3 Ways to Prepare and Recover the Body

When it comes to preparing the body for workout and recovering the body from workout, there are so many things that you can do and it can be confusing. Outside of pre and post workout nutrition there are 3 different things you can do to prepare and recover your body. Those are mobilization, stretch and myofascial release. They may sound synonymous; however, they are different techniques and serve different purposes. It is important to know the difference and when to use them to improve your results at the gym and avoid unnecessary injuries.

Mobilization

Mobilization is focusing on moving the joints to restore the movement. Therefore, rather than holding the movement, you’ll be moving the body parts such as ankles, knees, hips, spine, shoulder blades, shoulders, elbows, wrists and so on. By mobilizing these joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles surrounding those joints will have better blood flow, improve in joint range of motion.

Mobilization work is very effective especially before the work and can be incorporated (not replace) with warmups. Common mobility exercises are hip circles, cat and cow, pancake, elbow circles and so on.

Most important component of mobilization is moving the joints. Because we are working on improving blood flow, elasticity of those joints, repetitions needs to be on high ends between 15-30 repetitions for 1-2 sets. Goal is not fatiguing out. Goal is to improve the movement. Do not rush through the repetitions and pace the movement with your calm breathing pattern.

Because this is somewhat active movement, this may not be suitable for recover exercise. Stretching and myofascia release may be more suitable for recovery.

Stretching

Stretching is focusing on lengthening the muscles to restore the ideal elasticity of the muscles. When you are sitting in front of the computer all day, certain muscles groups, such as hip flexors, latissimus dorsi, biceps, may get shorten because of being in certain position for the extended period. Stretching can help lengthen and elasticity of the muscles so it can function better. Even after exercising, the muscles may shorten due to the usage and fatigue. Therefore, stretching can also help in restoring those muscles.

Stretching can be used during the warm up phase but need to keep the duration of stretching to be short like 20 seconds at the most. This is to avoid over stretching, which can negatively impact your strength training. However, if you had a long hours of sitting in front of computer (for example), muscles such as neck, shoulder, hip flexors can be shortened and may not be optimal for exercising. Therefore, you may use short duration of stretching along with mobilization will be ideal.

Stretching has better effect after the strength training. Although strength training is great way to train your body for strength and physique, it can potentially shorten your muscles. Therefore, it is ideal to stretch after the exercise is done. Stretching after the workout can help bring the sympathetic nervous system down and switch to parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes recovery. For recovery stretch, you want to spend at least 30 seconds to lengthen the muscles. Be sure to breath while you are performing the stretch. If the stretch is too intense for you to be breathing deeply, then you will need to ease up on the stretch.

Myofascial Release

Myofascial release is focusing on loosening the myofascia. Myofascia is the part of the connective tissue system that separates and contains every muscle and bone of the body. It is very strong and flexible and it has strength of over 2000lb. When muscles are overused or injured myofascia also can be stressed and become tight and movement will be restricted.

There are popular methods to myofascia release, such as using foam rolling, lacrosse ball, massage gun and so on. Although, myofascial release is important, however, it is not suggested for pre-warmup routine. I understand that this is contradicting to what you have learned, however, myofascial release especially with foam roller and massage guns have potential of causing damage to the muscle tissue. Think about it. If the purpose of myofascia release is to separate the muscles from being stuck, it is logical thinking that foam rolling and massage gun can cause damage. Now it is micro-trauma so it is not serious, however, if you were to train hard, what affect can that micro-trauma can have?

Instead, it is ideal to use myofascial release methods after the training session or on the off days. Point is work on myofascia gently. Strong pressure may cause myofascia to tighten even further. Use soft foam roller or use less intense setting on the massage gun. You may able to use firmer foam roller or stronger setting on the massage gun when the myofascia is released and wanting to perform deeper tissue massage. Never start from deep tissue massage.

It is important to understand techniques and benefits of preparation and recovery methods. Use them wisely and you can improve your workout and recovery.

Kota Shimada