Active recovery involves performing low-intensity exercises like jogging or swimming after a high-intensity training session.
Many athletes favour this approach to recovery over stationary rest, also called passive recovery, because it keeps blood flowing, accelerates nutrient delivery, and supports both physical, and mental recovery.
However, you should avoid active recovery if you suspect an injury and opt for passive recovery or medical help instead.
Soreness Isn't the Same as Recovery
Here's something most recovery advice skips: feeling sore and being recovered are two different things, measuring two different systems in your body.
Muscle soreness (called DOMS, or delayed-onset muscle soreness) comes from microscopic damage to muscle fibres. Recovery, in the physiological sense, is really about how ready your nervous system and cardiovascular system are to handle more stress, and the two don't always move together.
You can be quite sore from an intense or unfamiliar workout while your body is otherwise fully ready to perform. You can also feel completely fine and still be running on a depleted tank. That's part of why "just listen to your body" isn't quite enough advice on its own, and it's exactly what active recovery and the strategies below are designed to support.
The Benefits of Active Recovery
While passive recovery, or complete rest, is beneficial if you're injured or particularly tired, active recovery will help you recover faster and train at a higher level during your next training session.
Some notable benefits of active recovery include:
- Clearing lactate more quickly from the blood, which reduces discomfort, restores muscle function, and may improve performance in subsequent sessions
- Encouraging waste and toxin removal from your muscles by maintaining a steady flow of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood
- Helping you maintain your muscle flexibility and reduce muscle tightness
When to Implement Active Recovery into Your Routine
Depending on your type of training or how you're feeling afterwards, at what point you implement active recovery into your routine can play a role in its effectiveness.
As a general post-training cooldown: Gradually winding down with a light activity after an intense training session significantly impacts your recovery. For example, if you just completed a run, try a light jog for your active recovery. You should also aim to use no more than 50% of your maximum effort during a cooldown for the best results.
During high-intensity interval training: Including active recovery exercises between high-intensity sets will also benefit your recovery. You should maintain a moderate activity level of 60–70% of your maximum effort during active recovery between high-intensity sets for more efficient recovery.
And yes, even on rest days: Engaging in light activities on your days off can help alleviate any remaining muscle soreness from your previous training session and promote your recovery.
Just finished a big event like a race or competition? The same principles apply, just stretched over several days instead of minutes. The 24–72 hours after a long, hard effort call for the low end of this range: easy spins, jogs, or walks—not another hard session—while your body works through a much bigger recovery job than a normal training day.
The Best Active Recovery Exercises
You want to engage in low-impact exercises that keep your heart pumping and blood moving. It's also wise to incorporate activities that involve different movements than your training session to give your body and mind a rest.
Some of the best active recovery exercises include:
- Light jogging or walking: These activities can improve blood flow and assist in the recovery process.
- Swimming: A low-impact activity that eases the joints and can help reduce inflammation.
- Cycling: A gentle way to stay active without putting pressure on the joints.
- Stretching: These practices can elongate sore muscles, improve flexibility, and decrease stress and inflammation.
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Using a foam roller or lacrosse ball: These techniques can help alleviate muscle tightness, decrease inflammation, enhance mobility, and decrease post-exercise pain.
How to Tell If You're Actually Recovered
Since soreness alone doesn't tell the whole story, this is where checking in on a couple of objective numbers helps, especially if you already wear a device that tracks them.
Resting heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) are the two most useful signals here. A resting heart rate that's noticeably higher than your normal baseline, or an HRV that's dropped well below it, is a reasonable sign your nervous system is still working through recent training stress, even if your legs don't feel particularly sore. We go deeper on reading these numbers correctly, including why a single day's reading matters less than the trend, in our guide on what your HRV is actually telling you.
None of this means treating your recovery score as gospel or skipping a session the moment a number dips. It just means you now have two sources of information instead of one, how you feel, and what your body's actually doing underneath that.
How Supplementation Aids Active Recovery
In addition to light physical activity, supplements can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your active recovery. We typically recommend these supplements to aid recovery: HMB, protein, electrolytes, carbohydrates, and tart cherry juice.
HMB
HMB reduces soreness and allows you to bounce back faster after an intense training session by slowing muscle protein breakdown and accelerating new protein synthesis. A pure calcium-HMB supplement like HMB Sport supports your recovery by promoting muscle repair and growth, or you can combine your HMB with creatine in a supplement like HMB+ Creatine for developing your strength and power as well.
Protein
Consuming protein within one hour of training primes your body for recovery by providing the essential amino acids needed for muscle repair and rebuilding damaged tissues. While a nutritious meal is the best way to get your protein, using a complete, real-food protein supplement like Egg White Protein Isolate is the next best thing and can be a convenient solution on the go or at home.
That said, research shows that total daily protein intake is the most important factor for progress, regardless of timing. For a deeper dive into the science of post-workout nutrition, check out our article on the anabolic window—what it is, and when it actually matters.
Electrolytes
Proper hydration plays an equally important role in your recovery as active recovery exercises. Hydration facilitates nutrient transport, waste removal and electrolyte balance, all of which are necessary for efficient muscle repair. We suggest sipping on a real food hydration solution like Hydra+ during your active recovery to replenish the salt (sodium) and natural sugars (glucose) your body needs to absorb water and prevent dehydration.
If you’re interested in the optimal supplementation for recovery and for more information about how to incorporate supplements into your training routine, check out our selection of sports nutrition product user guides.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are also important when it comes to recovery, especially for endurance athletes. After training, your body’s glycogen stores are depleted, and they need replenishing. Pairing carbohydrates with protein not only accelerates glycogen resynthesis but also enhances muscle protein repair—you can read more about how and when to carb load in our guide to fuelling performance.
Good recovery carbohydrate sources include rice, bread, and potatoes—or, for convenience, a recovery shake with both protein and carbs like Egg White Protein Isolate.
Tart Cherry Juice
Tart cherry's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds help reduce muscle damage and soreness after hard training, with research showing the effect builds over several days of consistent use rather than a single dose. Beet It Regen Cherry+ combines tart cherry with beetroot juice for added circulatory benefits during recovery in a convenient 70ml shot, taken after training and for 2–3 days following, or daily in the lead-up to a big event.
The Four Pillars of Post-Training Recovery
Everything above breaks down into four things your body actually needs, in no particular order, since which one matters most depends on your session and how you're feeling:
- Rehydrate: Replace fluids and electrolytes, especially sodium, to support nutrient transport and muscle repair.
- Refuel: Replenish glycogen with carbohydrates, particularly after longer or harder efforts.
- Rebuild: Give your body the protein and nutrients it needs to repair and adapt.
- Rest: Balance activity with genuine downtime, including sleep, which is where a large share of physical repair actually happens.
Safety Considerations for Active Recovery
Active recovery is generally safe, but it's crucial to listen to your body's signals.
If you're experiencing pain or suspect an injury, take a rest or consult with a healthcare professional before continuing any physical activity. It’s also important to note that in cases of extreme fatigue, passive recovery might be necessary.
Research also suggests that excessive training without adequate rest can increase the risk of overuse injuries and negatively affect immune function. Scheduling regular recovery days and balancing training load with rest is key for long-term progress and health.
Key Takeaways
Active recovery is a powerful technique that any athlete can (and should) add to their training routine, offering numerous benefits like faster recovery, reduced muscle soreness and tightness, increased energy for subsequent training sessions and greater overall performance.
By incorporating low-intensity exercises and supplementation that aids recovery into your routine, and listening to your body's unique needs, both how it feels and what your numbers show, you can improve your recovery process and achieve your athletic ambition more quickly.
Remember, the key to successful active recovery is balance and moderation, so always prioritize your health and well-being above all.
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