What is Recovery and Why it is Important
Recovery is just as important as the workout itself. If you try to do the same workout without enough recovery, you will fatigue quicker, and your health may suffer. Give your body enough time to recover, hydrate well, eat healthy foods, and sleep 7-9 hours every day.
What You Should Know
- Nutrition: Try to eat whole, unprocessed foods to give the best nutrients for your body. This includes fresh vegetables/fruits and whole grains. Avoid restricting calories. Hydrate often. Manage portion sizes. Try to wait 10 minutes and drink water after a helping of food.
- Workouts: Vary your workouts. For example, do not do a bicep workout 3 days in a row. It will increase your chance for injury. Try to do low to moderate intensity cardio workouts between strength training days. After each stressful workout, our bodies need nutrients and time to repair tissues/cells. To help with your recovery, warm-up/cool down before and after workouts, and do dynamic stretches.
- Overtraining/Under-recovering: Aim to exercise regularly and maintain a moderate intensity. You may be overtraining if: Your muscles are always sore, You are not sleeping well, Everything hurts all the time, You are getting sick, Your performance is getting worse. Make sure to recover well before the next workout!
Summary and Recommendations
Recovery is very important to achieve your fitness goals and feeling healthy. The best way to recover is to:
- Give your body enough time to rest
- Eat a healthy, well-balanced meal
- Sleep seven to nine hours every day
- Vary your workouts
- Do recovery exercises: dynamic stretching, yoga, light jog, etc.
Resources
Special Thanks: Derek Chang
Derek Chang graduated with a Bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah. Go Utes! He was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He aspires to become a physician-entrepreneur to find and create new ways of improving overall patient health. He enjoys skiing, hiking, camping, reading books, meeting new people, and learning anything new.
