At Velocity, we work your body hard during our workouts. We challenge you so that you can get stronger and take it to the next level inside and outside of the darkroom. But it is proven that in order to get stronger, rest and recovery are equally important. 

So, what are you doing when you leave the darkroom to help your body get ready for your next workout?

Here are our top tips for a speedy recovery:

1. Eat lots of protein after your workouts
   Your muscles need protein to rebuild and grow after a workout. Eating protein right after a workout can speed up this process and help you avoid muscle pain later.
2. Stretch
   Light stretching after a workout can help bring blood flow to the muscles, taking lactic acid away and helping your muscles recover faster.
    
3. Drink lots of fluids & stay hydrated
   Drinking enough water is crucial for so many functions of your body and muscle recovery is no exception. In addition to just plain water, try a Vitamin Well. These vitamin waters contain additional minerals such as magnesium or electrolytes that can also help speed up recovery.
4. REST! 

Finding the Balance Between Work and Rest

In many cases, doing multiple strenuous workouts a day over an extended period of time might be more damaging than helpful for your fitness goals. This is because over-exhausting your muscles can lead to injury, as well as a series of other health issues. Most specialists recommend including rest days in your training plan. 

Different people need different amounts of rest. It depends very much on your existing level of fitness, the intensity of your training, as well as your diet and sleep routines.

If you are used to working out 4-5 days a week consistently and that works for you, then there’s no problem with that. However, if you are just getting back into the swing of things after an injury, your body will need more recovery than it did before. Check out our blog on how to get back into training after an injury!

According to a study done with pro-soccer players, it took the body on average 3 days to recover back to full strength after a very strenuous workout! This doesn’t mean you should only workout once every three days – but instead, it tells you that strenuously working out the same muscle groups back to back is not a good idea. 

At Velocity, for example, you can switch it up between ride and power to avoid overtraining the same muscle groups if you’re noticing signs of overtraining.

What are some signs I might need more rest?

In order to find the right balance between rest and work, it’s important to pay attention to the signs your body is giving you. If you’ve been working out more than usual recently and have started to notice some of these symptoms – increasing your rest might be the answer:

• Unusually long-lasting muscle soreness
• A feeling of “heaviness” in the muscles even with light exercise
• Inability to perform certain tasks – for example, balancing
• Performance plateaus or even declines
• Strong feelings of exhaustion
• Interruptions in your menstrual cycle (for women)
• Immune suppression (getting sick very regularly)
• Inability to relax, poor sleep quality

Active recovery for those who can’t sit still

Many of us rely on movement to stay sane – so what do you do when you’ve pushed your body to its limits, but you feel the need to keep moving? Just tone down the intensity of your workouts!

Instead of working out 7 days a week – just switch it out with a walk or an easy yoga class every once in a while. This is known as active recovery. It gets the blood flowing to the damaged muscles and helps them recover without adding to the over-exhaustion. 

Happy recovery – we can’t wait to see you back in the studio soon!