Tips to Maximize Recovery and Avoid Injury

You’ve heard it once and you’ll hear it again, exercise of all kinds is one of the best things you can do to care for your mind, body, and overall health. Building muscle and keeping your heart healthy with aerobic movement is something everyone should prioritize in their routines.

However, everything should be in moderation (exercise included). If you’re not allowing your muscles to recover, or not preparing your body for exercise properly, you can easily injure yourself and make matters worse.

This is why it’s always important to warm up, cool down, and care for your body before and after exercise to maintain an active lifestyle without taking it too far. In this blog, we introduce some tips for you to maximize recovery and avoid injury when exercising.

Tips You Need to Make the Most of Your Exercise

To make your exercise go farther and to ensure your exercise isn’t doing more harm than good, stick to these tips both before and after your workouts. Your muscles will thank you, and you’ll be able to maintain a healthy routine of exercise without burning out or getting injured.

Avoid Injury

To avoid injury, don’t jump right into your workouts. Start slow and steady, and incorporate a healthy routine.

• Warm Up – Always warm up your muscles first with light movement to raise the heart rate and loosen up any tightness.

• Focus on Form – Practice good form always. It can be helpful to do a few reps without any weights to check your form before you get started with any weightlifting sets.

• Change Your Routine – It’s helpful to switch up your exercise routine to avoid fatiguing the muscles or creating inflammation. Mix in a few days of strength training with some low-impact cardio, yoga, and long walks to start.

• Eat Healthy and Stay Hydrated: Avoiding injury is also about how you treat your body outside of your workout time. Eat healthy, eating lean proteins and tons of fruits and vegetables as well as complex carbs, and be sure to drink enough water per day.

Maximize Recovery

Treat your muscles right in-between your workouts to gain strength sustainably.

• Cool Down and Stretch: Never end your workouts abruptly. Incorporate a five-minute cooldown and a quick stretch to help lower your heart rate and lengthen any muscles you just worked.

• Listen to Your Body – If something feels painful, don’t do it. If your body isn’t feeling up for a full day at the gym, it’s okay to skip a day. Always listen to your body, and see your chiropractor if something doesn’t feel right.

• Incorporate Rest Days – Add rest days to your routine in the same way you schedule your yoga or strength training. If you still want to keep some movement involved, choose these days for a brisk walk.

• Sleep Well – Sleeping well consistently is an important part of your recovery routine. Without it, your muscles won’t be able to get the rest they need so badly. Aim for 8 hours each night on a comfortable mattress.

When Injury Strikes

No one is immune to injury, and sometimes, it can happen even if you’re following all the right guidelines and taking care of yourself as you should.

If you find yourself injured or aren’t able to maintain your normal workout routine and want to be maximize recovery for your muscles, schedule an appointment with your chiropractor at Sea Change Wellness Chiropractic in St. Petersburg, FL so we can get to the root cause and get you back to your normal regimen with faster injury healing.