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On rest and recovery days it is important to avoid doing the worst thing you can do for your body... nothing. Examples of rest and recovery activities are walking, static stretch exercises (after a warm up and loosening up period), dynamic stretching, swimming, water running, and riding a bike.
If they don't feel better after a 10 minute warmup, take the day off.... Most elite athletes use an active recovery program and exercise everyday. To quote: ....Almost all top runners, cyclists and weight lifters do huge volumes of work, and most of it is on their less-intense recovery days......