To help you plan your next active recovery day, we asked our experts to lay out some of the best options. Just make sure you keep the intensity low, and pencil in some complete rest on other days, too! A low-impact form of martial arts, tai chi is great for building strength, balance, and total-body awareness.

Research shows tai chi offers a host of aerobic fitness-boosting, pain-relieving benefits. For example, a review in the journal PLOS One suggests tai chi may improve aerobic fitness in healthy adults, while a small study of 72 people in the Journal of Rheumatology shows a week tai chi exercise program significantly reduced pain and stiffness in people with arthritis.

This tried-and-true recovery activity not only increases flexibility, but it also teaches proper breathing techniques and body control. In addition, an easy yoga flow also promotes blood flow to help repair your broken-down muscle tissues, says Corak.

Yoga instructors love Manduka's PROlite mat, but if you want something with a little extra cushion, opt for BalanceFrom's mat instead.

Experts also recommend keeping yoga accessories like a block and strap handy during your practice, to make poses and stretches feel as accessible as possible. Manduka PROlite Yoga Mat. Gaiam Yoga Block. BalanceFrom GoYoga Yoga Mat with Carrying Strap. B Yoga The Practice Yoga Strap. Yes, you can still lift on your easy day if you want to—it'll just be different than your usual strength training workouts.

Performing high-rep exercises with a very light weight light as in about 30 percent of the heaviest weight you could use helps stimulate blood flow and supply nutrients to the working tissue without straining or tearing them down, Corak says.

Pick five to eight exercises to create a full-body circuit, and perform each move for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of three to four rounds. As a bonus, you can use these light training sessions to work on perfecting your exercise form.

While light lifting can be a great active recovery method for some, you probably want to skip it if you're feeling too sore from your last workout. Stick to the lighter forms of activity on this list and try some of the things on this list to help get some relief.

For weighted training, an adjustable kettlebell or set of dumbbells will allow you to choose the exact weight you want to lift. Resistance bands are another great tool to have on hand if you're feeling up for some light training on your lighter days.

Bowflex SelectTech Kettlebell. NordicTrack iSelect Adjustable Dumbbells 50 lb. Te-Rich Fabric Workout Loop Bands Set. SPRI Resistance Band Kit. Keeping these critical muscles—which include your abdominals, low back muscles, glutes, hip flexors, and hip adductors—firing on your off days will help prep your body for the more intense work you may have planned for the days ahead, strength and conditioning coach Erica Suter, M.

Simply put, keeping them working will keep them limber and trained to activate when you need them during your hard workouts. Consider these your go-to moves and sprinkle them throughout your day: bird dogs, dead bugs , bodyweight glute bridges , fire hydrants , and planks.

According to corrective exercise specialist Dani Almeyda, M. In fact, a quick five-minute crawl session is enough to challenge your heart, lungs, and muscles while giving your joints a much-needed break.

Whether you use a foam roller, lacrosse ball, or massage gun , self-myofascial release—a method of massaging the connective tissues surrounding the muscles and bones—offers a bevy of recovery benefits.

In fact, self-myofascial release may help increase range of motion and reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness following intense exercise, according to a review in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy.

By Krissy Brady. By Ashia Aubourg. By Sara Coughlin. If you want to upgrade from a standard foam roller, the TriggerPoint Grid foam roller features a notched, multi-density design that lets you mix up the intensity of your rolling, while the splurge-worthy Hyperice Vyper 3 vibrates while it rolls.

Both rank among trainers' favorite foam rollers. Hyperice Vyper 3. TriggerPoint Grid Foam Roller. Taking your workout to the pool is a great low-impact exercise option. In addition, the water pressure helps improve circulation in the muscles, blood vessels, and heart.

If there are two essentials for swim gear, it's a good pair of goggles and swimsuit that won't slip around while you're in motion—give these bestsellers a try.

Speedo Vanquisher EV Mirrored Swim Goggles. TYR Sport Solid Maxback Swim Suit. Corak recommends going for 30 to 40 minutes. For true active recovery days rather than lighter days, stick with walking and keep the intensity lower!

If you're interested in jogging, the Brooks Ghost 14 sneakers won last year's SELF Sneaker Award for best road-running shoe for everyday runs. Meanwhile, this option from Reebok won our award for best walking sneaker.

Brooks Ghost 14 Road-Running Shoes. You may not be aware there is a difference between rest and recovery or how to properly implement them both.

Most easily defined as a combination of sleep and time spent not training, rest is the easiest to understand and implement. How you sleep and spend this time is very critical.

These include hydration, nutrition, posture, heat, ice, stretching, self-myofascial release, stress management, compression, and time spent standing versus sitting versus lying down. Recovery is multifaceted and encompasses more than just muscle repair.

Recovery involves chemical and hormonal balance, nervous system repair, mental state, and more. We have different systems that need to recover. These include hormonal, neurological, and structural.

Our structural system includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Muscles recover the quickest because they receive direct blood flow. Tendons, ligaments, and bones receive indirect blood flow and therefore can take longer to recover and be more susceptible to overtraining stress.

For most, the goal should not be set for perfection or include exactly correct levels of each factor — leave that for professional athletes to strive after. Our goal is to prioritize life and maximize performance without personal sacrifice. Kick back, relax, and enjoy an evening out with friends.

Order your favorite beer and get the ribs as this may mentally benefit you more, allow you to unwind, and put you in a better place to perform as opposed to another solitary night of broccoli and chicken. Life for an athlete who sacrifices everything for the sake of performance can very lonely and tiresome.

A balanced combination of rest and recovery along with proper diet and exercise should be a part of any fitness regimen. Eighty percent of your time can be spent focusing on diet and exercise, while twenty percent should be left for enjoying life.

Below we will break down the subcomponents of rest and recovery to provide you with better insight on how to improve performance and overall quality of life. A healthy and happy athlete not only performs better, but has the ability to give time and energy to others also. Sleep is the most important time to recover.

Adequate levels of sleep help to provide mental health, hormonal balance, and muscular recovery. You need to get enough sleep, which is between seven to ten hours for most athletes. Everyone has individual needs based on their lifestyle, workouts, and genetic makeup.

Drinking adequate amounts of water is critical to health , energy, recovery, and performance. Athletes tend to be very attentive to hydration levels close to and during competitions, but keeping that awareness during training and recovery times can make just as large an impact.

Water helps all of our functions. A few examples are more efficient nutrient uptake, lower levels of stress on the heart, improved skin tone, and better hair quality. The simplest way to check hydration is to look at your pee.

If it is clear to pale yellow you are hydrated. The darker and more color in your pee the less hydrated you are and more water you need to drink. Everything you eat has the ability to help heal your body, or to poison it.

This may sound strong, but alcohol and processed foods contain toxins and are harmful to the body. I do not like to recommend a specific diet, but eating clean and balanced meals in moderation is proven to be effective to remain healthy and increase performance.

Dairy and wheat are processed differently by everyone and you need to educate yourself on these topics and how they personally affect you. Some people process these food items very well and have no side effects, while other people have slight to severe autoimmune reactions.

Start with a paleo diet as your base template and add to it based on your experiences, not what you read by others. Food in our society goes far beyond fueling the body, so it is not always such a simple choice.

We go out to dinner, and most social events have food. The key is achieving balance so you get the results you want, but can also function as a normal person and enjoy life. This is one of the least focused on areas in the American culture.

We on average spend more time sitting than any other country in the world, and as a general trend have bad posture. This is not a restful position; sitting or standing with bad posture is harmful.

It can lead to back or neck pain, specifically for those with desk jobs. You need enough flexibility to move well and remain pain free. Include dynamic stretching in your warm-ups while saving static stretching for after your workouts.

Go through my previous articles that included screens on the squat , hip hinge , and ankle movement. Attempt to self-identify tight areas and work on them.

Tight muscles and trigger points sometimes need assistance to return to healthy normal tissue. Read my article on foam rolling for more information.

Use these techniques for recovering from injuries or a very stressful training or racing experience such as a road marathon or the CrossFit Games. Spending some additional time focusing on rest and recovery can pay dividends beyond additional training time.

Rest days are just as important as exercise. Taking regular breaks allows your body to recover and repair. Otherwise, skipping rest days can lead to overtraining or burnout.

Specifically, rest is essential for muscle growth. Exercise creates microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. But during rest, cells called fibroblasts repair it. This helps the tissue heal and grow, resulting in stronger muscles.

Also, your muscles store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. During exercise, your body breaks down glycogen to fuel your workout.

Rest gives your body time to replenish these energy stores before your next workout. Rest is necessary for avoiding exercise-induced fatigue. Regular rest is essential for staying safe during exercise.

Overtraining also exposes your muscles to repetitive stress and strain. This increases the risk of overuse injuries, forcing you to take more rest days than planned. For example, you might be less motivated to do an extra rep or run another mile. Even if you push yourself, overtraining decreases your performance.

You may experience reduced endurance , slow reaction times, and poor agility. Rest has the opposite effect.

It increases energy and prevents fatigue, which prepares your body for consistently successful workouts. Physical activity increases energy-boosting hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Constant exercise, however, overproduces these hormones.

The ideal rest day looks different for each person. It depends on the intensity and frequency of your normal routine, along with your lifestyle outside of exercise. This includes activities like leisurely walking or slow dancing. To determine when you should rest, consider the recommendations for aerobic activity.

Each week, adults should get to minutes of moderate activity or 75 to minutes of vigorous activity. You can also do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. These guidelines can help you plan your rest days.

While running is a form of cardio, it usually requires a different approach to rest days. Running too much too soon can lead to fatigue and overuse injuries. On the other days, let yourself rest or do different activities.

A personal trainer or running coach can explain how to rest based on your goals. Bodybuilding, or weight training , incorporates rest days by rotating the muscles worked.

After exercising a specific muscle group, let it rest for one to two days. This gives your muscles a chance to repair and heal.

On the other days, train different muscles. Be sure to work opposing muscles to keep your body balanced. One way to do rest days is to assign a day for each body part. For instance, Monday can be leg day, Tuesday can be chest day, and so on.

Rest allows your muscles to rebuild and grow. But instead of trying to omit a specific number of calories, simply listen to your body.

Adequate protein intake supports the muscle repair that happens during rest. Active people need 1. This should be evenly spaced throughout the day. Yoga is one of the best things you can do on a rest day.

It also helps you build strength while loosening your muscles. Plus, yoga promotes calmness, leaving you refreshed and ready for the next workout. Just 10 to 15 minutes will help exercise recovery.

Like yoga, low-impact exercise is a great rest day activity. Low-impact workouts help you stay active without overstressing your body. They also let you enjoy exercise in a more relaxing way.

You can also talk to an exercise specialist if you want to try a new activity like bodybuilding or marathon training. A professional can determine the best workout for your fitness level.

They can also help you increase intensity, duration, and speed in a safe way. It might be best for you to keep to passive rest activities in any of these cases.

Carrying out activities of daily living comes with both physical and mental exertion that can cause you to feel stressed. These conditions, in turn, can be associated with various psychological and physical health problems. Stress management techniques are, therefore, necessary adaptations to the efficient management of everyday stresses.

Start by identifying your most present stressors, and then create boundaries by ensuring you dedicate space by establishing a balance. Next, let your focus be on living a balanced life. This can happen by managing your time, taking time to socialize with friends, eating a balanced diet , and having some fun — do what relieves you of the stressors.

This means your body has the right energy to get the job done, therefore ensuring you stay injury-free and healthy. Your nutrition should be a balanced composition of macronutrients, namely carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Complex carbohydrates, a variety of lean proteins, and healthy fats will aid in reducing inflammation from training.

Ensure your calories meet your total daily energy expenditure to keep you feeling energized and full. While caloric deficits are necessary at some points in your life, too severe of a deficit can put the body under a lot of stress and prevent proper recovery.

Reach out to a nutritionist or dietician for guidance on what you should be eating. You may have thought that true dedication to your fitness goals means you never take a day off.

We hope this article helped show you that this is a myth! Medical, scientific, or research settings yield the most accurate measures of body fat. Understanding your body fat percentage can help you live a healthier life. Your sex, age, and body type are all critical factors contributing to your overall body fat and your diet and exercise regimen.

Nutrition is such a crucial factor in weight loss. With the consumption of certain foods, you may be sabotaging your weight loss efforts. While it is obvious that some foods are unhealthy and will promote weight gain, others come as a surprise.

These foods contain a high content of hidden refined sugars that cause weight gain. In this article, we will delve into the world of unsuspecting food that will make you gain extra pounds.

You may find that foam rolling can hurt, especially when you concentrate on certain muscles, but the love-hate relationship with this piece of recovery equipment is worth it. There are numerous benefits of foam rolling, and a foam roller can target various muscles, tendons, fascia, and other soft tissue.

Understanding the benefits of foam rolling may be the deciding factor that encourages you to fully embrace your foam roller for the helpful mobility tool it is and discover the best ways to improve the effectiveness of your foam rolling technique and routine.

Keep reading for our guide to the benefits of foam rolling, information on types of foam rollers, and tips to get the most out of foam rolling. What is a foam roller?

A foam roller is a self-myofascial release SMR tool that is used to release tension in and increase the mobility of your muscles, fascia, and other connective tissue surrounding your joints.

Although there are various shapes and sizes of foam rollers available these days, most are cylindrical, with a length of one to four feet and a diameter of five to ten inches.

A foam roller may be hollow or solid and it is typically constructed from dense foam or some sort of foam- or rubber-covered rigid plastic. The foam roller may be smooth or textured with various ridges and bumps.

Trending: Best Lighters How to Tie a Tie Best Coffee Beans Shoulder Workouts True Crime Podcasts How to Shape a Beard Best Sweaters for Men Most Expensive Cognac Fastest Cars in the World Ernest Hemingway Books Canada Goose Alternatives Best Teeth Whitening Strips Fastest Motorcycles in the World.

Christine VanDoren. Christine is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist with an undergraduate degree from Missouri State University. Health and Fitness. Weight loss 10 surprising foods that can interfere with your goals. A foam roller can aid your workout routine: Benefits, tips, and more.

The reasons why foam rolling needs to become part of your routine.