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5 Benefits of Active Recovery for Faster Muscle Repair, Growth and Injury Prevention
Wed 08 09 2021

Active recovery is a technique used right after a high-intensity workout to strengthen performance and enhance recovery. A high-intensity workout could lead to muscle soreness and fatigue; one way to deal with this is through passive recovery, which avoids excessive movements by resting. However, research shows that active recovery is an even better technique for muscle repair, growth, and injury prevention. Active recovery could be dealt with immediately after a high-intensity workout or during rest days. It is when one engages in low-intensity exercises to cool down the body gradually. Swimming, cycling, and yoga are some of the exercises that make part of active recovery. Such exercises allow the body to add up a more extensive training volume with minimal exhaustion and improve muscle pain. This article will demonstrate 5 ways active recovery is beneficial for muscle strength and growth.

1. Active recovery is an efficient way to eliminate toxins.

Instead of relying on inactivity to ease off any toxins in your system, it is better to engage in low-intensity workouts to keep your body active and promote blood circulation. One way to release toxins is by increased sweating. Sweat is released when the lymph nodes are stimulated through increased blood flow achieved by working out. This suggests that active recovery workout methods are a recommended detox method for eliminating toxins.

2. Active recovery helps reduce lactic acid buildup in muscles.

Blood lactate may accumulate while working out, increasing hydrogen ions in the body and resulting in muscle fatigue. To avoid any muscle contraction and fatigue, one is recommended to pursue active recovery right after intensive exercise. Research shows that the blood lactate level decreases quicker with active recovery than passive recovery/ inactivity and rest. In addition, active recovery would restore the PH balance in the body.

3. Active recovery reduces muscle pain and soreness.

Instead of immediately relaxing after an immense workout, it is best to gradually decrease the intensity by engaging in activities with a lower difficulty level. Research shows that by constantly exercising, the duration of one’s muscle soreness would reduce significantly. For example, taking a small jog or a walk with a couple of friends after weightlifting at the gym would help with any muscle fatigue. While some would recommend staying in bed for a couple of days after a long, challenging marathon, it is better to engage in less intense exercises such as yoga and cycling to keep your body active and gradually decrease its activity to help ease off muscle soreness. However, there are situations where passive recovery/ inactivity are suggested, such as when one is in immense pain or had a bad injury.

4. Active recovery elevates one’s mood

Like the saying, “Your mind is in every cell of your body,” keeping your body active would stimulate your brain activity. One would notice that right after workout out. Sports and other activities directly impact one’s mood by firing the appropriate hormones, which would alleviate one’s mood and make them happy. However, exhausting the body would also exhaust the mind. To avoid this, one must not resort to quick relaxation after an intense workout rather a gradual decrease in intensity by engaging in active recovery. On the other hand, it is recommended to spend one’s rest day engaging in active recovery exercises and there are some which go hand in hand with socializing. Hiking with some companions would be a perfect example to keep your body active, not exhaust it and to maintain a positive mindset.

5. Active recovery increases blood flow

In comparison to passive recovery, active recovery keeps your body busy and gets you to reach your target with less exhaustion quickly. In addition, active recovery speeds up muscle recovery by engaging in body movements to increase heart rate. Increased heart rate would pump blood faster and speed up recovery by having oxygen and other nutrients reach one’s muscles more quickly.

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