Most of the time, the problem people face is not too much exercise, but too little. Despite everything, the Spanish population is in better shape than that of its surroundings. According to the INE’s 2022 Living Conditions Survey, 38% of 16-year-olds practiced regular physical activity in their free time, compared to 26% on the European average. However, 27% of people surveyed in Spain say they never exercise.
Although WHO recommendations are to exercise daily whenever possible, many people who exercise alternate training days with rest days, or in the case of called “weekend warriors”, are sedentary during the week and exercise on Saturdays. and Sunday.
However, although it may seem contradictory, practicing light physical activity after intense exercise could be better for the body, according to some research. These are low-intensity activities, like walking or stretching, but they can still improve performance on days when we do our usual workout. This is active recovery.
How active recovery works
Active recovery is a strategy used in the field of sport and rehabilitation, but which we can also apply in our daily life. 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 products generated during exercise) and promote muscle regeneration. A systematic review published in the Journal of Strength Conditioning indicates that it benefits both elite athletes and people simply looking to get into better shape.
The human body responds to intense physical exercise with a series of physiological changes aimed at maintaining internal balance and adaptation. During exercise, muscles generate metabolic products such as lactate and hydrogen ions, which help increase acidity within muscle fibers. This acidity prevents us from continuing to produce energy quickly and is what we perceive as fatigue, for example after running for a while or lifting a weight repeatedly. These byproducts of muscular activity must be eliminated.
Low-intensity activities, such as walking or stretching, can further improve performance on days when we do our usual workout; It’s active recovery.
Instead of stopping all physical activity after exercise, i.e. coming home and lying down on the couch, active recovery uses gentle movements to stimulate blood circulation, thereby eliminating more these by-products efficiently.
For example, a study published in the Journal of Sports Science found that low-intensity activity after exercise can speed up the removal of lactate from the bloodstream compared to passive rest.
In addition, 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 comprehensive review of studies published in Frontiers in Physiology. This process can speed up cellular repair, helping to reduce post-exercise inflammation and reduce the feeling of muscle stiffness or soreness, aka soreness, technically known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
Benefits of Active Recovery for Health and Performance
Active recovery not only improves your muscles’ ability to recover after exercise, but it can also have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, flexibility and overall well-being. For athletes, this strategy can result in 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.
In addition, active recovery contributes to the repair of damaged muscle fibers the day after exercise. During intense effort, muscle fibers suffer micro-tears that must be repaired. Moving the next day, doing gentle exercises, helps improve blood circulation 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. An article in the journal Biology corroborates that a low level of physical activity the next day also stimulates the activity of muscle satellite cells, “helper” cells that speed up the recovery process without adding additional stress to the body.
Active recovery not only improves your muscles’ ability to recover after exercise, but it can also have a positive impact on cardiovascular health, flexibility and overall well-being.
Finally, active recovery helps reduce inflammation. While it is true that inflammation is necessary for tissue repair, by moving we accelerate the resolution phase, that is, the pain lasts less. A study published in Nature also indicates that gentle activities, such as yoga or relaxed walks, can help promote a sense of well-being and reduce stress.
How to do active recovery
The key to active recovery is choosing low-intensity activities that don’t overload tired muscles and produce the same microscopic damage again, but that 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 the benefits.
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 fitness and physical condition of each person, as well as the effort we have previously made.
There are several types of active recovery:
- Rest days: these are those in which we do not do intense training. However, gentle exercises, like walking or even cleaning the house, increase blood flow to the muscles without the intensity of a workout, making recovery easier.
- Between sets of interval training: Active recovery can also be beneficial during high-intensity interval training, e.g. sprint or weightlifting. A study by the American Council of Exercise found that if, instead of stopping completely between intervals, a movement was held at 50 percent of maximum capacity, recovery was faster afterward because more blood was flowing to the muscles.
- Recovery Time: Active recovery can be more beneficial than passive recovery by ending a workout with a brief recovery time. A study in the Journal of Sports Medicine found that 10 minutes of self-paced active recovery, or about 50 to 60 percent of the athlete’s maximum effort, was very effective in removing lactate from muscles.
The benefits of active recovery have also been proven in the practice of different sports. Classic work published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine showed that soccer players who actively recovered between matches had better performance levels in subsequent tests than those who rested passively. Athletes participating in endurance sports, such as cross-country running, may also benefit from active recovery, according to another study published in the Journal of Morphology and Kinesiology by scientists at the University of Texas.
There appears to be an exception, because when studying young and untrained athletes in a trial published in Sports Medicine, no significant differences were found between active and passive recovery, which is explained by the greatest capacity for recovery that we all have. those ages.
Incorporating 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 how you perform, both in and out of sport. A walk after the gym or a gentle cycle on non-workout days can be a start.
*Darío Pescador is editor and director of Quo Magazine and author of the book the best of yourself Published by Oberon.
