It might seem counterintuitive to take time off from your fitness routine when you’ve been working hard to achieve your goals, but setting aside a day or two to rest each week will help your body recover so you can come back to your routine stronger. You have options for your rest days—you can take a complete day of rest, with no physical activity, or take a more active recovery day that includes a lighter form of exercise than normal. This is where yoga and stretching can be extremely beneficial, with gentle poses that promote flexibility, healing, and recovery.
The Importance of Recovery
During a challenging workout, muscles tear and break down. What you do in between workout sessions will affect how much your body is able to repair and rebuild muscle. It’s important not to train the same muscles every day, and to give your body the chance to grow stronger—taking recovery days will help move this process along.
When you exercise, you increase blood flow to your muscles. By moving your body, you’re actually speeding up your recovery and reducing soreness. Choose a workout that is active enough to increase blood flow, but gentle enough so that your muscles can repair and heal.
Recovery is an important aspect of physical health and wellness. The recovery process is equally as important as your training sessions. Your training sessions help you make progress, and the recovery process helps you rebuild and recover. Yoga and stretching can help you recover physically and promote mental relaxation and overall well-being.
Benefits of Yoga
Yoga is an ancient practice that combines physical postures, breath control, and meditation to promote overall health and well-being. It can reduce muscle soreness, enhance flexibility, and lower stress levels while promoting physical and mental relaxation.
Yoga is perfect for either an active recovery day or a total rest day, as it provides a gentle, low-impact workout that can accelerate healing, reduce stress and inflammation, and promote mobility. For total rest days, restorative yoga is a great way to do some gentle stretching and movement, without pushing your body too hard.
VASA offers three class formats in its STUDIO FLOW infrared yoga room, which aid in recovery: Flow, a faster-paced class that links breath to movement and great for active recovery; Deep Stretch, perfect for the athlete who doesn’t take time to stretch after workouts and wants to improve mobility; and Restore, a calming class that will help you relax after a stressful day or challenging workout. Additionally, infrared panels are located above every mat and promote circulation, reduce inflammation, and decrease muscle tension, the perfect way to recover from any tough workout.
Here are some great yoga poses you can try at home that can help with muscle recovery:
- Legs-up-the-wall Pose: Improves circulation, promotes relaxation, and reduces swelling and fatigue in the legs.
- Downward-Facing Dog: Improves blood flow to the upper body and stretches the hamstrings, calves, shoulders, and back.
- Pigeon Pose: Release tension in the hips as you stretch the hip flexors, glutes, and lower back.
Benefits of Stretching
While yoga integrates mindfulness and breathwork and promotes mental relaxation, stretching is more targeted, focusing on specific muscle groups. Stretching helps to elongate the muscles and improves flexibility and range of motion. It plays an important role in recovery by reducing muscle soreness, enhancing flexibility, and preventing injuries. It also promotes better muscle coordination and balance.
Stretches that help aid in the recovery process:
- Hamstring: Stretches the backs of the legs and helps ease tension
- Quadriceps: Stretches the fronts of the thighs and relieves tightness
- Shoulder: Reduces stiffness in the upper body
Promote Well-Being with Yoga and Stretching
Your fitness recovery strategy should include a day or two of rest each week, with some gentle physical exercise to help aid in the recovery process. Yoga and stretching are both great recovery exercises to incorporate into your routine. Take advantage of your next active rest day and come in and try one of VASA’s yoga classes—perfect for any fitness level!
