The Do’s and Don’ts of Recovery in Fitness: An Overview

Recovery is just as important as training. It’s during recovery that your body repairs, adapts, and grows stronger. But with so many recovery methods being pushed online, it can be hard to separate what truly works from what’s just hype.

This guide breaks recovery strategies into three tiers: Do’s, Maybes, and Don’ts.

✅ The Do’s: Proven Recovery Foundations

These are non-negotiable. If you’re not doing these, no amount of fancy recovery tools will make up for it.

1. Sleep

The gold standard of recovery. Sleep is when your body repairs damaged muscle tissue, releases growth hormone, and consolidates motor learning. Studies consistently show that poor sleep negatively affects strength, endurance, and injury risk.

• Aim for 7–9 hours nightly (fluctuations in need dependent on individuals)
• Keep a consistent bedtime and wake up time as able
• Limit screens before bed and caffeine consumption after 1pm

2. Nutrition

Fuel is recovery. Without enough calories, protein, and micronutrients, your body can’t adapt to training stress.

• Protein: 1.6–2.2 g/kg bodyweight
• Carbs: Replenish glycogen for high-intensity sessions and endurance training
• Micronutrients: Fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, whole foods as a priority

3. Programming Layout & Progression

Even perfect sleep and nutrition can’t compensate for poor programming. Recovery depends on progressive overload paired with adequate rest. That means cycling intensity and volume (periodization) to balance stress and adaptation. Overtraining often stems not from “too much work” but from too little recovery built into the plan.

• Avoid back-to-back intense sessions unless appropriately adapted for such
• Plan consistent deload weeks
• Progress gradually and with intent
• Have a PLAN and do not piece together workouts with no intent

4. Stress Management

Life stress adds to training stress. Elevated cortisol levels from chronic stress can impair sleep, blunt muscle growth, and stall recovery. Incorporating mindfulness, light activity (like walking), or simply unplugging from work and social media can significantly enhance recovery.

• Mindfulness or breathwork
• Time WITH family, friends
• Light activity like walking
• Time AWAY from work/screens
• Time AWAY from social media, news, etc.

🤔 The Maybes: Useful, But Not Essential

These may provide benefits depending on context, but they’re not the foundation.

Stretching (Dynamic/Static)

• Dynamic stretching: Useful as part of a warm-up, but limited role in recovery.
• Static stretching: Can increase flexibility, but it doesn’t reliably speed up recovery or reduce soreness.

Massage/Body Work

Massage can improve relaxation, perceived recovery, and muscle tightness, though it’s not a magic bullet for tissue repair. Its greatest benefit may be psychological and stress-reducing.

• Can have perceived benefits and help reduce overall stress (a high tier recovery tool)
• Evidence does not support it creates any long lasting physiologic effects
• Placebo effect can be quite powerful

Sauna/Heat Training

Heat exposure has some evidence for improving circulation, heart health, and relaxation. It won’t directly rebuild muscle, but it may help overall recovery if used consistently. Emerging evidence suggests potential performance benefits with long term exposure being dosed appropriately throughout a training cycle, but this data is still in its infancy.

• Current evidence suggests exposure for beginners of 5-10 minutes at a time and experienced users at 15-20 minutes
• Initial benefits seen at a frequency of 2-3x/week with additional observational benefits noted at 4-7x/week

Ice Baths/Cold Water Immersion

Cold-water immersion can reduce soreness and inflammation acutely, but it might blunt muscle growth if used too often directly post-strength training. Best reserved for short-term recovery during competition phases.

• Wait 1-2 hours post-strength training session before use
• Limited evidence on any benefits beyond 2-3 minutes of immersion
• Can be useful for acute inflammation control during multi-day fitness events

Foam Rolling & Percussive Devices

These tools don’t “break up” tissue, but they can temporarily reduce soreness and improve range of motion. Use them if they make you feel better, but don’t expect deep physiological recovery benefits. This is not an area to be spending excessive time or money as the benefits are minimal and more perceptual.

Supplements (Creatine, Protein, Electrolytes)

These are evidence-based and effective when your diet needs support. The key takeaway is that these should be generally found within food consumption rather than supplementation.

• Creatine: Strong research backing for performance and recovery.
• Protein powders: Convenient if you can’t hit protein goals through food.
• Electrolytes: Useful in hot climates or long training sessions.

Compression Therapy (such as Normatec Boots)

May improve circulation and reduce muscle soreness, but research is still inconclusive. Like massage, it may help with perceived recovery more than actual adaptation.

❌ The Don’ts: Avoid These Mistakes

These either don’t work or can actively harm recovery.

Over-Utilization of Anti-Inflammatories

Regular use of NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) can interfere with muscle repair and adaptation. Occasional use for pain can be okay when advised by a medical professional, but relying on them chronically will blunt recovery in the long run.

• Can blunt muscular repair and adaptation necessary for progress
• Can mask symptoms of a potential underlying injury

Supplements Beyond the Basics

Most other supplements marketed for recovery (BCAAs, glutamine, “test boosters,” etc.) lack solid evidence. At best, they’re a waste of money; at worst, they may harm health.

• Little to no evidence backing most other supplements on the market
• Very little regulation by governing bodies, i.e. product makers can make wildly inaccurate claims on effectiveness and uses

Sacrificing Sleep for Workouts

Never trade sleep for extra training. Missing an hour of sleep consistently has a bigger negative impact than missing a single workout. Training is only as effective as the recovery that supports it.

Summary

Recovery doesn’t have to be complicated. Focus first on sleep, nutrition, smart programming, and stress management. Once those are solid, experiment with “maybe” tools like sauna, massage, or foam rolling. Skip the gimmicks, avoid over-relying on supplements or painkillers, and never trade sleep for extra training.

Because at the end of the day: recovery is where progress truly happens.