Post workout recovery is an essential part of any fitness routine. It’s one that’s often overlooked, with much of the emphasis being on preparing for a workout and the workout itself. After exercising, your muscles need time to recover and repair, which can help you avoid injury and improve your overall performance. There are many ways to enhance your post workout recovery, but some methods are more effective than others.
Hydration
Hydration is actually one of the key parts of recovery that people forget; before, during, and after workouts. Neglecting to hydrate before working out can cause injury to the muscles because – as you lose more fluids during exercise – the muscles become tense. Tense muscles lead to strain, tears, and even bone fractures. Post-workout, lack of hydration leads to a lack of blood volume pumping around the body – blood volume is essential for pumping vital nutrients and oxygen to recovering muscles.
The average male should drink 3.7 liters of water, and the average female needs 2.7 liters. Consider that the more strenuous and sweat-producing the workout is, the more your body needs.
Nutrition
Everyone should know that nutrition is one essential requirement for maintaining a healthy body, workout or not, but recovery nutrition is even more vital. Research proves that post-recovery nutrition should be balanced with the correct calculation of macronutrients – proteins, carbohydrates, and fats – for your needs. There are tons of macro calculators online, but as a rule, you should have a meal that’s 3 grams of carbohydrate to every 1 gram of protein with minimal fat. Fat-free post-workout meals are the best.
Supplements also play a crucial role. Every professional will tell you a post-workout protein shake is essential, but don’t neglect other supplements that can enhance muscle growth, like steroids – you can buy Canadian steroids easily – creatine, glutamine, and amino acids. Most of the greats, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, followed a strict supplement regime that included all of them.
Stretching
Training means you’re putting strain on your muscles and joints that they wouldn’t typically experience – you’re putting them through a range of movements they might not be used to or applying forces through weights that put excessive strain on the muscle. But how exactly does stretching help? It helps the muscle relax, increases blood flow, and accelerates healing. In doing so, you’re also helping to move and remove lactic acid buildup in the muscle, the cause of the dreaded DOMS.
Rest V.s Active Recovery
Rest is self-explanatory – it’s taking the time to give your body the rest it needs so the muscles can recover. But should you focus on total rest or active recovery? Active recovery is the best. It helps promote blood flow to recovering muscles, prevents lactic acid from accumulating, and reduces muscle soreness. Active recovery can be anything from yoga to incline walking.
Working out without recovery is destined to cause problems – whether it’s muscle or ligament damage or delaying physical progress. It’s wrong to assume recovery is simply about rest. Take into account everything we’ve mentioned above to increase your workout success.
