Staying active in your 40s, 50s, and beyond is essential for maintaining health, vitality, and longevity, but for busy parents and professionals, finding the time and energy to prioritize exercise recovery can be challenging.
Between juggling work responsibilities, family commitments, and the demands of daily life, it’s easy to overlook the critical role recovery plays in preventing injury, improving performance, and ensuring long-term fitness.
Whether you’re fitting in a quick workout before a meeting or squeezing in a jog after school drop-offs, effective recovery doesn’t have to be time-consuming. In this guide, we’ll explore simple, practical recovery tips that fit seamlessly into your busy schedule, helping you maximize your health and fitness, even with limited time.
Why recovery is essential as you age
Gone are the days that endless HIIT style exercise got all the craze and attention. At one point in time the focus on the heart pumping non-stop action was the epitome of fitness programming. The likes of Orange theory, F45, spin class…these styles reigned supreme for many years. Crossfit also saw its time in the sun and was another exercise program that called for super intense, non-stop work.
This style of training is not sustainable for a few reasons - especially as we age, recovery becomes more and more important. With age, our bodies don’t recover as quickly from injury and from workouts.
Even at age 36, I’ve noticed that “small” injuries such as a pulled muscle may linger for several months. Back in the good ol’ days, that injury would have been gone after a week! So I know firsthand how important recovery is in maintaining good health and staying IN program. (I’ll explain more in a moment)
As we age our muscles repair more slowly, we have decreased flexibility and we may have joint health problems such as arthritis. These things require more recovery, or atleast SMART recovery.
On top of the body generally repairing more slowly, the demands of life usually increase as we age. Work most likely is an underlying continued stress both on the mind and body. Family obligations with child rearing, taking care of aging parents, and generally just enjoying time will cut into possible recovery time. (your body constantly going doesn’t give you TRUE rest)
So less time to recover, more stress on the body, and an aging body will leave you feeling DONE if not taken care of properly.
Recovery during exercise : Real time tips
Let’s first discuss when you are working out, what type of rest and recovery leads to the best results?
First up is strength training. For the sake of today’s discussion I’ll put any movement done between 1-20 reps. Think a set of 10 pushups, or a set of 12 Bent over Row’s.
If time is of the essence why rest in between sets?
We rest in between sets of an exercise to ensure that the body is ready to take on the same challenge and be successful. For example, when you perform something like 10 Back Squats, your body needs to filter out lactic acid that builds up (that muscle burn that occurs after sustained movement).
If you were to do 10 back squats, and then immediately go back into doing another 10 back squats…you will find yourself with diminishing returns. Maybe you can only get 8 reps , then 6…then less. This means that over let’s say 4 sets you get 30 solid reps.
However if you give the body the proper rest, your muscles and joints will be ready to do the prescribed amount of weight and reps, maximizing the results you get. You will be able to get 40 total back squats with more rest.
Typically, the more intense something was…the more rest you will need. Here is a rough rubric you can use during your workouts to ensure you get the proper rest.
If you are doing 1-3 reps of something (meaning, it is DIFFICULT to get those 1-3 reps) you’ll want to rest between 3-5 minutes in between sets.
If you are doing 3-8 reps of something (still tough, but not at the extreme level) you’ll want to rest between 2-3 minutes.
If you are doing 8-12 reps of something (moderate intensity) you’ll want to rest between 1-2 minutes.
If you are doing 12-20 reps of something (low intensity) you’ll want to rest 30 seconds to a minute.
On the flip side, if you are doing more steady state cardiovascular work (think running for 15-20 minutes) you’ll have very limited rest. And that’s okay because the purpose of a sustained effort is to improve your ability to maintain a level of work without resting.
So it really depends on what you are doing, and what the goal is.
Another thing you can do during your workouts to help with recovery is by adding mobility or stretching during a rest period. For example, if you are doing some heavy deadlifts and need 4 minutes to rest…you might find benefit in doing hip mobility exercises to help increase your movement in the hips (as they are already primed from the deadlift) while using your time more effectively.
Time is your most valuable resource so taking time to rest and still be able to get more benefit out of the time is certainly a good thing for the longevity of joint health and flexibility.
Post workout Recovery tips
So you just spend an hour killing it at the gym. Endorphins are flowing through the body and the sweat is pouring.
What do you do now to maximize the very work you just did?
Firstly, do some stretches!
If you have some tight spots or problem areas the post workout stretch is the BEST time to gain some flexibility in those spots. Your muscles are as warm as they will be, your body is primed for movement so it’s a good idea to work on those problem spots.
This in turn will help with muscle soreness and tightness post workout. You’ll help yourself stay injury free with smart stretching.
The next thing you should be doing post workout (usually within 45 mins - 90 mins post exercise) is to have something that is rich in protein and carbohydrates.
After exercise your muscles have a hunger for protein. Your muscles will intake protein more effectively shortly after exercise which is why it’s a good idea to prioritize eating something like an egg, chicken or drinking a protein shake. This will enhance the ability to grow your muscle , which will in turn keep your joints healthier, your weight stabilized, and energy levels even.
Carbohydrates are also vitally important. Carbs give you energy and help you to recover your glucose levels from your exercise. Restoring energy is a good thing. If you feel that a workout is sending you to bed an hour or 2 after…you probably need to eat more.
I would have you eat complex carbs over simple carbs. So for example a great post workout meal can be grilled chicken, with roasted potatoes and a side salad.
What tools and techniques can you use to help with recovery?
The fitness industry has an endless stream of recovery methods and tools to use. Foam rollers, massage guns, compressions sleeves, ice baths…the list goes on and on. So what then would be best for you?
We talked about recovery during your workouts, right after them…now we talk about those in between days. You worked out Monday and have your next schedule on Thursday. What do you do to help support recovery on Tuesday and Wednesday?
Active recovery
Post exercise you may experience soreness in the muscles worked. Usually this takes 24-48 hours to really settle into your body. So what can you do to help recovery as well as continue good momentum with your exercise routine?
Active recovery is something you can do that calls for low intensity exercise. Going for a 20 minute walk in between more intense workout days is a great choice. It helps to move the body, get blood flowing while not overdoing your body. This will allow your muscles that are sore to heal more quickly.
Yoga is another great option for active recovery. This doubles down on the whole increasing flexibility as you age. We want to be flexible so that the body can adapt to any stimulus. (IE: reaching for something on the top shelf, bending over to pick up a pen on the floor, getting up from the floor etc.). So doing a 30 minute yoga routine can be amazing for working on sore muscles as well as getting some mental relief.
With that, mindful practices can also be a form of active recovery. Something like mediation, although there is little movement, your body gets a chance to focus on the moment and clear the mental headspace.
Massage and foam rollers
Massage’s are also a great way to help with your recovery. Sore muscles? Maybe some deep tissue massaging can help with making you feel great and ready for the next day of exercise.
I would say one caveat with this….make sure that the massage doesn’t make things worse. There are some practitioners that are just not really suited for healthy massage. You shouldn’t be hurting more the next day if the purpose of the massage was to help you recover!
Foam rollers and lacrosse balls can be used at home to easily work through some muscle soreness/tightness. We don’t need to overdo this stuff but it helps to break up some scar tissue that may have formed from the workout.
Many people now invest in massage guns which are kind of the best of both worlds. A deeper stimulation for the muscle while it being accessible at home when you are sitting on the couch at night!
How to make time for recovery
Time is the limiting factor for many recovery protocols. There simply isn’t enough time in the day for many to make a concerted effort with recovery.
Some tips on when you can fit stretching, massage, foam rolling etc. would be:
Pair recovery with something you already do everyday (IE. watching TV, taking kid to a sport and watching on the sideline)
Take a walk after dinner when timing might be easier
Use a standing desk to help with mobilizing
Finish everyday with a 10 minute Yoga flow before getting into bed
Finding time for recovery is more about making it easy for you than anything else. You don’t need a ton of time to be successful at this: you just need a rough plan so you know what’s best for YOU.
Final thoughts
Recovery is just as, if not more important than the actual exercise you do. Recovery is when your muscles grow.
Did you just do a hard workout that left you feeling really sore? Well, that’s your body telling you that you need to relax and recover.
And from a scientific point of view, exercise results in small micro tears in your muscle that, when repaired, are built up stronger. Think about when you get a callus on your hand…at first it’s raw and needs time to scab over. After it scabs over, your skin is now tougher than it was before. The same goes true for your muscles!
Lastly, the main point for recovery is to enable you to stay IN program (mentioned above). If you push too hard too fast, you can end up getting an injury at WORST and at best you miss a workout. IF you miss too many workouts because you try to push too hard without adequate rest…your overall work will diminish.
I encourage you to try some of these methods and start to shift the mindset into one that is more based in recovery than it is in working out. I know, it's almost sacrilege for me to say but it’s true. Recovery is where growth and change happens.
Great blog! This one spoke to me, and you'll be happy to know that I have already doubled my amount of rest days in 2024 compared to 2023 and I still have roughly 3 months to go. 😀