Our top post exercise recovery tips

How to recover post exercise

Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but it's equally crucial to ensure proper recovery after your workouts, especially intense workouts.

We're always following the new exercise fads with great interest and often joke some of these must have been dreamt up by physios to generate business.....CrossFit, lime scooters....HITT.

We've certainly noticed a spike in intense, time based exercise regimes recently such as F45 and now HITT. As people are so time poor these days they fit perfectly in people's schedules for bang for buck.

 These high intensity workouts are great, but place pretty big loads on your body, so we thought we'd look the art of post-exercise recovery and give you some tips to to help your body recuperate effectively and maximize the benefits of your work outs.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT has gained considerable popularity in recent years. For those unfamiliar with it, HIIT is the go-to choice if you're looking to get in shape but have limited time. It's designed to make you sweat, tone and burn by alternating between intense activity and brief rest intervals, all in the pursuit of maximum results in minimal time.

We're never ones to discourage exercise! But like everything, you need to be aware and sometimes careful about how gung ho you get into this. Read on below for some advice how to manage intense exercise sessions.

Although we are mentioning HITT, the advice below applies to all types of intense exercise....not just HITT

Lazy bodies and understanding the risks

Unfortunately our bodies are lazy..... when things get hard, our body will revert to just trying to get through the reps and take the path of least resistance. This is where your form and function leaves the exercise party and you can lose control. Bad movement patterns creep in and overload our muscles, tendons and joints and this is where we are at risk of injury. 

The key takeaway here is not to abandon intense workouts such as HIIT, but build your way into them - use caution and ensure that you're practicing proper form as you get used to this type of exercise.
Every little bit helps and recovery can play a key role in how well you can bounce back and keep going. So here are some effective recovery strategies.

Balancing Your Workout Routine

We recommend restricting your HIIT workouts to a maximum of two or three sessions weekly. Pushing beyond this fails to provide your body with the necessary time to recover adequately. Consequently, it not only increases the likelihood of injuries but also hinders your ability to concentrate on crucial elements of fitness, such as building strength and enhancing flexibility.

Recovery/stretch Options

Sounds simple, but simple works - stretch!
If you don't know where to start, then try getting some help and structure by 
joining a recovery focused class such as body balance, yoga or stretch class.
If you don't have access to a gym, you can try some simple stretching of your tight areas at home or hop on the foam roller. Just let us know if you need some guidance or help with this.

Get moving again.

Rest days in training plans: some people love them, some people hate them.
Rest days don't necessarily mean you need to laze around doing absolutely nothing. You might be tight and sore, but getting moving again with a short low-intensity workout designed to boost blood flow, metabolism, and joint mobility, is a valuable strategy for enhancing recovery.
Some options to try are: light jogging, cycling, aqua jogging or using a cross-trainer. You should aim to maintain a heart rate at around 60% of its maximum, or simply put - you should still be able to talk and breath normally.
The goal is to finish the session feeling better than when you started :) 

Getting slightly techy:

This type of recovery is vital when you're prepping for a significant event like 1/2 and full marathons or triathlons.
Intensive training releases high levels of cortisol, an anti-inflammatory hormone. Prolonged cortisol presence can hinder muscle regeneration. Active recovery helps clear metabolic waste and improves blood flow to muscles in need of nutrients, facilitating repair.

Embracing the cold

Professional athletes often explore advanced recovery technologies to optimize their performance. Ice baths are a simple form of Cryotherapy that forces the body into a "fight or flight survival mode," redirecting blood to vital organs and functions. Upon warming up, this oxygenated blood is released back into the body, reducing inflammation, soreness, and boosting endorphins.

Lifestyle Factors? 

You're tight, sore and it's hard to even sit down on the toilet - just must be all the HITT sessions right.... 

Well, no doubt a lot of it will be this, but are you thinking about the fuel and condition your body is working with to recover?

Fairly obvious, but I fell into this trap on Friday night last week.....instead of catching the bus home, I sometimes do a decent run most of the way home out west.
I had a few big glasses of water, then, well it's Friday night.....so a few beers then became my drink of choice.....and a massive helping of Macaroni cheese - yum, but probably not that helpful to help me feel fresh afterwards......

Lifestyle factors like diet, stress and physical inactivity reduce your body’s ability to recover.

Fuel: We should all know what our bodies don't process that well - alcohol, processed foods........the list could on for a while. So have a think about what you are replenishing your body with and use moderation for a faster recovery.

Sedentary lifestyle: particularly extended periods of sitting at desks, can also be traumatic to the body. The saying "sitting is the new smoking" underlines the importance of incorporating movement into your day. Use it or lose it!

Stress: Emotional stress activates the brain's protective response, redirecting energy from our bodies' growth and rejuvenation processes. This state can hinder recovery significantly. Having a range of effective stress management techniques at your disposal can assist the brain in prioritising the body's restoration. Try meditation, deep breathing exercises, or mindfulness to calm your mind and encourage the body's restoration process.
Exercise has been scientifically demonstrated to have profoundly positive effects on stress. So, like anything else, it's all about finding a balance.

Managing your post workout recovery is an easy way to help prevent injuries, look after yourself and maximize the benefits of intense workouts, so take this advice on board and let us know if you have any questions.