The Latest Trend In Workouts Is Something Everyone Will Love

When you're squeezing in a few stretches after getting off your Spin bike or foam rolling at home, you're probably not totally sure as to which muscles you should be targeting. By taking a recovery class, the instructor guides you, so you know just which areas to target and how to make the most of your recovery time. "Our recovery workshops usually start from the ground up. We try to follow a simple yet effective way for clients to practice these methods at home," Adrian Williams, Training and Recovery Program Manager at Tone House tells POPSUGAR.

A major benefit of taking a recovery class is that it often focuses on all muscle groups to get rid of knots and fight chronic soreness. "Paying attention to all areas that receive stress during our day-to-day lives or during working out is an effective way of helping your body feel its best," says Williams.

Think about how much time and effort you dedicate to your HIIT class or run. In order to boost your performance when training, you'll also need to train yourself to get into the habit of spending adequate time on recovery. This helps to ease muscles, prevent injury, and fight inflammation, says Williams. In turn this will help you perform better during your workouts since your body is operating at its prime.

Of course, you can take an ice bath at home, but to be honest, not many people have the willpower to fight the frigid struggle. If you can't go at it alone, look for studios with cold tubs or try Cryotherapy. Many believe that cold therapy is a way to flush lactic acid out of muscles, which helps reduce inflammation and cuts down on recovery time.

"A 10-minute dunk will not be relaxing but it will do the job," says Williams. Adding that it's important to fight lactic acid build-up, as it can create soreness and heaviness in muscle, which can lead to overuse. "Once out of the tub, the warm air will bring oxygenated blood back to your muscles for healing." If you try this at home, Williams recommends a 5-10 minute ice bath.

Foam rolling is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recovery tools. In classes, you're likely to encounter equipment that you typically wouldn't have access otherwise that work more effectively on the body. An example is the Normatec, which is a compression boot that can boost circulation and heal muscles. "Athlete or not, everyone benefits from increased circulation in their body," says Williams. Basically, the boot will inflate, mold to your body's shape, and make its way around your body and its muscles, compressing and massaging accordingly. Twenty- to 30-minute sessions are ideal, three days a week.

Using foam rollers and other massage techniques can help increase flexibility and your range of motion, making it easier to not only exercise, but go about your daily life.

"When you start practicing mobility and stretch techniques, you begin to understand how the muscles work together, where [you] are limited and why, and how mobilizing and stretching opens up a wide range of motions," says Atkins. "In Le Stretch, we aim to enhance range of motion, improve muscle imbalances, boost blood circulation, and reduce the risk of injury." This not only helps athletes, but can benefit "desk warriors," too.

Many recovery classes make a point to focus in on key areas that would be hard to target without guidance and the right tools and techniques. Whether it's through massage equipment like lacrosse balls or Theragun, or focusing on specific technique like self myofascial release.

While these things can be done at home, you don't have the expertise of a trainer to guide you through the motions. "We are able to get students into body positions with better alignment, restoring proper movement patterns," says Atkins.

Classes that feature upside-down Inversion Therapy work to protect your spine and keep it well aligned, helping you stay injury-free when working out.

"Inversion Therapy sessions are short in length because a few minutes are all the time you need to gain the benefits," says Amy Lee, Owner and Founder of ENRGi, a group fitness studio in Chicago, and soon to be Denver. "By using gravity and your own body weight, Inversion Therapy helps to decompresses the spine, rejuvenate the discs, relieve pressure on the nerves and release muscle tension." This help with pain relief, better posture, and less muscle tension.

Despite our best intentions, most of us are pretty bad at fitting in a dedicated foam-rolling session or trip to the gym sauna. Instead of thinking of recovery as something you cram into the last few minutes of a workout, these classes become the workout itself.

These classes sort of "force people to take the necessary time to heal," says Lee. "If we tell people to foam roll after class, the chances of them doing it are slim to none. However, if we make foam rolling part of the class, people will stick around and keep coming back for more," she says.

As this trend continues to grow, you may notice studios offering holistic, alternative forms of recovery. Treatments like acupuncture, Reiki, and cupping are on the rise as treatments to help repair damaged muscle and prevent injury. "There are hundreds of clinical studies on the benefits of acupuncture, showing that it successfully treats pain and other musculoskeletal issues," says Lee, who offers these services at ENRGi. "As for cupping, the suction and negative pressure can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system."