Recovery from workouts, especially those accompanied by weight lifting, is a natural necessity. Muscles do not grow during exercise, they grow after them. The opportunity for muscle growth starts from the moment you exit the gym. If you want to get the most out of each workout, you need to be able to rest and recover properly.
Training is stress for the muscles
When you lift something heavy, the muscles experience tremendous stress. After an intense workout, muscle pain can resemble itself for several days. Recovery after training should certainly be of high quality. If you constantly bring your body to complete exhaustion in the gym, damage accumulates over time, and the body will restore energy, instead of building new muscles. They say that you need to give all the best to 100%, that's right, but if you make one more percent, then instead of improving the results and a step forward, you can roll back two steps.
Nutrition and recovery after training
Foods that are eaten after exercise and during the day, in many ways, affect the quality of recovery. Nutrition before exercise also plays an important role in this process. Digestion - a long process, absorbed even before the load, proteins and carbohydrates will circulate in the body for a long time. For this reason, you need to carefully choose products. Especially before an intense workout, you need to eat exceptionally high-quality protein along with some complex carbohydrates about two hours before class to avoid digestive problems.
Stretching must not be neglected.
Stretching, the importance of which is often underestimated, helps to speed up recovery after a workout. Muscle growth is not possible in the absence of flexibility and elasticity. After training, you need to allocate at least 20 minutes to cool and stretch. Stretching is a great way to relieve muscle tension and potentially reduce the pain that will be felt later. Long stretching with moderate exercise and proper nutrition will reduce cholesterol and improve blood circulation in the muscles. Knowing these things, you need to learn to take this important element more seriously.
Perfect post-workout protein
After training, protein is vital. Depending on the weight, you need to use it from 20 to 50 grams. It will help fill the muscles with the necessary material for growth and further improvement. After training, protein is needed, especially if you haven’t eaten anything for several hours. Most women need 20 g, while men should aim at the top of the range. Whey protein is one of the most popular protein supplements that activates muscle recovery after exercise.
Potassium Enriched Meals Help Restore Muscle
Faster recovery after exercise can be achieved by including a potassium source in your post-workout diet. Your potassium reserves are inevitably depleted from intense physical exertion. Potassium (among other trace elements such as sodium and calcium) is a major mineral that plays an important role in the production of muscle energy. A good source of potassium is, for example, bananas.
Focus on quality sleep
The body needs a good and high-quality sleep not only for relaxation. This is the vital time it takes to recover. Sacrificing precious hours of sleep over a long period of time can lead to health and mental problems, as well as negatively affect your physical condition. It is considered ideal to spend from seven to nine hours in a dream. We need to find ways to make changes to the daily regime that will make it possible to go to bed earlier. You can, for example, set a time limit on TV or use the so-called "dimming technology", according to which you can not touch any kind of technique after a certain time, for example after 9 o’clock in the evening. Muscle recovery time after training depends on the quality of rest, which can provide the correct regime of the day and a healthy sleep.
Active recovery
Days of respite give the muscles a well-deserved rest. But it will be wrong to lie on the couch all day and gain strength to start recovery after a workout. Recovery time will decrease many times if you rest actively. This can be a shopping trip, cycling, games with children, cleaning, dancing and so on. Strangely enough, exercises with body weight or light cardio will help relieve pain.
Stress Down!
The stress that muscles experience during exercise is good, as it stimulates the growth of better, restored cells. As for stress in its main meaning, in the chronic stage, regular lack of sleep, problems at work and other things that cause it can have a significant impact on recovery after training. Any form of stress in life will affect the general well-being, so it is important to take measures to reduce tension, do what you really like, make yourself laugh and surround yourself with the people you love.
Music therapy and other useful things
Recovery is an essential component of any fitness program and an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Relaxing tunes can be a great aid in recovery or at least distract from muscle pain. A slow song tempo can help quickly lower your blood pressure and heart rate after a workout.
- Preservation of water balance. Dehydration can cause more damage to the muscles and reduce the body’s ability to repair itself. To avoid this, it is enough to drink a sufficient amount of ordinary drinking water daily.
- Massage to help you. It helps break down scar tissue and reduce stiffness associated with muscle recovery. Scented candles and a relaxing melody are desirable, but not necessary.
- Try compression underwear. For many athletes, rapid energy recovery is important. Recent studies suggest that wearing compression underwear can help reduce the time required for muscle recovery between intense workouts.
- Take a cold bath or a contrast shower. Although this sounds a little frightening, completely immersing the body after training in cold water can significantly reduce pain and inflammation within 24 hours.
If the goal is a beautiful fit figure or large biceps, it is worth accepting that a little soreness will be part of the transformation process. Recovery days and training days are equally important. Do not rush and try to do the impossible, you need to be able to relax properly, then to proudly reap the fruits of their labor.