Recovery and Exercise Go Hand in Hand

This article about recovery and exercise practices was written by Dr. Marcello Sarrica of Sarrica Physical Therapy & Wellness

Why is it that no one ever thinks about rest and recovery when it comes to exercising and wellness? These are important aspects of any physical activity program, but they are often overlooked. To understand why taking time off from exercising is important, there are a lot of things to consider. This is the first part in a two part article about recovery techniques and exercise, and will focus on the things that you can do in the times between exercise days to promote better health and adequate time for the body to rest and heal.

So how do you assist your body in recovering post exercise? There are plenty of considerations to be made about what to work into your routine, but some of the most important include mobility training, controlled stretching, Epsom salt baths, proper rest/sleep and a proper diet.

When people think of stretching, they often only think of the actions that don’t require any outside equipment. These can be effective, but there are two kinds of stretching that utilize something commonly referred to as a ‘stretch out strap, which is a tool that can be used on different muscle groups throughout the body. The two kinds of stretches are active isolated stretching (going into a stretch with a stretch out strap and repeating 10x to each targeted muscle group) and passive static stretching (traditional stretching exercises using a towel or stretch out strap and holding for a minimum of 30 seconds before repeating 2–3x per leg). Each of these types of stretches has different benefits, depending on what individual recovery goals are Don’t forget to breathe throughout your stretching routine!

This practice has been used for years as a homeopathic remedy with little research to back up efficacy, however the active ingredient in Epsom Salt is magnesium sulfate (which is an antispasmodic). Essentially reducing muscle spasms, inflammation and de-stressing the musculoskeletal system. PT professionals recommend that patients try this for 20 minutes with warm water in a bath, adding 1–2 cups of Epsom Salt. Not only will this help the muscles, but it can be used as a relaxing break from the typical daily routine, too.

This is completely undervalued in our society today, since everyone is so busy. From mobile devices to video games and the Internet, the “blue” light is tricking our brains into thinking that it is day time all the time. Adults should be getting 7–9 hours of rest per night or your mental and physical performance may suffer. Some tips for increasing the amount of sleep and rest is to limit the use of electronics while in bed (or after a certain time), not consuming anything but water within an hour of bedtime, and only using your bed for resting — not for things like watching TV, playing on your phone or computer and “hanging out”. Training your body to associate the bed with rest can make it easier to fall asleep — and stay asleep — when you climb in each and every night

Also, in addition to thinking about what we eat, we need to drink lots of water to assist our lymphatic system in getting rid of waste products efficiently and to keep muscles hydrated and flexible.

Related posts:

The favorited furniture and homegoods store, IKEA, stepped up during the pandemic to create the #StayAtHome campaign to encourage their shoppers to stay safe and healthy. They went above and beyond…

2015 seems like a long time ago. It’s no overstatement to say that Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party inspired a generation. Rock-solid principles and decency played a huge part in his…

The clouds were imposing on that blustery night. But tiny beads of lights kept glimmering with an impetus of a crescendo across the city. Yellow. White. Green. All that sparkled coalesced in harmony…