Active Recovery, Foam Rolling and Stretching

Active Recovery

Stretching

An active recovery workout involves performing low-intensity exercise following a strenuous workout. Examples include walking, yoga and swimming. Active recovery is often considered more beneficial than inactivity, resting completely or sitting. It can keep blood flowing and help muscles recover and rebuild from intense physical activity.

Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release (SMR) technique. It can help relieve muscle tightness, soreness and inflammation and increase your joint range of motion. Foam rolling can be an effective tool to add to your warm-up or cooldown, before and after exercise. The benefits of foam rolling may vary from person to person.

Post-exercise stretching has been performed as a recovery modality for many decades, if not centuries. The current body of research demonstrates that it may have several beneficial effects on recovery. These effects range from decreasing muscle soreness, albeit by a very small amount, to increasing flexibility, increasing local blood flow and decreasing neural excitability. As a result, static stretching may be a useful form of recovery following exercise.