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*