Active Recovery Strategies

Recovery is a BIG part of training, after all, we don’t get bigger, faster, and stronger when we’re training, it happens when we’re NOT training. I feel far too often the current advice is to completely take the day off or strap yourself up to a bunch of modalities that were originally designed for athletes recovering from serious injury. The truth is, you’ve gotta move and take care of the tissue you just got done tearing up. Here at the Lyons Den, we use a few different active recovery strategies designed to increase blood flow and push along the recovery process. Here are some of the strategies we use.

First

End Range Strength Training

This helps get blood flow to the muscles while also providing a strength stimulus that will help to shut down the antagonistic muscles. Win/win/win

  • Hurdle work

  • Hip abduction

  • Hip adduction

  • Hip circles

Second

Soft Tissue Work

Soft tissue changes take upwards of 2 minutes so spend some time with these. You can’t release a tight muscle in 5 seconds.

  • Piriformis

  • Hip flexor/quad

  • Groin

  • Hamstrings

  • Calf

Third

Mobility Stretching

This is done with the intent to create real change in the tissue so spend at least 2 minutes on each one.

  • Piriformis

  • Hip flexors

  • Groin

  • Hamstrings

  • Ankle

Fourth

Get Moving Around!

This can be in the form of a walk, a job, belt squat walks, or pushing/pulling a sled. Do something that is going to create pressure changes to allow your lymphatic system to push all the garbage out, and let your circulatory system bring all the good stuff in!