Active Recovery Day

Overtraining exists and giving 100 percent to your workouts everyday, whether you’re just a beginner or a veteran triathlete, is impossible. Active recovery days, or days of light physical activity, help reduce the lactic acid buildup in your muscles, support better sleep and improve performance. But active recovery looks different for everyone. For dedicated runners going hard on the hills, try a long-slow distance run on a flat route, aiming for a pace where you can still hold a conversation with someone. For yogis, perhaps skipping the hour-long routine and instead doing some light resistance work with a band, focusing on smaller movements and joint mobility rather than overall flexibility. Or for avid weight lifters, it could look like 30 minutes of foam rolling or working out the knot in your neck with a massage ball. The goal is to schedule one to two each week to keep nimble and well-rested, aiming for 10-30 percent of exertion rather than 100 percent everyday.