When it comes to building your dream body, what you do outside of the gym is equally important as what you do inside the gym. That’s right – you can squat, press, sprint, and curl as much as you want, but at the end of the day, your progress really can’t happen without one thing: recovery. 

Rest and recovery are essential for allowing your body to repair, rebuild, and strengthen itself in between workouts. Every time you work out, your body breaks down muscle fibers, essentially creating tiny tears. To grow back bigger, stronger, and faster, your body needs to be given ample time to repair those micro-tears. 

While everyone’s recovery process looks a little different, there are a few things everyone can do to help speed the process along. To help you boost your body’s recovery, we asked trainer and marathoner Trevor Franklin to weigh in on how he recovers. 

How to Recover 

Now there are two types of recovery: active and passive recovery. Active recovery involves things like walking, low-intensity cycling, stretching, or yoga. Think of active recovery as things you have to actively do to get your blood circulating and keep your muscles fresh. 

Passive recovery, on the other hand, is just that. It’s passive, meaning you don’t have to do much of anything. This involves things like sitting and sleeping. 

While both forms of recovery are necessary, Franklin’s tips focus primarily on passive recovery. These are things that you’ll do outside of the gym, so let’s jump into them. 

Get your sleep 

This recovery tip seems too simple to be true, but Franklin says that sleeping more will probably lead you to “see better results than any supplement.” 

Sleep is the “freest way to recover,” he continues. “I’ve trained a bunch of clients online and in person, and a lot of times they’re so hyper-focused on ‘should I be doing two-a-days if I really want to see results, or should I work out for two hours,’ and it’s like, no. Work out the same amount you’re doing now, just increase your sleep levels. If you’re exercising three to five days a week, your recovery is almost more important than the work you’re doing.” 

Franklin stresses that for many people, the actual workout “is not the hard part of the fitness journey. It’s your resting and recovery.” 

While everybody requires a different amount of sleep for optimal recovery, adults over 18 years old are generally advised to sleep for 7-9 hours per night. If your training is particularly intense, you may need to up that number even more. 

Stay hydrated 

Another incredibly simple – yet not-to-be-forgotten – recovery tip is to stay hydrated. Drinking water helps relieve muscle soreness and tension. It also helps to reduce inflammation, flush toxins out of your body, and transport nutrients into your cells to help your muscles rebuild. 

To take your hydration to the next level, Franklin “would encourage electrolytes because [they’re] a better replenishment of the energy sources that you’re going to actually need.” 

Electrolyte options like these can not only aid in rebuilding your muscles, but they can also help you drink more if you’re not a fan of hydrating with plain water. Use code TWFRANK111 to save on Perfect Amino’s electrolytes. 

Utilize technology 

Health-related tech products have come a long way in the past few years. New devices like percussive massage guns, infrared saunas, and Franklin’s favorite, compression boots, can be a huge help in recovering quickly.

“I’m a big fan of compression boots, mainly because [they’re] easy,” Franklin says. “I can toss them on at night, throw on a Netflix show, do some online work, etc., because I can just be seated when I’m doing the compression boots.” 

The runner says that “the goal of those is just basically to initiate compression to combat inflammation, which is what most recovery modalities are going to want to do. It’s the same thing with cold therapy,” he explains. 

While things like compression boots and cold plunges aren’t necessary, “if you're feeling crazy,” Franklin suggests adding them in. However, he stresses that “if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re kind of wasting your time,” when it comes to relying on high-tech recovery solutions. 

Want more from Trevor Franklin? Follow him @twfrank111 or train with him here. 

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