Pick active recovery activities.
Active recovery works by moving blood through damaged tissue without adding meaningful stimulus, which means the intensity ceiling matters far more than the activity chosen. Sixty percent of age-predicted maximum heart rate is a workable upper bound and corresponds to a pace you can hold a conversation at. Yesterday's session sets the RPE cap — the harder it was, the lower today's ceiling. Soreness then trims duration rather than intensity, because a sore muscle tolerates gentle movement well but not volume.
Active recovery prescription
Heart rate ceiling = (220 - age) x 0.60; duration = available minutes x (1 - soreness x 0.05); RPE cap = 6 - yesterday's RPE x 0.4
These figures are estimates based on population-average formulas and are intended for training and recreational planning only. They are not medical advice. Consult a qualified health professional before starting or changing an exercise, recovery or cold-exposure programme, particularly if you have a cardiovascular condition, are pregnant, or take medication that affects heart rate or thermoregulation.
For very high soreness or genuine fatigue, yes. Otherwise light movement generally leaves people feeling better and no worse off physiologically. The mistake is letting a recovery session drift into a moderate one.
You should be able to hold a full conversation without pausing for breath. If you cannot, you are above the ceiling regardless of what the watch says — the talk test is more reliable than a heart rate estimate.
No, and often it should not. Cross-training moves blood systemically while sparing the damaged tissue, which is why swimming and cycling are standard recovery choices for runners.