normal state. Active recovery, which is performing low-intensity activity at 30-60% of maximum heart rate (MHR = 220 – age), can quicken this process. Movement increases blood flow, which then improves nutrient exchange in your muscles.
Active recovery can be practiced in between workout sets, after an exercise session and on non-training days. Here we will focus on active recovery for non-training days, often referred to as active rest days. Active rest days should be mixed in throughout the week, ideally following your most intense workouts.
ACTIVE RECOVERY TECHNIQUES
Importance of Rest
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Although there are benefits of engaging in light activity between workout days, rest is still a key component of recovery. One day a week of rest is recommended. It is also important to note that adequate recovery is impossible without enough sleep. Aim for at least 7 hours since most of your body’s repair happens during this time.
Rest and recovery are often used interchangeably but are not the same thing. Rest is only a piece of the recovery process. It may help to think of recovery as a plan, in which you can choose techniques or activities that optimize your time between workouts and help you come back stronger than before.
- Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System (NOFFS) – “Regeneration Strategies”
- Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System (NOFFS) – “Recovery Nutrition”
- Recreatonal Equiptment, Inc. (REI Co-op) – “How To Use a Foam Roller”
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) – “Active Recovery Workouts: What to Do on Your Rest Day”
- International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) – “Active Recovery: Reduce Fatigue and Enhance Performance”
- International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) – “Top 3 Reasons to Use Yoga for Active Recovery”