According to fitness experts, recovery is an essential part of your overall fitness routine.

This after-exercise restoration ritual can make a huge difference in how effective your workouts are and how well the next workout goes.

Steph Maderas, owner and head coach with Revolution Fitness in Crown Point, describes fitness recovery as "the post-workout process of repairing tissue, restoring energy and adapting to training so your body becomes stronger and more resilient. It includes muscle repair and growth, nervous system reset, energy replenishment, hormone and immune balance and connective tissue healing."

Adrian Sickles, fitness coach at Orangetheory Fitness in Crown Point, describes recovery as the "behind-the-scenes work your body does after training so you can come back stronger next time."

Because training breaks muscle down, recovery is a critical next step to repairing muscle fibers and building muscles back stronger. It creates an environment for better endurance, strength and power.

The benefits of a proper recovery routine are immediate and long-lasting.

"You will bounce back faster, have less soreness, a better performance your next gym session, lower injury risk and reduction of stress and better energy," said Maderas. "Recovery supports consistency by reducing soreness and fatigue, helping you return to training feeling stronger and prepared for your next workout."

If you find yourself sore and achy after exercise, a personal trainer can help you establish a recovery routine, which also can calm your nervous system, improve consistency and motivation, help you mentally decompress and improve your range of movement, said Sickles.

Sickles suggests starting recovery small with 5 to 10 minutes with light movement, mobility/stretching and slow breathing techniques and choosing a routine you can stick to.

She also points out the most powerful recovery tool is getting 7-9 hours of sleep.

Another important part of recovery is nutrition. She recommends focusing on protein to help rebuild muscles and carbs to refill energy stores -- 20 to 30 grams within an hour post workout is optimal. A small banana or potato or one slice of bread can provide that portion of carbs. Fluids and electrolytes also prevent fatigue and a heavy-limb sensation.

"What you put in your body or what you don't will affect how you feel, your energy levels, how fast or slow you recover," Maderas said. "Eating before a workout will help your performance, and eating after is going to help with recovery. Also, taking walks. They will help keep your overall Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) up."

Maderas suggests taking time to