Active Recovery Question

Tim,

Training question: I got wrecked from strength training on
Monday…I’m really sore…should i wait until I feel
better to strength train again…I know soreness is
partially due to micro muscle tears…should I let these
heal before going for a second dose?

Dave VanHorn
Albuquerque, NM

R: This is a common dilemma for people who strength train concurrently with other activities. You should be able to strength train 2x/week if you schedule other activities and vary intensities properly. Perhaps you over-reached for your level of fitness in your strength training or performed too many exercises on Monday. You should be able to recover within 48-72 hours. I would make sure that you are cooling down properly with some low intensity calisthenics, climbing or running following each strength session to move toxins out of the muscles. As far as preparing for your next workout: I would recommend a low intensity full body exercise like swimming (which I know you like to use for cardio training) for 15’ at 60% to loosen the body before deciding how you feel for your next strength training session the next day. You could also use a series of progressively more intense calisthenic warm-up exercises that actively stretch your soft tissue as well as gradually increasing heart rate to prepare for your next workout. Often times more activity in the form of active recovery helps prepare our bodies for the next workout session more than absolute rest. I would also consider changing the family of exercises selected for your next strength training session. For example, you may have performed pulling exercises on a fixed bar during your last workout. Therefore, during your next workout you may want to use rope climbing or the elite rings as the apparatus for pulling exercises. This will allow you to work a similar gross motor movement/range of motion with a slight biomechanical variation enabling you to work around your soreness.