Posted on September 12, 2017 by Jenny Cromack

Ok so you have exercised Monday to Thursday a combination of heavy weights, aerobic interval training and hypertrophic training – your body is in pieces but you have a final session to do before the weekend. How on earth do you recover? Well there are couple basic strategies and a couple of more obscure strategies try out to help you recover properly when your body is sore and tired.

We can split the recovery protocol into 4 categories, starting very general and the finishing with recovery strategies that are more about ‘fine tuning’ the body ready to perform to the best of its ability.

General 

– Sleep & Rest: minimum of 7 hours per night, pre-sleep routine and 20-30minute naps.

– Nutrition: Avoid processed high fat food, well balances meals, lean protein sources and natural sources of fat.

– Hydration: Drink water to thirst, avoid fizzy drinks, minimise alcohol and negate caffeine with extra water.

how to recover properly

Basic

– Ice baths: 5 minutes straight and contrasting temperatures cold to hot 2 minutes in each.

– Stretching and mobility: Foam roll, mobility exercises and trigger releases.

– Pool session: walk/jog/swim/squat/skip … general movement in water is great.

– Active recovery: Light jog/spin bike/ walk/ swim

how to recover properly

Proper 

– Complex: recovery cycle 25 mins.

– Compression clothing: worn immediately post exercise and ideally all night

– Sports nutrition: BCAAs or a protein shake post activity.

– Hydration products: special tablets (Phizz or Hydra) per 500ml of water.

Specific

– Yoga

– Specific soft tissue massage.

how to recover properly

Not one of these individually will solve the problem of being stiff, and not everyone will react the same to each method of recovery. Have a play around with all these different options about how to recover properly and see which combination best suits yourself. If you are brave enough to try an ice bath, or even braver the contrast ice baths give me a shout!!!