There are so many ways to benefit the body outside of our sessions here in the gym. To supplement the 2-4 hours a week you spend in the gym, it is beneficial to incorporate different types of exercise and stimuli for the best growth and progress over time.

As we have previously discussed, hormones run our system and help to monitor for environmental triggers. They adapt to our environment which then send signals for hunger, thirst, satiety, alertness, and orchestrate digestion. When we support our hormones through active recovery habits and routines, we can get that much closer to optimizing our health and wellness. Recovery from resistance exercise is defined by…

“several mechanisms that replenish metabolic substrates, remove wastes and buffer acids, repair damaged tissues, and restore neuromuscular function.” (Kraemer et al, 2017)

The term “active recovery” is thrown around a lot, but it is not often defined – active recovery is the intentional practice of decreasing your activity stress, and practicing habits that best support your recovery and performance.

This implies that we have recently experienced a high amount of activity stress (aka exercise) that we need recovering from – another important factor in hormonal optimization through activity and habits. Skeletal muscle is its own hormonal system that produces hormones to communicate with the rest of the body and in turn sends feedback to the central nervous system. Muscle is also metabolically active, meaning it takes energy to maintain, and this is an important factor in allowing for rest and recovery when training.

Training can produce a wave of hormones that are essential for muscle growth and development, and is dependent on two factors: high volume work and training load (Wilk et al; 2018). Some training programs include active recovery through “deload” weeks, an intentionally slower and lower intensity week allowing for full recovery and assessment of progress thus far. Within female physiology, we have a natural recovery week built in to our cycles and can be used to reduce excess fatigue and stress on the body.

The process of muscle remodeling involves sustaining damage to the muscle tissue producing an inflammatory response that eventually leads to the breakdown of damaged tissue and proteins, all of which is coordinated by hormonal signals to then synthesize new proteins for tissue repair (Kraemer et al, 2017). For muscle repair to occur, many systems in the body have to assist, including the immune system, cardiovascular system, and endocrine system.

What Happens if I Don’t Incorporate Active Recovery?

Active recovery is essential for performing your best and supporting your musculoskeletal system.

Think of it like an oil change – if you drive a car for an extended period of time without maintaining the parts and components of the car, the wear and tear will add up within the system.

If we continue to train hard without caring for the parts and components that allow us to participate in our training, those parts and components will eventually develop wear and tear and potentially put you at risk for injury. Additionally, if we don’t rest and recover properly, the risk of OverTraining Syndrome (OTS) is increased (Cadegiani et al, 2017).

Within OTS, clients will see a decline in performance and power output, increase in overall inflammation and specific tissue irritation, and increase in overall fatigue (Cadegiani et al, 2017).

Useful Active Recovery Habits

Protein+Carb Supplementation Following Exercise

After intense bouts of exercise, it is imperative to ingest a decent amount of carbohydrates and protein (20-30 g protein and 40-70 grams carbs).

These nutrients are then used for rebuilding and repair, replenishing muscle glycogen, increasing hormone production following exercise, and providing energy for all of these processes to occur (Wilk et al; 2018). This habit also provides the building blocks for the essential repair processes in our connective tissue and muscles happening while we sleep.  

Here are a couple of our favorites!

• Thorne RecoveryPro Protein
• Promix Recovery Protein + Glutamine
• Momentous Recovery Protein

Regular Sleep Schedule and Routine

One of the most important hormones for exercise recovery and muscle development is growth hormone, which is primarily produced during the first couple hours of deep sleep (generally earlier in the night, 10 pm-1 am).

This spike in growth hormone is responsible for muscle repair and growth of tissues throughout the body, including muscle tissue (Wilk et al, 2018). But good sleep and supplementation aren’t enough – it’s important to start with the fundamentals.

Adequate Protein Intake & Balanced Diet

Dietary protein is necessary for the rebuilding and remodeling of tissues, and the timing of this protein seems to matter as well (Gu et al, 2021; Wilk et al, 2018). For those interested in best supporting muscle development through types of protein supplementation:

Whey protein within 90 minutes after exercise and casein before bed the same day show the most statistically significant results for both hormone production and reduction of muscle damage following exercise (Wilk et al; 2018).

Though plant protein tends to be less bioavailable overall, there is evidence to suggest that supplementing with a digestive enzyme specific for plant fiber can help with extraction of protein from plant sources.

Slow, Sustainable Progression of Workouts

Sometimes less is more. Especially with a long-term strength training program. It is important to focus on sustainable progress over time rather than maximum intensity, load, and complexity in your workouts.

Considering both daily and weekly exertion will allow you to balance the strenuous physical activity with recovery.

Those who do not adequately recover are at risk of hormonal and performance deficits known as overtraining syndrome (OTS) (Cadegiani et al; 2017).

Hydrotherapy for Recovery

Research has shown that recovery can be sped up when hydrotherapy is utilized as a recovery tool. Using both hot- and cold-water therapies can help in reducing lactate buildup within muscle tissue and increase recovery overall.

Cold-immersion baths and warm baths can stimulate circulatory processes that allow for removal and processing of lactate (the “soreness” molecule) within tissues and help with circulation to the healing muscle after exercise (Gu et al, 2021). In one meta-analysis, they found that cold-immersion hydrotherapy was effective at dropping levels of lactate, a metabolic byproduct related to muscle effort from exercise (Gu et al, 2021).

Low- to Moderate-Intensity Exercise within 24 Hours of Strength Training Sessions

In one study, researchers found that following a bout of resistance exercise with active recovery low-intensity training aided in recovering hormone levels, increasing hormone signaling for repair processes, and sped up recovery of the tissue quicker than passive recovery participants.

Testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factors all aid in increasing muscle strength, density, mass, and health, and active recovery positively affected all three hormone pathways (Kraemer et al, 2018). Additionally, all three of these hormones are imperative for athletic development and performance in both men and women, and serve many more roles in structural integrity.

Researchers also measured cortisol levels following exercise, and those in the active recovery group showed a higher testosterone:cortisol ratio compared to that of the passive recovery group (Kraemer et al, 2018). Lower cortisol levels are advantageous when recovering as cortisol is a strong antagonist of testosterone, meaning it interferes with its ability to maintain and grow muscle (Lee et al, 2019).

What does this look like for you?

Zone 1 and Zone 2 training geared towards aerobic conditioning and recovery to best support your anaerobic system. This is much easier to track when we have devices to monitor our heart rate and exertion!

Oh, and one more thing…

There’s one other topic that comes up when discussing recovery – wearables like Apple Watch, Garmin watches, FitBit devices, Whoop straps, heart monitor chest straps, Oura ring, and so many more.

People wear devices that monitor their daily vitals, exercise sessions, exertion, body battery, sleep recovery, sleep quality, heart rate variability, power output, menstrual cycle status, blood glucose levels, and so much more. These tools can be very insightful if you’re looking to become more in tune with your biology, understand its rhythms, and track your training progress.

These devices feature recovery measurements that take into account your heart rate variability, resting heart rate, sleep quality and quantity, and soreness. There are devices commonly used for endurance sports that show a current “body battery” score based on exertion, recovery status, measured sleep, and recent training activity. These data and measurements can be incredibly helpful to better understand your current status and allow you to train smarter.

Depending on your scores, active recovery days will be worked into your training schedule to help increase your “recovery” and “body battery” score.

(Image from Kraemer et al. Recovery Responses of testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1 after resistance exercise, 2017).

Active recovery habits can look different for a lot of people, but they are all geared towards the same goal: training smart and for longevity.

It is also an opportunity to tune in to your inner world, your physiology, and listen to what it needs. When we listen to what our bodies need, we start to train smarter. 

If you feel especially exhausted after your workouts, maybe you need to provide building blocks as soon as the stress takes place. If you feel that your strength and power have plateaued, it might be time to take a deeper dive on your sleep quality and quantity. If you’ve increased the intensity of your workouts recently, it might be time to re-evalaute your macro balance and nutritional needs for proper fueling.

Consistency and repetition are huge factors when it comes to sustainable progress and fully recovering along the way. Consider hot- and cold-therapies for increased blood flow and clearance of muscle metabolites following hard workouts – cold plunges, saunas, and ending your shower with 30 seconds of cold water only!

Lastly, give yourself a hormonal and metabolic advantage with low-to-moderate intensity exercise within 24 hours of a high intensity workout, and allow your body to take care of itself. 

With any of these recovery tactics, always experiment with one change at a time so you can track which works best for you! It might seem trivial, but with consistency and practice, it will soon become a normal part of the routine.

Summary of Hormones 

(Cadegiani et al, 2017; Gu et al, 2021; Wilk et al, 2018)

• Growth hormone: released from the muscles, it helps with protein synthesis within the tissue and muscular remodeling; production dependent on what is consumes relative to exercise session; assists in hypertrophy (or excessive growth) of muscle tissue; largest spike during deep sleep
• Insulin: produced during digestion of carbohydrates; one of the most potent anabolic hormones produced in the body, increasing muscle mass and inhibiting muscle breakdown
• Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1): produced when consuming protein; responsible for tissue repair, increased glucose metabolism, increased immune function, and reduces cell death; balances with other hormones produced throughout the body for efficient integrity maintenance
• Cortisol: made in the adrenals (hats of the kidneys) and are responsible for stress response; measured highest in the morning and is responsible for waking us up; influences insulin production and response (Cadegiani et al, 2017)
• Testosterone: primary sex hormone that interacts with skeletal muscle tissue; produced in both men and women, though much higher levels in men; synthesized in the sex organs, adrenals, and muscle tissue; anabolic and anti-catabolic by nature; closely related to insulin secretion in the bloodstream and sugar digestion in muscles 
• Lactate: metabolism product that also possesses hormonal signaling potential within certain types of tissues; produced during moderate- to high-intensity exercise and can lead to muscle soreness following exercise

References

Cadegiani, F. A., & Kater, C. E. (2017). Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis Functioning in Overtraining Syndrome: Findings from Endocrine and Metabolic Responses on Overtraining Syndrome (EROS)—EROS-HPA Axis. Sports Medicine – Open, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-017-0113-0

Gu, P., Zhang, L., Zheng, X., & Zhang, X. (2021). Effects of post-exercise recovery methods on exercise-induced hormones and blood fatigue factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Palliative Medicine, 10(1), 184–193. https://doi.org/10.21037/apm-20-2409

Kraemer, W. J., Ratamess, N. A., & Nindl, B. C. (2017). Recovery responses of testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1 after resistance exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 122(3), 549–558. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00599.2016

Lee, E. C., Fragala, M. S., Kavouras, S. A., Queen, R. M., Pryor, J. L., & Casa, D. J. (2019). Biomarkers in Sports and Exercise: Tracking Health, Performance, and Recovery in Athletes. Journal of Exercise Science and Physiotherapy, 15(2), 2920–2937. https://doi.org/10.18376/jesp/2019/v15/i2/153527

Wilk, M., Michalczyk, M., Gołaś, A., Krzysztofik, M., Maszczyk, A., & Zaja¸c, A. (2018). Endocrine responses following exhaustive strength exercise with and without the use of protein and protein-carbohydrate supplements. Biology of Sport, 35(4), 399–405. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2018.75754