If you’re like me, you often think of recovery as a four-letter word. The last thing you want to do when you’ve got a string of good workouts going is take a day off, and it’s tempting to squeeze in a little of your favorite activity.
Maybe you relish your recovery days more than I do, but regardless of your approach, you need to get it right. Recovery is more active than most people think, and if you don’t tailor it to your needs, that strong streak can turn into subpar efforts. It takes knowledge, prep work, and a plan, though, so let’s break it down and slay the devils that often hide in the details.
Forming your ideal recovery plan
The most important part of recovery is obvious: Don’t skip recovery days. I’m frequently a perfect example of how this works — it starts when I decide I’m only a “little” sore, only to discover after a mild workout that I should have honored my recovery process.
That “one step forward, two steps back” pattern is familiar to experts. The core elements of recovery start with rest and adhering to consistent tactics, according to Anthony Katz, the founder of Hyperice, which is pioneering high-end recovery devices designed for elite athletes.
“The fundamentals are actually the same whether you’re an NBA player or a weekend warrior,” Katz says. “Elite athletes just have more resources to execute them perfectly.”
Let’s explore those fundamentals and the tools that support them.
Basic math is one key to effective rest days
There’s a lot that goes into planning your rest days, but basic math should be part of your approach. Your favorite fitness app or wearable can give you plenty of numbers, and those numbers can help you make good decisions.
Specifically, we’re talking about your maximum oxygen capacity, i.e., VO2 max, along with resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV) to start. Your app may use AI to recommend rest, or you can interpret the numbers yourself.
A higher VO2 max, for instance, usually means your body recovers more efficiently from hard workouts over the long haul, often because your heart and lungs are stronger. Improving that number with more intense cardio can help you handle harder workouts, and when it slips, you can use it to add in more rest days.
The same logic applies to RHR, respiratory rate, and sleep. Taken in combination, these can function as effective predictors of your next-day capacity when you set up your training and recovery schedule. If you’re using an app like WHOOP, for instance, you can understand whether your training level is putting you in an “optimal,” “overreaching,” or “restorative” state.
The company’s algorithm is called WHOOP Strain. “Strain accounts for all activity, including factors that increase heart rate like stress, strength training, cardio, or even just walking up a flight of stairs,” says Alexi Coffey, the company’s VP of Product. “Strain can comprehensively capture the total impact you put on your body.”
Your numbers and information are also fed into a feature called Strain Coach, which recommends activities based on your buildup of numbers. If your numbers are down, you can either follow those recommendations or decide to take a recovery day.
Compression is a breakthrough area in recovery
If you’re looking to go beyond the numbers, consider a basic recovery tool like compression. Compression has long been used in recovery—socks, sleeves, etc.—but new wearables go far beyond, especially if you look at the capabilities of Hyperice’s new HyperBoot, which was introduced this spring.
The HyperBoot uses a combination of heat and dynamic air compression, a process in which the boot is filled with air in a specific sequence. It’s designed to mimic the natural muscle pump of your legs, with the goal of increasing blood flow, flushing out metabolic waste, and reducing swelling and soreness to promote recovery.
The boot uses the same technology developed in Hyperice’s Normatec leg sleeves, a high-end wearable designed to promote recovery. Both cost $899, and while pricey, they’re designed for serious recovery.
Targeted muscle release using massage guns
Massage guns are another favorite tech toy that can help with recovery. They use percussive force to release tight muscles and ease soreness.
“You can use a quality percussion device for targeted release,” says Katz, who cites the Hyperice Go 2 as an example of this. “Add something like heat therapy, and these two tools alone cover 80 percent of what most people need.”
The key to this kind of percussive therapy is to integrate it effectively as part of your daily routine. That means using it as part of your warm-up or cool down for daily maintenance, and using it for post-workout soreness can help tell you if you’re on target with your recovery.
Basic mobility work
If you favor a more down-to-earth approach, you can also go with basic mobility work. For our purposes in reviewing recovery, we’ll use this as a catch-all category that includes stretching, yoga or Pilates, foam rollers, vibration platforms, and resistance bands, and many people find them just as effective as wearables.
The key to using these basic tools and modalities for recovery is to have specific goals. If you’re having recurring injury problems, for instance, you can use them to detect a movement pattern issue, or to detect and improve an area where your mobility is limited for whatever reason.
The idea here isn’t necessarily to work hard when you’re doing this. You’re looking to alleviate soreness and facilitate recovery, and this is an area where a trainer, exercise physiologist, or yoga or Pilates instructor can help you identify basic issues and improve performance through better recovery.
Using heat and cold to recover
Back in the day, putting an old-fashioned heating pad on a sore area was considered a viable way to recover from a workout where you got a little carried away. Now, though, new devices are coming on the market that take that basic tactic to a new level.
These include heat belts that can be targeted to almost every area of the body, and they come with all sorts of bells and whistles to help you measure your recovery process. Sauna blankets and home sauna units are another version of this basic tactic. Some companies are offering cold tubs if you’re brave enough to go there, or you can use contrast showers to do both and get the benefits on your own.
Using nutrition to hit your recovery goals
Nutrition is a very underrated aspect of active recovery. To put it simply, your recovery day is not a cheat day! You can treat it as such if you want to, but you’ll be missing an opportunity for improvement that shouldn’t be passed up.
“Depending on whether you are building muscle or reducing fat, you can take advantage of diet strategies on an off day,” says Jenna Stangland, a registered dietician who’s worked with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Wild, along with being an advisor for Momentous.
“There are certain nutrients that target damaged cells to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, decrease inflammation, promote blood flow, and replenish nutrients used up during the previous days’ training,” she says. “Since an off day is not going to include hard training, total calories and carbohydrates can be reduced to match the reduced energy expenditure.”
This cut shouldn’t be drastic, but what you eat should be targeted. That means getting enough protein — Stangland recommends a minimum of 18 grams per serving, along with 2 grams of leucine, a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) that promotes muscle building and synthesis.
She’s also a strong believer in the power of omega-3s, a fatty acid that can be found in green leafy vegetables and fermented foods. “The omega 3s are strong anti-inflammatory nutrients to support a reduction in inflammation, reduced soreness, and speed up recovery,” Stangland says.
Fermented foods, meanwhile, can improve gut health, and these can be found in sources like kefir, plain Greek yogurt or sauerkraut. Other foods that support recovery include salmon and turmeric, and you can use omega-3 supplements to overcome any dietary shortcomings.
Getting more quality sleep is the brave new frontier of recovery research
No discussion of recovery would be complete without at least a mention of sleep and sleep quality. Improving sleep quality is a brave new world that’s getting all kinds of attention from researchers, whether the goal is to improve fitness, speed recovery, or enhance focus and basic performance across the board. Plenty of companies are chasing this particular holy grail, including some offering specific apps and wearables that measure sleep quality.
Better sleep is a tool that elite athletes are using effectively, too. “Sleep optimization is huge,” says Katz. “Elite athletes prioritize 8-9 hours, but even improving from 6 to 7 hours makes a massive difference for regular people.”
