4 recovery tools to power through your fitness journey

Your fitness journey might seem small in comparison to these world-beaters, but it doesn’t mean recovery is not important for you too. No fitness journey is complete without putting enough effort in making sure that the muscles and body gets enough rest for it to bounce back on the next day, whether you head out for a run or to the gym or even to the padel court. Access to ice baths are not easy, so that takes away one of the most important modes of recovery. Over the last ten years though, recovery tools which can be carried around and stored in homes and gyms have been created. And these are the best ones you can purchase, keeping in mind a fair budget and utility.

The foam roller

This is the cheapest and possibly most common and useful piece of equipment that one should include in their routine. But it’s not a set-and-forget equipment like, for example, a knee support sleeve which you can wear and leave just like that. Foam rolling needs effort, it needs form and technique, but the payback is incredible. “Foam rolling is a form of manual therapy in which you adjust your body over the roller to find the exact points of inflammation to release them. An example would be tightness in the upper back and shoulder blades,” I wrote in a December 2020 piece for Lounge.

Foam rolling helps in releasing the myofascia which builds over time as you use your muscles to lift and compete. This can restrict your movement, and needs to be released carefully and patiently.

Here’s a guided foam rolling follow-along video by Tom Peto Training which takes 10 minutes to do.

Another YouTube channel, Mobility by Julia, has a specific upper body only foam-rolling video which is also 10 minutes long for days you’ve been working the chest, back, triceps etc.

The hot and cold sleeve

I remember a calf injury from two years ago which needed a lot of icing. Luckily, I had access to a top physio when this happened and his clinic had an electric motorised cold therapy full leg compression sleeve. Covering the entire leg, this machine is used by top athletes, especially those who play and run, for their recovery. While this costs around ₹10,000, there is a newer, easier way to use cold therapy. The last couple of years have seen ice sleeves which cost 10 times less money and can be refrigerated in the freezer and worn for a few minutes to alleviate pain and aid recovery. The one I have cost ₹900 and is only meant for the knee and thigh. There are options to get elbow/calf and ankle sleeves as well. The same sleeve can be heated in a microwave and used as a hot compress. While this is more for relief, it also helps in recovery.

The peanut massage ball

Using the peanut massage ball (or any ball the same size as a tennis ball) is probably the most difficult out of all these methods but also provides the most release. The peanut massage ball is designed specifically to not cause damage to the spine because of its design which is a dual ball held by a connector in between. This connector acts like a bridge so that there is a gap between the two points you’re trying to reach. This is handier than a foam roller which targets larger areas but cannot target very specific points which need a release. Given that the peanut ball is made out of rubber or silicon, it also contours to areas better. This helps target the base of the neck, the upper back muscles and even specific points on the calves.