How do you do recovery?

[abyssinia]

*waves* This comm has been pretty quiet but hopefully there's still some people around.

In my early 30s I was very active in a variety of ways (multiple recreational sports, crossfit, bike commuting, etc) but then I spent several years going through a tailspin of moving/illness/etc. which saw me spending significant periods sedentary or getting minimal exercise.

I'm now in my late 30's and working on getting back to being active and trying to be slow/methodical about it through a mixture of recreational sports, running, and getting back into Crossfit. I've been working hard to build slowly and incorporate rest days. But I'm still finding post-workout recovery to be much harder than it used to be. I seem to be tired/sore after exercise for a much longer time or much more intensely than I feel like I should be.

I don't know if this is just the price I'm paying for being older and trying to get back into shape, or if I'm doing recovery work poorly. So I was curious what other people do for recovery - things they find helps or hurts? I'm interested in things like activity level/type, possibly food/nutrition, or other things I can do.

Comments

[lunabee34]

I almost always take a really hot bath after I go to the gym. That helps me.

[cyprinella]

For me, this is the worst idea if I'm already sore right after the work out because it's just going to make things worse. Cool to cold to act sort of as all body icing in the first 24 hours after. After 24, definitely hot.

[lunabee34]

*nods*

I think I'm a weirdo. LOL Everything I ever see about recovery is all ice it first, but heat always makes me feel better.

[fred_mouse]

I'm with you on the heat. When I come home from dance sore in a particular way, a hot bath for half an hour has a much better result than anything else I've tried.

[lunabee34]

*nods nods*

[kaberett]

The way I have been dealing with rehab physio is to... start out at an intensity/workout level that does not make me ache and then incredibly slowly tediously gradually incrementally... increase from there, still at a point where the recovery isn't taking any longer than I'm okay for it to.

This means that I've been going to the gym for about nine months and I'm now up to 2x7m30s stints on the stationary bike at a resistance of ~5... but that's up from ~1m30s at resistance of ~2, and at no point was my knee grumbling for more than about an afternoon after a lunchtime workout.

[princessofgeeks]

For me, lots of water, and skipping a full day in between intensive workouts. Also remembering that after inactivity you have to ramp. Do less, maybe half, of what you think you SHOULD be able to do, and slowly increase.

Yes, I learned this the hard way.

Best of luck to you! All the encouragement!!!!

[cyprinella]

Are you proteining enough to rebuild your muscle efficiently? When I was first settling into weight lifting, being sure to eat enough was a big thing, especially since I'm from years of being berated about weight and "eat less, exercise more" which doesn't fucking help when you're trying to build muscle. Also sleep. Sleep is so important. I am now a nap queen. Bless work from home.

[kharanaodell]

I do yoga one day, weight/core stuff with some aerobic exercise the next, run the next. If I need a rest day, I try to do gentle yoga or take a long walk. This keeps me healthier than taking a whole day off, though occasionally I do that. Repeat this set of days. I've been using the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbooks as a really helpful way to fuel well with real food. Chew. Swallow. I found protein shakes really unhelpful with my relationship to food.

I've also recently found the chiropractor helpful, something I'd never tried before. A stretching massage is good, too.

Thanks for starting a conversation!

[ivy]

I have never been able to Crossfit more than twice a week; I am impressed but baffled by people who can do it five days a week and be fine. (I've been doing that for roughly a decade, so it's not a "you'll get better with practice!" thing for me, heh.) The first day after a hard workout isn't the bad one for me, it's two days afterwards. So I don't even think about going back to Crossfit until the third or fourth day, depending on how sore I am. I can run, do yoga, rock climb, do aerials on the interim days for active recovery, but anything that's going to be that intense to-exhaustion effort, I'll need several days to recover from. And if it's worse than that, well, I have been known to take a whole week off after Murph or something like it.

I take a fish oil supplement. I eat protein after working out, and lots of green veggies. I make getting a full night of sleep (8 hours plus) as much of a priority as getting to the gym is; that helps me immeasurably. Good luck!