Post Workout Recovery Tips
You don’t get stronger just by working out. You get stronger recovering from the workout, meaning that the 23 hours you spend outside of the gym are equally as important as the one you have in it.
The term “recovery” refers to several things, from the nutrition your muscles get to your body’s ability to control inflammation, restore normal function, and maintain overall health in spite of the stress that your training imposes.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #1: Eat Protein and Carbs
Muscles need two main things to recover: protein, the raw material used to build muscle mass, and carbohydrate, which is stored as glycogen and serves as the muscles’ main source of energy during exercise.
Post-workout recovery tip #2: Get cold
Athletes jump into ice baths to reduce inflammation after the competition, and if you’ve ever been in a plunge pool, you know how invigorating alternating trips between a hot sauna and cold pool can be.
Cold-water immersion and contrast baths have been used for generations for a multitude of health benefits, including boosting the immune system.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #3: Stretch and foam roll
Self-myofascial release (SMR), commonly referred to as “foam rolling” because it’s most often done with a foam roller, isn’t just a must before workouts. It can be useful right afterwards and on days you don’t train too.
Follow up the rolling with stretching to take advantage of the increased range of motion that the rolling provides.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #4: Do active recovery workouts
Having light sessions on days between your toughest workouts can drive blood into the recovering muscles, which provides nutrients and carries waste products out.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #5: Eat enough calories on rest days
Some people like to cycle their carbs, eating more on training days when more calories are needed for energy and less on off days when needs aren’t as high.
It’s not a bad strategy, but undereating on off days can negatively impact recovery. Protein and overall calories should be the same. Make sure you adjust your protein and fat intake accordingly to make up the difference.
It’s important to recognize that muscle protein synthesis—the process by which the body builds muscle-up bigger and stronger in response to training—continues at a higher rate than average for 48 hours after a workout, so shortchanging your muscles of the nutrition that supports that development will hinder gains.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #6: Breathe
Proper breathing impacts just about every aspect of fitness, from allowing you to stabilize your core during a big lift to helping alleviate lower-back pain. It’s also worth working on during days off or immediately after training to promote relaxation and lower the pH in your muscles, which helps them stay loose.
Post Workout Recovery Tip #7: Sleep
Sleep is your body’s chance to reorganize the brain and restore the body. Long-term sleep debt negatively impacts growth hormone release and insulin sensitivity. Translation: you’ll get weaker and fatter.