{"id":937,"date":"2021-06-22T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T19:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/?p=937"},"modified":"2025-06-24T12:51:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:51:59","slug":"want-to-maximize-your-workouts-why-you-need-active-recovery-its-really-a-thing-according-to-this-a-list-trainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/want-to-maximize-your-workouts-why-you-need-active-recovery-its-really-a-thing-according-to-this-a-list-trainer\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to maximize your workouts in the new year? Why you need active recovery (it’s really a thing!), according to this A-list trainer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edited and updated January 2022. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Year’s resolution to start working out? Already a hardcore cardio devotee? Either way, you might think all the magic happens in the high intensity training zone. But more and more, fitness experts are discovering that how <\/em>you recover from a workout is just as important as your time spent breaking a sweat. Meet active recovery, your new secret weapon for better and stronger workouts, reduced muscle pain and long-lasting results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s active recovery?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To answer that, we went straight to celebrity trainer (she\u2019s trained the likes of Beyonc\u00e9, David Beckham and Jay-Z) and cofounder of remote fitness club AARMY, Angela Manuel-Davis. \u201cActive recovery is low-impact training that focuses on less intense movements to promote mobility, circulation and balance out your nervous system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoga guru and celebrity trainer Kirschen Katz adds, \u201cit\u2019s usually done immediately following a vigorous workout session and meant to counterbalance the intense training that typically makes you break a sweat, including running on a treadmill or using a rowing machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in! How do I do it?  <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first step is figuring out your personal maximum heart rate. \u201cTo get that number, subtract 220 minus your age in years,\u201d Beverly Hills-based rheumatology specialist, Dr. David Hallegua advises. \u201cThe goal is to find an activity that\u2019s low-intensity and keeps your heart rate at 30-60% of your personal maximum,\u201d Katz says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next up is finding an active recovery exercise you enjoy. Katz\u2019s recommendation? \u201cTry anything low impact that you like doing! Stretching, yoga, swimming, hiking, foam-rolling, biking slowly, bodyweight exercises or even a walk through the neighborhood are all great options,\u201d Katz says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long and short-term benefits.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main benefit, according to Dr. Hallegua, \u201cis that you improve blood flow to those muscles and are even better prepared for the next day of active exercise.\u201d The science behind it is simple: \u201cLet’s say you work out intensely three to five times a week. On the days you don\u2019t workout, if you don\u2019t do some sort of low-level activity, you tend to hurt more because there\u2019s a buildup of lactic acid from anaerobic glycolysis, which is the breakdown of glucose for energy,\u201d Dr. Hallegua adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of legitimacy, Katz draws from her more than 20 years as a fitness trainer: \u201cBeing an athlete myself, I think of active recovery training as helpful in supporting the muscles healing from the rigor of intense exercise,\u201d she says, adding that it\u2019s necessary as it supports \u201cefficiency in our training and minimizing the chance of injury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manuel-Davis also argues that active recovery is essential. \u201cThese types of exercises promote your body\u2019s ability to rebuild after an intense workout,\u201d she says. \u201cDoing active recovery will aid your body\u2019s longevity and up both your physical and mental capacity to reach your full potential.\u201d Still unsure about adding active recovery into your routine? Here\u2019s our bottom line: if it\u2019s good enough for Bey, it\u2019s good enough for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edited and updated January 2022. New Year’s resolution to start working out? Already a hardcore cardio devotee? Either way, you might think all the magic happens in the high intensity training zone. But more and more, fitness experts are discovering that how you recover from a workout is just as important as your time spent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-body"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1750794721:21"],"_edit_last":["21"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"primary_category":["4"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"post_views_count":["3454"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["4"],"_thumbnail_id":["982"],"mobile_image":[""],"_mobile_image":["field_60bf7692abe28"],"_post_views_count":["field_6107dfafd6a27"],"sidebar_products_use_global_default":["0"],"_sidebar_products_use_global_default":["field_63a349a11086a"],"sidebar_products_title":["Related Products"],"_sidebar_products_title":["field_6408d62123449"],"sidebar_products_items":[""],"_sidebar_products_items":["field_63a349a110878"],"sidebar_products":[""],"_sidebar_products":["field_63a349a0dadad"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["Active recovery to maximize your workouts | Murad Skincare"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Maximize workouts with active recovery techniques. A-list trainer explains why rest days should include movement for better fitness results!"]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"primary_category":{"term_id":4,"name":"Body","slug":"body","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":4,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":63,"filter":"raw"},"show_featured_image":true,"post_views_count":"3454","mobile_image":false,"sidebar_products":{"use_global_default":false,"title":"Related Products","items":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3087,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions\/3087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}