How to Maximize Your Recovery Days
By Coach Keller
So you’re taking a “rest day,” but what does this actually mean? For the average person, this looks like sitting on the couch and watching TV all day. But our members are well above the average, and coaches often hear that someone’s rest day included a massive mountain bike ride or all-day Baker sesh. In this month’s blog, we explore the difference between active and passive recovery and discuss what activities you should do on rest days.
First, let’s talk about why we need rest. When you exercise, your muscles experience both metabolic and mechanical stress, meaning they use the energy stored in the muscle cells while also enduring damage to the muscle proteins. A rest day gives your body the opportunity to replenish glycogen stores and repair muscle proteins. This reduces muscle fatigue, builds more muscle, and prepares the body for the next workout. Rest actually makes you stronger! And, if we don’t make time to let the body repair, it can’t restore itself and will eventually break down from fatigue or injury.
There are two kinds of rest days: active and passive. Active recovery days include movement, and passive ones give your body complete rest. For most of our members, coming into the gym is a supplement to playing outside. Many hit the gym 2-3 times a week and then do their activities on the days in between. But active recovery days should not be the same as your active adventures. There should still be a strong component of rest. Yes, you can go for a bike ride, but keep it a lower heart-rate, shorter ride, rather than cranking out five Blade laps (not a “rest day”). Active recovery days look like: a short hike or bike ride, yoga or stretching, swimming, and walking the dog. These are a great way to relieve soreness but still allow time for repair.
Feeling exhausted or painfully sore? Time for complete recovery. Passive recovery days means giving your body a total break from physical activities. Passive recovery looks like: naps, saunas, massage, meditation, and cold plunges/cryotherapy. This is just as important for your brain as it is for your body. You will improve the rate and quality of your recovery by allowing your nervous system to recalibrate and not send it into fight or flight mode (as it is during workouts and exercise). If you tend to go hard in some way every day, make time for at least one passive recovery day a week.
Our goal is to help you be the best version of yourself. Recovery is a critical component of getting stronger and healthier. Overexercising puts repetitive stress on your muscles and nervous system, and it can lead to poor sleep, burnout, and injury. For our active, outdoor community, we tend to go go go. But, we want you in the game for the long run. Exercise should be a reward, not a punishment. So take a rest day–finish that book, meal prep for the week, go to yoga. It’s ok to not be pushing it every single day. In fact, your brain and body will thank you for the break!
