With a good understanding of how important regeneration after training is for growth and improvement, many question what to do. To some this means doing absolutely as little as possible. To others this means training muscles other than those just trained. And to others it means working the same muscles as those trained but only easily, without any fatigue.
Truth is, it could be a combination of all ideas but it gets more detailed. This is where the online tool myTRS lets you know when you are ready to retrain a particular muscle or muscle group. It helps to take the guess-work out of it.
Passive Regeneration
Doing nothing to very little during days off from training is a way to regenerate your muscles. Only normal everyday non-strenuous activities.
If you are someone who really cannot control yourself when training and find it extremely difficult to exercise at a low intensity, passive regeneration might be the answer for you. Education in self-control might then be warranted.
It has been experienced by some athletes, that not doing anything for even two days per week makes them loose their mental concentration on training goals. We nevertheless do recommend at least one day completely away from training every week.
A major goal with passive regeneration is that you feel relaxed with a feeling of increased energy. This will be beneficial for your next workout.
Active Regeneration
The second thought is that by being somewhat active, recovery will be promoted. This can mean a very light/easy (low intensity) workout, massage, soaking in cool water, electrical muscle stimulation, or even do my favorite activity of walking my dog. Active regeneration has been said to be the best approach to full recovery.
A light, low-volume workout of the same muscle groups trained a day or two after a hard workout should leave you feeling less tired at the end than you did before it. If you feel tired after such a workout, you are actually causing more fatigue and not allowing for regeneration. This has also shown to reduce muscle soreness.
This easy workout basically allows for regeneration via increased blood flow to and from the previously fatigued muscles. This replenishes energy stores (glycogen) and repairs the power house of the cells (mitochondria) along with repairing the microtraumas that occur during training. This has been shown to be better than training different muscles that were not involved in the actual strenuous workout.1
Research also supports this type of recovery when compared to Massage and Electrical Muscle Stimulation.2
The Choice is Yours
Although you have options to help facilitate full regeneration/recovery of your hard-worked muscles, you must consider what fits your schedule and what is not mentally or physically stressful. Of-course proper nutrition along with adequate rest are also factors affecting your speed of regeneration.
myTRS can be that special tool to guide you through a complete regeneration (recovery) from the strenuous training by indicating when you are ready to retrain any given muscles or muscle groups. This truly revolutionary method of regeneration-based build-up training dictates your effective training frequency which can help take the guesswork out of your regeneration (recovery) so you can be the best you can be.
Reference source
- PLoS One. 2016; 11(10): e0164216. Comparison of Two Different Modes of Active Recovery on Muscles Performance after Fatiguing Exercise in Mountain Canoeist and Football Players
- Biol Sport. 2012 Dec; 29(4): 269–275. Different Recovery Methods and Muscle Performance after Exhausting Exercise: Comparison of the Effects of Electrical Muscle Stimulation and Massage
