Rest and recovery 

is an essential part of your training routine. Your recovery routine has a big impact on your fitness gains and allows you to train more effectively. 

Recovery after exercise is essential to muscle and tissue repair and strength building. This is even more important after heavy weight training sessions.  

This means that training every day is not always best. When weight training, you should plan to train every muscle group over the week, keeping a balanced training routine that allows for adequate rest. 

There are many methods of recovery that are important: 

1/ Passive recovery – include rest and massage. Massage feels good and improves circulation while allowing you to fully relax. You can also try self-massage and Foam Roller Exercises for Easing Tight Muscles. Schedule in your rest days.  

2/ Active recovery – is performing gentle exercise that gets your muscles moving without pushing them to fatigue – gentle yoga, light walk or swim. Gentle stretching is a simple and fast way to support your muscles recover and should be performed after every training session.  

3/ Replace lost fluids – ideally continue to replace fluids during your training sessions but also continue to replace fluids after exercise to boost recovery. 

4/ Refuel with good nutrition – this is important if you are performing endurance exercise regularly or building muscle. You need to refuel if you expect your body to recover, repair tissues, get stronger and be ready to train again.  

5/ Restful sleep – your body does some amazing things while you sleep. Peaceful & restful sleep is important for your when you train regularly. During sleep, your body produces Growth hormone which is largely responsible for tissue growth & repair. 

At the end of the day, listen to your body – this is one of the most important things you can do to support recovery. If you are feeling tired, sore or notice decreased performance, you may need more recovery time. If you are feeling good the day after a hard workout, you can train to suit that feeling. Your body will let you know what it needs and when it needs it.