Vous êtes discipliné pour prendre le temps de faire des séances d'entraînement très intenses, mais vous n'avez pas fait de même pour la récupération après l'exercice. Pourtant, la récupération est un élément essentiel du processus d'adaptation à l'exercice. Pendant cette période, notre système nerveux parasympathique prend le relais, notre rythme cardiaque diminue et notre sang retourne vers le cœur. Paradoxalement, c'est lorsque nous sommes dans cet état de "repos et de réparation" - et non lorsque nous faisons de l'exercice - que notre corps développe littéralement les muscles et répare les tissus. C'est pourquoi le fait de ne pas récupérer peut compromettre la croissance et vous exposer à des risques plus élevés d'épuisement par l'exercice, de blessures et de temps d'arrêt forcé.
Bien que la récupération soit naturelle, vous pouvez utiliser certaines méthodes pour la stimuler. En plus d'accélérer la croissance, ces stratégies peuvent réduire les blessures musculaires induites par l'exercice et les courbatures à retardement. Malheureusement, les médias ont vanté les mérites de nombreuses méthodes (de la cryothérapie aux vêtements de compression en passant par l'électromyostimulation et l'oxygénothérapie hyperbare), et il peut être difficile de faire la part des choses et de choisir celles qui valent le plus la peine que vous y consacriez du temps et de l'argent. Pour que l'élaboration de votre régime de récupération ne soit pas un jeu de mots, nous nous en sommes tenus aux modalités qui ont le plus fait leurs preuves et qui sont étayées par des preuves scientifiques.
Vous trouverez ci-dessous une liste de techniques à essayer la prochaine fois que vous terminerez une séance d'entraînement de haute intensité, une séance d'haltérophilie lourde ou un long effort d'endurance. Monisha Bhanote, MD, FCAP, ABOIM, médecin spécialiste de la médecine intégrative et auteur de The Anatomy of Wellbeing, recommande de suivre l'ordre suivant : boire, grignoter, récupérer activement, s'étirer (y compris avec des rouleaux de mousse), puis prendre un sauna infrarouge. Demandez le feu vert de votre médecin, puis commencez à prendre le temps de récupérer.
You know that you should stay hydrated during your workout. But you should also drink up post-exercise, says Bhanote. If your session was long and taxing (and you sweated a lot), consider a sports drink or coconut water to replenish electrolytes (like sodium chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium). The NASM recommends drinking eight ounces every 30-60 minutes under temperate conditions and 12 ounces every 30-60 minutes in hot and humid conditions.
Then, within 90 minutes of exercise, choose a snack with protein and carbohydrates, adds Bhanote. While protein helps repair and rebuild muscle tissue, carbohydrates replenish glycogen (glucose stored in your muscles and liver). Consider chocolate milk, a ham or turkey sandwich, or a whole grain roll with hard-boiled eggs.
If you walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes after a grueling strength-training session or go for a leisurely bike ride post-run, you’re practicing what’s known as active recovery. Basically, it’s a period of cool down, with low- to moderate-intensity movements. Worth the extra time, this activity adds to your gym session. Active recovery has been proven to speed up muscle recovery. Specifically, it seems to stimulate blood flow, expedite the removal of lactate and hydrogen from muscles, and signal the proteins that initiate the healing and adaptation processes.
Also known as self-myofascial release, this practice helps release trigger points (also known as knots or adhesions) in the muscles, decreasing pain and tightness. In a nutshell, when you maintain pressure on a trigger point with the foam roller, your muscle fibers stretch, unknot and realign. To try this form of stretching, slowly roll, holding the foam roller on the most tender areas for 30-90 seconds each.
By including stretching, you’ll decrease muscle tension and increase blood flow. Improving blood flow boosts recovery by amping up the rate at which nutrients flow throughout the body. Try five to 10 minutes of static stretches, meaning poses that you hold over time. Think: seated butterfly stretches or forward bends. As a side benefit, many of these stretches (like legs up the wall or child’s pose) help improve sleep quality. While you stretch, integrate breathwork to further your relaxation.
Immerse yourself in a sauna for at least 10 minutes. Most athletes find that using the sauna after exercise improves their recovery time, says Jennifer M. Bontreger, DO, FACP, Principal, Southern Horizon Healthcare, Board Certified Internal and Sports Medicine Physician. “The heat from the sauna enhances the circulation of oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood throughout your body,” she explains. “This, in turn, helps muscles damaged by exercise repair, so you can get back to exercising again.”
As another pro, sauna use can increase flexibility, she adds. “The heat in a sauna can help relax the muscles, making them more pliable and easier to stretch. This increased flexibility can help reduce the risk of injury and improve your overall performance during future workouts.” Sunlighten’s infrared saunas have been third-party tested to increase flexibility1. A study conducted at Auburn University of Montgomery showed a Sunlighten mPulse Smart Sauna can increase your flexibility up to 3x. Benefits of increased range of motion include joint mobility, less friction in the joints, and enabling of joint function to diminish stiffness and joint relaxation.
“Remember to counteract the dehydrating effect of the sauna by drinking plenty of water before, during, and after your session,” recommends Physical Therapy Central. Also, increase the relaxation factor by doing breathing exercises or listening to soothing music while you immerse yourself.
“The most effective recovery strategy that is free at our disposal is sleep,” says the NASM. In fact, restful shuteye is so critical to recovery, it’s usually all that’s needed (along with hydration and nutrition). “Though the effects of sleep and nutrition are not seen immediately, these have a long-term effect for athletes in terms of their performance,” says Rathna Nuti, MD, FAAFP, Board Certified Family Medicine & Sports Medicine. “When you build up a deficit of sleep, the stress hormone, cortisol, can accumulate in your body, impairing recovery,” explains the NASM. Be sure to prioritize sleep even more after intense exercise, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Both stages of sleep are critical for recovery. During the portion known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM), your muscles and tissues grow and heal, and your energy replenishes. Described by NASM as the “original performance-enhancing ‘drug,’” NREM makes up 85% of sleep. Meanwhile, during rapid eye movement (REM)—15% of sleep—your brain recovers. Without this phase, reaction time, effort, intensity, and motivation will suffer.
Many of our Sunlighten infrared sauna users tell us their sleep improves when they sauna regularly. Retired WNBA champion Jackie Stiles has a great story of dramatic increase in improvement in her sleep score on her Garmin watch after saunaing. You can read more about how her Sunlighten sauna has helped her here. Professor Michael Hamblin, the world’s foremost researcher of infrared explains why infrared therapy may improve the amount and quality of sleep, “The mechanism for this effect has not been firmly established but may be related to the ability of infrared to act as an "exercise mimetic." It is well known that physical exercise will improve disturbed sleep. Infrared radiation can increase blood flow and oxygen metabolism in the muscles and the skin and could trigger a biochemical cascade resulting in improved sleep.
Prioritize recovery as much as exercise to enhance your growth and functioning.
