Active recovery means doing gentle, low-intensity movement on your rest days — rather than complete rest — to help your body recover from harder training. The idea is that easy movement can aid recovery while still letting your muscles repair and your energy replenish.
After hard exercise, gentle activity gets the blood flowing without adding significant training stress, which some find helps ease muscle stiffness and soreness, keeps the body mobile, and supports recovery between tougher sessions. It also helps you stay active and in routine on non-training days without the fatigue of another hard workout. The key word is gentle — active recovery should feel easy and restorative, not like another taxing session.
Both have their place. Active recovery suits many rest days, but sometimes your body simply needs complete rest — especially if you're very fatigued, run down or sore. Listen to your body: recovery (in whatever form) is when you actually get stronger, so it's not optional. Our free active recovery plan and recovery tracker help, and our rest day tracker covers full rest. If you're new to exercise or have any health concerns, check with your GP.