As often as you can afford to, hire a massage therapist to work on you. Aim for a deep-tissue massage and concentrate on a specific area that may be ailing you or requires greater attention. If you’ve had a particularly stressful week, request a full-body massage and try to clear your mind of everything that’s going on. These treatments are invaluable for keeping you healthy and setting the proper muscle tone for continual progress in the gym.

Self-massage can also be useful. One form of self-massage that’s fairly easy to administer involves a device called The Stick. Twenty moderate-pressure strokes from origin to insertion with this rolling pin device will compress and stretch muscle and accelerate recovery.

Another form of self-massage that’s quite popular these days is foam rolling. As I’ve mentioned previously, foam rolling can be used as a method of restoration, but it should be done away from training (do it as a separate entity later at night).

For more unique methods of self-massage, refer to Hartmann and Tünnemann’s excellent text titled Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at how aerobic activity can facilitate recovery.