Most of the time, the problem people face is not too much exercise, but too little. Even so, the population in Spain is in somewhat better shape than its surroundings. According to the Living Conditions Survey 2022 of the INE, 38% of 16-year-olds carried out regular physical activity in their free time, compared to 26% in the European average. Even so, 27% of those surveyed in Spain declared they never exercise.
Although the WHO recommendations are to exercise daily, whenever possible, many people who exercise alternate days of training with days of rest, or, in the case of the so-called “weekend warriors,” they are sedentary during the week and exercise on Saturday and Sunday.
However, although it may seem contradictory, performing light physical activity after intense effort may be better for the body, according to some research. These are low-intensity activities, such as walking or stretching, but they can still improve performance on the days we do our usual training. This is active recovery.
How active recovery works
Active recovery is a strategy used in the field of sports and rehabilitation, but one that we can also apply to our daily lives. It consists of facilitating the muscle recovery process after physical exercise, using low-intensity activities to promote blood circulation, reduce the accumulation of metabolites (waste substances generated during exercise) and promote muscle regeneration. A systematic review in the Journal of Strength Conditioning indicates that this benefits both elite athletes as well as people who simply want to be in better shape.
The human body responds to intense physical exercise with a series of physiological changes aimed at maintaining internal balance and adapting. During effort, muscles generate metabolic products such as lactate and hydrogen ions, which contribute to increasing the acidity inside the muscle fibers. This acidity prevents us from continuing to produce rapid energy, and is what we perceive as fatigue, for example, after running for a while or lifting a weight repeatedly. These byproducts of muscle activity have to be eliminated.
Low-intensity activities, such as walking or stretching, can still improve performance on days when we do our usual training; this is active recovery
Instead of stopping all physical activity after exertion, that is, coming home and lying on the couch, active recovery uses gentle movements to stimulate blood circulation, allowing these byproducts to be eliminated more efficiently.
For example, a study in the Journal of Sports Science found that low-intensity activity after exercise can accelerate lactate elimination of the bloodstream compared to passive rest.
Additionally, active recovery promotes muscle oxygenation. Gentle movements promote the dilation of blood vessels, increasing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to damaged tissues, according to a study. extensive review of studies published in Frontiers in Physiology. This process can accelerate cellular repair, helping to reduce post-exercise inflammation and reducing the sensation of muscle stiffness or soreness, that is, the famous soreness, technically known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
Health and Performance Benefits of Active Recovery
Active recovery not only improves your muscles’ ability to recover from exertion, but it can also have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, flexibility, and overall well-being. For athletes, this strategy can translate into a reduction in the time needed between intense training sessions, allowing greater consistency to be maintained in training programs. On the other hand, for less active people, incorporating active recovery into your routine can help prevent injuries, improve mobility, and reduce stress.
Additionally, active recovery helps with the repair of damaged muscle fibers the day after exertion. When exerting intense effort, muscle fibers suffer micro-tears, which must be repaired. Moving the next day, doing gentle exercises, helps improve blood flow to the affected tissues. This increase in circulation facilitates the delivery of oxygen and essential nutrients, such as amino acids and glucose, which are essential for protein synthesis and cellular repair. A article in Biology magazine corroborates that a low level of physical activity the next day also stimulates the activity of muscle satellite cells, ‘helper’ cells that accelerate the recovery process without adding additional stress to the body.
Active recovery not only improves your muscles’ ability to recover from exertion, but it can also have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, flexibility, and overall well-being.
Lastly, active recovery helps reduce inflammation. While it is true that inflammation is necessary to repair tissues, by moving we accelerate the resolution phase, that is, the soreness lasts less time. A study published in Nature also indicates that gentle activities, such as yoga or relaxed walks, can help promote a feeling of well-being and a reduction in stress.
How to do active recovery
The key to active recovery is choosing low-intensity activities that do not overload fatigued muscles and produce the same microscopic damage again, but that do keep the body moving. Some options include walking, light jogging, gentle swimming, or dynamic stretching. For example, after intense resistance training, walking for 10 to 15 minutes may be enough to reap benefits.
The intensity should be kept at a low level, generally below 50-60% of maximum heart rate, to ensure that the effort does not become an additional fatigue stimulus. This means that it must be adapted to the state of form and physical condition of each person, and also to the effort we have made previously.
There are several types of active recovery:
- Rest days: these are those in which we do not do intense training. However, gentle exercise, such as walking or even cleaning the house, increases blood flow to the muscles without the intensity of a workout, which aids recovery.
- Between sets of interval training: Active recovery can also be beneficial when doing high-intensity interval training, e.g. sprints or weight lifting. In a study The American Council of Exercise found that if, instead of stopping completely between intervals, a movement was maintained at 50% of maximum capacity, recovery was faster afterwards, since more blood was flowing to the muscles .
- Cooldowns: Active recovery can be more beneficial than passive recovery by ending a workout with a brief cooldown. A study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine found that 10 minutes of active recovery at one’s own pace, around 50-60% of the athlete’s maximum effort, was very effective in removing lactate from the muscles.
The benefits of active recovery have also been proven in the practice of different sports. A classic work published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine showed that soccer players who performed active recovery between matches had better performance levels in subsequent tests compared to those who rested passively. Athletes in endurance sports, such as long-distance running, can also benefit from active recovery, according to another study published in the Journal of Morphology and Kinesiology by scientists from the University of Texas.
There seems to be an exceptionsince when studying young athletes and young untrained people in a trial published in Sports Medicine, no significant differences were found between active and passive recovery, something that is explained by the greater recovery capacity that we all have at those ages.
Integrating active recovery into your routine doesn’t require a lot of extra time or effort, but it can make a big difference in how you feel and perform, both in and out of sports. A walk after the gym or gentle cycling on non-training days can be a start.
*Darío Pescador is editor and director of the Quo magazine and author of the book your best self Posted by Oberon.
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