What Is Active Recovery?
It's important to rest between workouts so that our bodies can repair themselves properly. That way, it can come back stronger and actually improve.
Recovery, however, does not mean you have to sit on the couch all day and do nothing. On the contrary, active recovery means that you do some sort of movement, but it's just less intense than an actual workout.
Benefits
By adding active recovery days to your routine, you help increase recovery from your previous hard workout by increasing blood flow to your muscles and tissues. This is done through a low-intensity workout.
Low-intensity exercises also help flush out waste products that built up during your workout, such as lactic acid and hydrogen ions. And the best part? They offer a refreshing mental break after an intense training session.
What You Can Do
There are many examples of active recovery activities out there that you can do both outside and at home. The most popular example is yoga.
Other activities you can do to recover after an intense workout are tai-chi, light resistance training, swimming, and, believe it or not, crawling.