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It is well known that recovery after a hard workout is the key to success. But be careful with recovery runs, because they can sometimes do your body more harm than good.

Most people today know that training and recovery go hand in hand. In the hours and days after training, the body recovers beyond its initial level and becomes stronger. Whether you take a rest day or just do a light workout varies from person to person.

Exercise is medicine

You have probably noticed that after a rest day without training, you feel stiffer and more tired than after a normal training day. This is because gentle exercise, compared to passive rest, improves blood flow, stimulates metabolism and lowers both lactate levels and inflammation markers. This maintains muscle activity, reduces stiffness and decreases fatigue and perceived muscle soreness.

Be careful with regenerative running

Although relaxed training sessions can be beneficial for recovery and the muscles, regenerative running sessions are very controversial. This is because running is a demanding sport and many runners are unable to run at a pace that is comfortable enough for the body to recover. Recovery is often delayed or does not occur at all. This does not improve performance, but actually weakens it due to the additional strain.

Added to this is the high muscular strain that our body is exposed to when running. We often forget how much work our feet and legs do during a run. When running, the legs have to brake the body's weight against gravity. This eccentric strain on the muscles is often the cause of muscle soreness. Therefore, this strain is not conducive to recovery.

Running generally carries a high risk of injury. It is therefore worth leaving your running shoes in the wardrobe from time to time to allow your muscles, tendons and ligaments to recover. This allows minor micro-injuries, such as hairline tears in the tendons, strain or irritation, to heal. If you don't take these breaks and ignore minor pain, you risk serious and long-term injuries sooner or later.

If you want to take the strain off your body but still stay active, it's best to go to the swimming pool or take a relaxed bike ride. It's even better to do a short core strength training session, which also helps with running.

Rest is also training

However, there are also moments when a complete day of rest, i.e. passive recovery, is appropriate. This is the case when the nervous system is under severe stress or overload. This can be after intensive interval or competition days, intensive strength training sessions, mentally exhausting days, lack of sleep or signs of overtraining, colds or illness.