Rest and Rehabilitation

Adequate rest and recovery time is vital to any exercise plan. If you are looking for rehabilitation services in Algonquin, call us today!

If you’re in need of rehabilitation in Algonquin, we can help!  You’ve been doing great at getting yourself to the gym consistently but you aren’t quite seeing the results you’re hoping for.  Maybe your muscles are still intensely sore, you continually suffer from minor injuries that set you back, or you simply aren’t making the gains (building muscle) the way you think you should be.  There are many contributing factors that affect your results and today our focus is that rehabilitation time between your workouts.

Rest and recovery are vital components of a workout routine but often aren’t treated as such, and thus aren’t always planned for or utilized the way they should be. Without adequate attention to both rest and recovery (yes, there is a difference) you not only wont be getting the timely results you expect, but you also wont be able to perform as well the next time you show up to the gym.

Rest

Rest is the simple combination of the time spent not working out and the time you dedicate to sleeping.  Achieving adequate levels of sleep offers huge support not only your muscle recovery, but your hormone balance and mental health as well. “Enough sleep” is anywhere between seven to ten hours a night, but this time frame needs to be based on your individual needs, lifestyle and how and when you exercise. When the hustle and bustle of life get in the way it’s easy to push rest to the bottom of your priority list, but if you factor in adequate sleep time every night, you will see a positive impact on your health that will end up saving you time and keep those muscles building at a steady, healthy pace.

Recovery

The idea of recovery is to take certain actions to maximize the potential for your bodies repair.  We have a lot of different systems that need attention in order to properly recover, i.e. neurological, structural, and hormonal. There are many simple steps you can take to aid in and speed up the process of repairing these vital systems.

First and foremost, drinking adequate amounts of water is absolutely critical to recovery.  It’s easy to drink enough when you’re sweating and your heart rate is elevated, but your body needs just as much hydration between workouts in order for our vital functions to keep working towards our recovery.

Taking a look at your diet can also drastically improve your recovery times. It’s beneficial to eat some protein prior to working out as well as considering the switch to healthier whole foods as snacks and in between meals.  Simply choosing to cut back on indulgences like alcohol or always opting for dessert when out to dinner can support a drastic improvement in recovery. Many people benefit from starting a meal plan that allows them to outline what to eat when in order to avoid straying from what’s most beneficial for their body.

Outside of hydration and diet adjustments, there are a few great tricks that can be extremely helpful to a speedy recovery.  Stretching before a workout is important in protecting against injury while exercising, but stretching BETWEEN workouts is what will get rid of that soreness quicker and keep you on the path to healthy, stronger workouts and better results.  Applications like ice packs and muscle creams can also be hugely beneficial in alleviating tension that has built up from your exercise.

There are plenty of extra little tricks worth trying that can enhance your recovery time and the benefits you receive from an exercise plan, but the best way to start is with the basics.  Most importantly, it is the shift of mindset that allows you to realize that rest and recovery is just as important to a healthy workout routine as the exercise itself.