What to take for muscle recovery. Rapid muscle recovery after exercise

Muscle recovery after training is a very important process. Some athletes do not pay much attention to this, and in vain. This article will give tips on how to speed up the recovery process.

Very often you can hear the word “overtraining” from athletes. However, there is no such state. The thing is that the body did not have time to recover. There can be many reasons for this, the main ones being the lack of rest time and the wrong recovery process. How to speed up this process will be discussed below.

Restoration of muscle tone

Very often athletes make the mistake of focusing only on the recovery itself. But after all, training affects the entire body as a whole, and not just muscle tissue. The correct recovery process involves the following:

• Muscle recovery after training.
• Removal of decay products from the body.
• Recovery of energy reserves.
• Restoration of the normal functioning of the central nervous system.

How to restore muscles after a workout

After exercise, the body needs fast-acting carbohydrates, which can be easily obtained with sports drinks. However, the athlete prefers a carbohydrate supplement, reducing all the efforts made in training to zero. It is very important to prioritize and then make sure the methods chosen are effective.

Nutrition for Muscle Recovery

Never underestimate the role of nutrition in post-workout muscle recovery. Receiving all the necessary substances, the body will be able to quickly restore all the violations received during training. In this case, little energy will be spent, which is also important.

It is also important to remember about fruits and vegetables. For example, all berries that have a dark color contribute to the speedy removal of decay products from the body. This has a beneficial effect on the process of muscle recovery after training. The same can be said about many fruits or leafy vegetables that improve metabolic processes.

To reduce the level of estrogen, cruciferous vegetables are a very valuable food product. Do not get carried away with them only to those athletes who want to lose weight.

Speaking of nutrition, it is simply impossible not to mention ordinary water. With a lack of fluid, the process of muscle recovery after a workout will slow down. Water reduces the load on the heart and muscles, and does not allow the body temperature to rise. But the temperature of muscle tissue is a very important indicator in recovery.

It is very important for recovery processes to take care of the intestines. All problems with this body negatively affect the absorption of nutrients and vitamins. A large amount of toxins begins to be released, metabolic and fat-burning processes slow down, and the production of neurotransmitters that affect the overall mood of the athlete decreases.

1. Eat prebiotics and dairy products.
2. Try not to eat wheat products.
3. Avoid using anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen.

How to speed up muscle recovery

Stress reduces the body's ability to adapt to training loads. This is due to a decrease in the number of killer cells and disruption of the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system. It is this system that is responsible for the synthesis of hormones, and as a result of normal operation, more cortisol begins to be produced. This hormone stops tissue repair, and, consequently, the growth of their mass.

You need to learn how to manage stress. Here are a few tips on how to do this as efficiently as possible:

• It is necessary to study the consequences of stress and its effect on the body. Only in this way can a person reduce his own stress.
• Use breathing and muscle relaxation techniques. Meditation is a very powerful tool in dealing with stress.
• Listen to music. This will reduce the level of cortisol in the blood.
• Do massage and self-massage. This will reduce pain after the training process.
• Get enough sleep. Sleep is an essential part of the recovery process and should not be neglected. The body will never function well if you don't get enough sleep.

• Reduce blood cortisol levels, thereby improving body composition.
• Increase insulin levels, cause antioxidant protective reactions in muscle tissues.
• They have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the thyroid gland, on the work of which metabolic processes depend.
• Increase the level of hydration by retaining fluid in the body. However, in this case, an excess of carbohydrates already has a negative effect.

Recovery workouts

So, let's say, when an athlete has severe pain after a workout, you need to make classes more frequent. The fact that frequent training can reduce pain in the muscles has been scientifically proven.

At the same time, if the athlete often runs, or the intensity of training is high, it is better to reduce the load. The following tips will help make your recovery more efficient:

1. In one training session, it is necessary to include strength and cardio loads.
2. Use two workouts each day, with one being high intensity and the other high volume strength training.
3. Make your sessions longer than one hour.

If we want to get in good physical shape, what is the first thing that comes to mind? and, isn't it? But is there anything else you don't do? What is stopping you from reaching your final goal? In this article, we will consider another important detail that most people do not attach much importance to. This detail is one of the reasons why people give up when they are close to reaching their fitness goals.

Few people attach importance to what needs to be done after the workout is over. People think that if they exercise and eat right, then there is nothing else that could bring them more impressive results.

Your post-workout actions determine how well you recover to continue fitness activities the next day. Injuries, severe muscle pain, lack of energy and that's what you have to deal with if you do not take action in order to recover faster. After all, the more fully you recover, the better your next workout will be, and the longer you can continue your fitness activities. In the long run, all this will bring much more impressive results.

In fact, it is these actions that can be what determines whether you get results or give up everything without reaching your full potential. If you want to avoid stagnation, then you must pay close attention to the recovery process. Here are a few helpful tips to ensure you have an optimal recovery:

1. Be sure to perform a "hitch". Make sure that the increased heart rate after training returns to normal. Low-intensity exercise such as walking, jogging, and slow pedaling are best. The duration of the "hitch" is determined by the intensity of the workout. The more intensively you practiced, the longer the “hitch” should be. Even if you have little time, still allocate 5-10 minutes for a “hitch”.

2. Maintain the water-salt balance. Environmental conditions determine how much fluid and electrolytes your body needs. The hotter the weather, the more you sweat and the more fluids and electrolytes you need. By the way, you don't have to drink isotonic drinks just because your favorite athletes do. There are healthier options as well. Try drinking water with juice or lime (or both), orange juice, and a pinch of salt. You can add stevia powder to sweeten the drink. Many energy drinks have added sugar, but you don't need it at all. Many people think that they need sugar to replenish their glycogen stores, but this is not at all the case. We will return to this a little later.

3. Knead soft tissues. Use a fitness foam roller, PVC tube, massage stick, or something similar to knead the soft tissue. This process truly works wonders. Kneading aching muscles causes blood flow to microdamages that appear in muscle tissue during exercise. And this, in turn, accelerates muscle recovery. Attention! If you have never performed soft tissue kneading before, this procedure can be quite painful. In addition, special attention should be paid to kneading particularly aching areas. But believe me, the next day you will be glad that the muscles no longer hurt so much.

4. Do exercises to increase mobility in the joints. If you have muscle imbalances or joint problems, then you need to spend some time on rehabilitation or joint mobility exercises to eliminate or at least reduce these problems. To perform such exercises, 5-10 minutes a day is enough.

5. Perform light static stretching. Although static stretching exercises should not be done before a workout, as they reduce the muscle's ability to contract effectively, doing them after a workout is a good way to restore normal muscle length. There are a huge number of such exercises, but at a minimum, each of us should perform at least stretching exercises for the hip flexors and pectoral muscles. Stretching your hip flexors will help release tension in your lower back, while stretching your pecs will improve your posture and relieve you of slouching. Hold the stretch position for 30 seconds or more.

A great way to perform these exercises is the "tension, relax, stretch" technique. To do this, you need to isometrically contract the muscle you want to stretch for about 6 seconds, then relax it and take a deep stretch position for 15-20 seconds. You can repeat this technique 2-3 times per exercise, each time stretching the muscle more and more.

6. Post-workout nutrition. The opinions of experts on this matter are very different from each other, because it all depends on the state of your health and fitness goals. However, the most common recommendation for post-workout nutrition is to take a combination. The ratio of proteins and carbohydrates varies from 1:1 to 1:4. If you train for an hour at a moderately high intensity, then a ratio of proteins and carbohydrates of 1:4 is more suitable for you. This ratio of nutrients is also suitable for those who want to increase muscle mass. But these recommendations aren't always true, so experiment with different ratios of protein and carbs and see what works best for you.

If body is your goal and you are not interested in gaining muscle mass, then after training you can take only proteins, especially if you follow a low-carb diet and do short high-intensity workouts lasting less than 30 minutes. Since these workouts are quite short, your glycogen stores will not be completely depleted during exercise and can be easily replenished by the body. In this case, if you consume enough protein after a workout, then you should not worry about losing muscle mass. Once again, this recommendation is not set in stone, and you can try adding some carbs to your post-workout meal (1:1 or 1:2 protein to carb ratio). Experiment a little to see what works best for you.

These are six recommendations that can help you recover faster after training. Keep in mind that small changes can make a huge difference in the long run. Just 15-20 minutes a day will help you drastically reduce muscle pain, restore muscle and joint function, so you can continue exercising and reach your fitness goals.

0 6488 1 year ago

Full recovery after training is a factor no less important for achieving the desired result than the training itself. Without understanding the basics of the process, it is impossible to progress. Neither proper nutrition, nor vitamins with sports nutrition, nor even drugs will help. This article is about how to properly recover and steadily increase physical performance.

Theoretical Foundations of Recovery

The human body is a complex self-healing and self-sustaining system. At rest, all subsystems are at a point of equilibrium - the processes proceed at the usual pace for a particular organism. Going beyond the stable state provokes the body to turn to reserves. As a result of active physical activity and recovery, the adaptive capabilities of a person increase.

Serious sports results are unattainable without powerful training. The recovery phase must be adequate to the loads. The body must “understand” that it cannot survive without adapting to new realities. But he also needs the opportunity to find the strength to adapt to stress - an increase in performance occurs during this period. One without the other makes no sense.

If you neglect muscle recovery after training, you can very quickly come to a training plateau (stagnation). Least. In the worst case, the athlete is expected to overtrain. And hence the drop in results and health problems.

There are 4 main recovery phases:

• Fast recovery after training. It starts immediately after the end of the workout and lasts about 30 minutes. At this time, the body is in a "panic" and seeks to make up for losses as quickly as possible. It is very important to restore the balance of nutrients.
• Slow. After achieving metabolic balance, the body begins to heal damaged tissues and cells. In this phase, protein, amino acid and enzyme synthesis is activated, the water-electrolyte balance returns to normal, the digestive system actively absorbs substances that serve as a building material for muscles.
• Supercompensation. The phase that occurs 2-3 days after heavy loads. The duration of the period is up to 5 days. Super recovery resembles a slow phase, but the difference lies in the fact that at this time there is an increase in physical performance. The next workout must be done before the body leaves the supercompensation stage, otherwise the training will turn into marking time.
• Delayed. If you skip workouts, you can achieve a good recovery, but without increasing athletic performance. This stage takes place if the previous one is delayed.

How long does it take for muscles to recover?

The specified duration of the third phase of recovery after a hard workout is somewhat arbitrary. Training to complete muscle failure may require more time to compensate for the loss. Theorists and practitioners of bodybuilding (for example, M. Mentzer), using the examples of their students, demonstrate the need for a longer rest to achieve serious results.

The ability to recover is individual and, moreover, depends on the presence or absence of pharmaceutical support. Personal parameters can only be found experimentally.

The table shows the average muscle recovery time after a workout.

Recovery rates

It's not just muscles that recover. It is important to know about the indicators of recovery of the body after training in general and the time required to bring biochemical processes back to normal.

Recovery rates:

• increase in results - only with the complete completion of the recovery processes;
• well-being - with a lack of recovery, the athlete may feel unwell, the desire to train may disappear, there is a decline in volitional indicators;
• sleep - recovering correctly, the athlete has the right to count on a healthy and productive sleep; otherwise, a constant feeling of drowsiness (especially in the morning) and problems with falling asleep are in the order of things;
• pulse - normal - 75 beats / min a couple of hours after training; with a higher heart rate, you need to think either about the presence of overtraining, or about deeper problems (for example, with the heart).

The following table shows the time it takes the body to complete the recovery biochemical processes after active physical activity.

Recovery techniques after fatigue

You can recover in different ways. Better - in a complex, using various techniques. The greater the load on the body and the factors that negatively affect the ability to recover, the more attention should be paid to rehabilitation aspects. Approximately half of sports success depends on how competent recovery after training is. If the results are not encouraging, you need to look for the cause not only in the imperfection of the training approach, but also in problems regarding the opposite phase. Further - how to reduce the time of rehabilitation and increase athletic performance.

Active Recovery

Lactic acid will leave the muscles faster if moderate aerobic exercise helps it. A 10-minute run helps to accelerate the removal of decay products - during this time, about 60% of the acid is removed. The next 10 minutes of easy running equals about 25% more lactic acid. Conclusion - after heavy training, aerobic exercise is useful. A 20-minute jog will help to significantly increase the rate of elimination of unwanted substances from the muscles.

Complete rest or passive rest

The fundamental need of the human body and the athlete in particular. Intense training forces athletes to sleep at least 8-10 hours a day. This time includes 1-2 short phases of daytime sleep. By stealing sleep from himself, the athlete deprives himself of the hope of revealing his physical potential.

Quality is just as important as quantity. Certain aspects must be followed, including:

• Regime compliance. You need to get up and go to bed at the same time.
• Sleep continuity. You can’t sleep in fits and starts - 3 “approaches” of 3 hours are by no means equal to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
• Maintain a small interval between training and sleep. The body needs at least 30-40 minutes to prepare for sleep.
• Comfort. The process should not cause inconvenience even at a subconscious level. It is recommended to sleep on an orthopedic bed in a room with optimal temperature and other conditions.

Massage

(and one of its options - recovery) - a prerequisite for the training of professional athletes. The effect of working with soft tissues is achieved through mechanical and sensory stimulation.

The mechanical effect is expressed in:

• reduced swelling of muscle tissue;
• relief of muscle fatigue;
• improvement of lymph and blood circulation;
• removal of muscle spasms;
• saturation of tissues with oxygen;
• accelerate the elimination of metabolic products from tissues.

The sensory effect is relatively unexplored. "Massage" recovery after strength training helps to reduce pain. This is achieved through a gradual increase in sensory input to the CNS. In order to achieve such a result, the damaged (actively participating in the training process) muscle groups should be massaged slowly and gently.

Light stimulation of the skin promotes short-term capillary expansion. More intense exposure leads to a lasting effect.

Restorative massage is performed 10-15 minutes after the end of the workout. This is one of the differences between this type of mechanical tissue stimulation and others. The interval can be increased, but it is not recommended to tighten it too much.

The average duration of a session is 15-20 minutes. An hour after the procedure, it is desirable to repeat it, but in a truncated form - no more than 5 minutes. First of all, the “working” muscles are massaged. If training involves a load on the whole body, all muscle groups are “processed”. But at the same time, a little more attention to large muscles that require more recovery time.

Heat and cold therapy

The massage is perfectly complemented by thermotherapy – sauna with a bath, steam baths, hot wrap. Thermal procedures well prepare the body for mechanical stimulation.

If a bath with a sauna is not always available, then it is not necessary to deprive yourself of a wrap. Although the procedure has a beneficial effect primarily on the skin, there is also a considerable overall effect. If you act on the body for 20-30 minutes, the blood will begin to circulate in the muscles much more actively. But sometimes the heating of the skin is excessive, while the useful heat does not have time to reach the soft tissues. Therefore, wrapping is best viewed as a means to relax athletes and quickly increase body surface temperature.

How to speed up recovery after a workout? Low temperature is also helpful. Cold therapy helps to reduce muscle swelling and has an overall positive physical effect. Therapy may include:

• cold wrap - 10-15 minutes;
• ice baths - 5-10 minutes;
• rubbing the muscles with ice.

The most powerful effect of ice is achieved during the procedure performed immediately after the end of the workout.

Diet and nutritional supplements

Nutrition is the most important factor that determines the adaptive capacity of the body. It is important to understand how and what to take for post-workout recovery. The general rule of nutrition implies that the intake of nutrients should approximately equal their consumption. When mass gaining, they proceed from a larger “income”, during a fat race, from greater energy losses.

Diet is extremely important. In addition to the main building blocks - proteins, the body is in dire need of carbohydrates. If the intake of the latter is not enough, recovery is much slower.

The timing of meals is also important. The classic three meals a day scheme is less effective than the model, which implies a more fractional diet. Meals should be at least four times a day. Recommended ratio of meals (% of the daily diet):

• breakfast - 20-25;
• second breakfast - 15-20;
• lunch - 30-35;
• dinner - 20-25.

At the same time, the interval between approaches to the table is a maximum of 4 hours, and between extreme methods - no more than 12 hours. Just before training, do not fill your stomach. After training, it is advisable to refrain from poorly digested food - at this time, gastric juice is not enough for its effective splitting.

A balanced diet for athletes who regularly train hard is not enough. Vitamin and mineral supplements cannot be ignored. In most cases, we can talk about the lack of the entire vitamin complex. The only exception is vitamin A, which can be fully obtained from ordinary food.

The amount of supplementation depends on the training phase. Stages of lower intensity are not as demanding on the intake of minerals and vitamins as periods of powerful preparation for competitions.

Be sure to satisfy the body's need for fluid. During training, athletes need to compensate for the lack of water by drinking the latter in small sips. It must be remembered that drinking after a workout for recovery - a lot and often - is no less important than following a proper diet.

Psychological recovery

The intensity of training is determined by both physical and psychological well-being. Overtraining inevitably leads to a drop in motivation. And this is necessarily followed by problems with strong-willed qualities. The brain loses the ability to concentrate - the body receives less load.

But it is not enough to rest as much as you need. Problems outside of sports affect the body in a similar way. Therefore, it is extremely important to learn to resist emotional discomfort. The first assistant in this is regular relaxation. Meditation and physical relaxation will help to adequately respond to circumstances and avoid negative psychological outbursts.

How to understand that the muscles have recovered?

The absence of muscle pain, high motivation, a surge of strength are signs that it's time to go back to the gym. But it is not always possible to believe the obvious "signs". The most important feature is a combination of these factors with regular progress. The absence of the latter may also indicate an illiterate approach to training. But if you know that everything is in order with the training scheme, and there is no end to stagnation, you need to think hard.

Training requires constant introspection. This is the only way to get a relatively complete picture of the training and individual characteristics.

Proper physical activity is a guarantee that recovery after training of almost all muscles will be faster. Although no less important is the behavior at the time of rest from work. You can’t completely neglect them, otherwise the result will be only chronic fatigue and stress for the body. Read more about how to restore muscles after a workout, you will learn below.

Muscle recovery after training

The training itself is stressful for the muscles. During the exercise, they get micro-tears, sprains. Their body begins to heal gradually. In general, muscle recovery after training takes place in four stages:

1. Fast. Continues for half an hour after training. During this period, the pulse rate will be restored. The content of such stress hormones as insulin, adrenaline, cortisol becomes normal. The reserves of fast “energy” consumed during training are also replenished - ATP, creatine phosphate, glycogen.
2. Slow, or compensation. Repair of damaged cells and tissues begins. Here protein is synthesized with amino acids and enzymes. It is very important that these nutrients come from outside, so at this stage they consume carbohydrate foods, use sports nutrition to restore strength.
3. Super compensation, or super restoration. It comes after 2-3 days from the last workout, has a duration of about 5 days. In many ways, it is similar to the previous phase, but here the muscle fibers thicken in order to be able to withstand the volume of loads next time. During this period, there should be the next workout, because after it the body returns to its original state.
4. Delayed recovery after exercise. If there is no new load, then all the previous work was done in vain. Muscles will return to the pre-workout level of development, which is typical for the usual lifestyle without the gym.

Muscle recovery time after training

There is a direct correlation linking the rate of muscle recovery with their size. The supercompensation period may vary. For example, biceps recover in 48 hours. The muscles of the chest, on the other hand, require 3 days, and the back or legs - as much as 5 days. The calculation of the terms of supercompensation is individual. It is impossible to give an exact answer to the question of how much muscles recover after training. If they hurt, then the recovery phase has not yet ended. The indicator here is the increase in working weight. In the absence of progress, the rest is extended by 1-2 days.

Nutrition for Muscle Recovery

One of the important criteria for successful muscle recovery is a balanced diet. It can be represented simply by a well-composed daily diet, although professional sports nutrition is often additionally used in bodybuilding. Products for muscle recovery should be predominantly protein, and of animal origin. At this time, carbohydrates are also important - without them, well-being after training will be much worse.

Still need water. It reduces the load on the heart and the muscles themselves. In addition, it reduces the temperature, which is important for recovery. In this case, green tea, enriched with antioxidants, is very useful. You need to use the following products:

• fruits, vegetables, berries;
• fats from whole sources, such as nuts or avocados, fish, vegetable or flaxseed oils;
• foods fortified with potassium - potatoes, bananas.

Ointment for muscle recovery

Very often, many athletes use ointment to restore muscles. Its action is to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and reduce swelling. There are ointments with a warming or, conversely, cooling effect. Among the most effective are the following:

• Apizartron;
• Viprosal;
• balm Sanitas;
• Heparin ointment;
• Heparoid;
• Efkamon;
• Nicoflex.

Muscle recovery drugs

There are different preparations for muscle recovery. Three main groups can be distinguished:

1. Plastic. They help accelerate protein synthesis and cell rehabilitation, and prevent overtraining. These include drugs Carnitine, Lipocerebrine, Cobamamide, Potassium Orotate.
2. Adaptogens and general tonic. Promote resistance to sudden physical exertion, increases efficiency.
3. Energy. Accelerate the replenishment of spent resources. These are Methionine, Glutamic acid, Panangin, Asparkam.

How to understand that the muscles have recovered

Only sensations help to accurately understand that the muscles have recovered. The pain may not be felt on the first day, but on the second day it often becomes severe. At this time, the body is only gathering strength. The next day, the discomfort decreases again, but with tension it is still felt. When it practically ceases to be felt, then the recovery is almost completed.

Recovery of breathing after exercise

The permissible value of the pulse is 75 beats per minute a couple of hours after the load. How to reduce it immediately after training or when resting between exercises? It is recommended to perform slow inhalations and exhalations in a position with the emphasis on the hands on the knees. So the heart rate is reduced by 22 beats. There is another option for restoring breathing after exercise. It is necessary to straighten up, put your hands behind your head and breathe calmly. This method, how to quickly recover from a workout, is less effective than the first. Although it will also be easier to catch your breath.

CNS recovery after exercise

If the energy, muscles and hormonal levels have already returned to normal, then the recovery of the central nervous system after a workout can take much longer. Symptoms of her exhaustion are a breakdown in strength and mood, a lack of progress and an unwillingness to go to the gym. To avoid this, it is necessary to give the body a rest for 1-1.5 weeks at intervals of 1.5-2 months. It is sometimes recommended to change the principles of training.

Recovery after training

Rest is the main factor in full recovery of strength after a workout. For most athletes, in this case, only 1-2 days are enough without physical exertion. At this time, it is important to adhere to good nutrition, drink the required amount of water, and observe sleep patterns. To make the process of replenishing strength easier and faster, it is important to finish the workout correctly. You can't do it abruptly. The training should end with a hitch, i.e. loads in the form of stretching the upper and lower parts of the body or light cardio.

How to recover after a workout

The emphasis in recovery should not be so much on speed as on productivity. The constant lack of rest can cause overtraining. This is a state when the load injures the body much more than it can recover. Lack of desire to engage already suggests that you do not have time to relax. Many activities help to recover after a workout - a contrast shower, a sauna or a hot bath, nutrition, including sports supplements, quality sleep, outdoor walks, massage, and even listening to your favorite music.

Hot tub after workout

As a gentle cardio or just an active form of relaxation, a sauna or a hot bath after a workout can be used. They increase blood circulation, slightly load the cardiovascular system, and all the rest, on the contrary, relax. It is recommended to add about a glass of sea salt to the bath. It relieves muscle pain and helps to remove all toxins from the body. It takes only 20-30 minutes to take a bath.

Sports nutrition for recovery

Do not forget about sports nutrition for post-workout recovery. It is designed to purposefully supply the body with amino acids. After the lesson, you must take:

• BCAA - 3-5 g to suppress the destruction of muscle tissue;
• glutamine - 3-4 g for energy production and activation of growth hormone synthesis;
• creatine - 2-3 g for the complete restoration of spent creatine phosphate;
• whey protein - about 20 g for women and 30 g for men to speed up and optimize recovery processes.

Sleep after workout

Evidence of replenishment of strength is a sound healthy sleep after a workout. Fatigue can be expressed in weakness during the day, especially in its first half. At night, sleep remains restless. To recover, you need to sleep 7-8, and even 9 hours a day is better. It is important to observe the same time of awakening and going to bed, for example, getting up at 7 am and going to bed at 10 pm. Sleeping immediately after training is not recommended. The body needs time to cool down.

Post-Workout Recovery Vitamins

A special place in the replenishment of forces after intensive training is occupied by vitamin preparations. Without them, rehabilitation worsens and the risk of diseases increases. Such complexes as Vitrum, Oligovit, Complivit and Undevit are called upon to help in this situation. Vitamins for recovery after training can be any, but they must contain:

Recovery after intense training

When you go through an intensive training program, you will definitely face this important question - how to recover from a workout.

To correctly answer this question, you need to understand what exactly needs to be restored and how the restoration process generally goes. What influences this process? What is the actual recovery time between workouts? Etc.

General rules for post-workout recovery

To begin with, consider the general principles and techniques for restoring the body after training.

The right load level

If your set of exercises does not match your level of training, you will need much more time to recover.

How to understand that the load level is chosen incorrectly?

1. Too much exercise.

Usually, 1-2 exercises of 3-4 sets are enough for each muscle group. If there are more exercises, most likely there is a bust with the amount of load. And the training is most likely too long, 1.5-2 hours or even more.

2. Too much training weights.

If you need to make too much effort to complete the approach, if you are forced to resort to various tricks such as cheating, additional pauses between repetitions, then the chosen exercise is not for you yet, or the working weight in it is too large. Replace the exercise with a simpler one, reduce the working weight.

3. If according to the schedule (drawn up by a competent coach) there should already be the next training session, but you feel that you have not had time to recover yet, perhaps the load in the previous sessions was excessive.

Sufficient rest time between workouts

There should always be enough time between workouts so that you have time to rest and your muscles have time to recover. On average, two days is enough for this. That is, training should be carried out every other day, for example, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The exceptions are some special programs, for example, for burning extra pounds, for developing flexibility, for improving the technique of some exercises. They can be carried out daily and even several times a day. But in this regard, it is better to consult a competent specialist.

It is important to remember that there are individual characteristics that may affect the recovery time. With age, the recovery time between workouts increases.

Enough sleep

The importance of adequate sleep cannot be overemphasized when it comes to recovery between sports activities. The closer the duration and regularity of your sleep to the ideal (7.5-9 hours), the better.

When working on the mass, if possible, it is worth sleeping more, up to 10.5 hours a day.

A short nap (about 15-20 minutes) is very helpful in this regard.

Sufficient sleep puts all body systems in order, regulates almost all hormones, improves blood circulation, and relaxes muscles.

The first thing to do if you feel like you don't get enough rest between workouts is to make sure you're getting enough sleep.

Massage and self-massage

The use of massage is a very effective means of restoring muscles and the whole body.

Massage stimulates blood circulation in the muscles that worked the day before. This can significantly speed up recovery.

Practice self-massage during and after your workout. And a couple of times a year, go through a full course of massage (10-15 sessions).

General health and recovery

The speed of recovery after training depends on the general level of health. And this is understandable. The better the health, the faster the recovery.

It is important to understand here that with the growth of training experience, the recovery rate may increase. That is, the recovery time is reduced. This happens for many reasons, including due to a serious improvement in health as a result of competent training.

Therefore, it is very important not to refuse the necessary medical care if it is really needed: inflammations, infections, minor injuries, chronic pain, etc. All these problems in one way or another interfere with the functioning of the body, reduce the quality of life, and slow down recovery after training. And some may not even train at all. So love yourself - go to the doctor more often!

Stretching, muscle stretching

A very effective way to speed up muscle recovery if applied correctly.

There is no need to think about splits and other serious achievements. You just need to gently stretch and relax the desired muscles.

Relaxation = fast recovery.

Gently stretch the large muscles that you trained the day before. Don't be too zealous. Just enjoy easy and pleasant stretching!

It is enough to perform 1-2 sets of stretching for 10-15 seconds, so that the restorative effect is clearly manifested.

Sauna, bath, hot tub

A good warm-up in a sauna, steam bath, or hot tub is one of the best ways to regenerate your entire body, not just your muscles.

You can do this after a workout or on other days. Thermal procedures are especially helpful if the muscles are very sore after a workout.

By the way, it is a very good idea to stretch the muscles immediately after the heat treatment. And do not let the body cool down quickly after.

How to recover between workouts for mass

The main distinguishing feature of training for muscle mass is that athletes strive to destroy as many muscle fibers as possible. Therefore, already during training, recovery processes, immune reactions, and inflammatory processes begin in the body. All this is aimed at quickly eliminating the destruction in the muscles obtained during the training.

Therefore, the need for proteins, fast carbohydrates, vitamins, calories, water, etc. sharply increases in the body.

After such loads, there is always a strong metabolic response of the body: increased oxygen consumption after training, increased calorie consumption even between workouts. All this is normal.

But for an athlete who is building strength and mass, it is extremely important to properly spend the days after a special muscle training. For mass growth, it is highly undesirable to show significant physical activity in the days between workouts, as this interferes with the processes of anabolism (the creation of new tissues and the accumulation of nutrients).

Therefore, the correct recovery for the growth of muscle mass and strength is passive rest and enhanced nutrition (high calorie content, a lot of proteins and complex carbohydrates).

All kinds of sports nutrition preparations will help a lot here: gainers and proteins taken according to special schemes.

It is also useful to limit any additional sports activities: cardio, games, martial arts. All this seriously hinders the recruitment of strength and mass.

How fast do muscles recover after mass training?

In order to properly recover for mass growth, it is important to know how often to strength train when gaining mass.

My answer is that strength training for mass should be done at least 3-4 times a week. At the same time, each large muscle is pumped one way or another at least 2 times a week.

I foresee outrage from readers who are inclined to trust the opinion that you should train each muscle no more than once every 7-10 days. Well, I sympathize!

In my coaching opinion, it is definitely worth training each muscle at least 2 times a week. Ideally, three times. However, it must be done correctly. And by no means in full force in every lesson. Otherwise, you simply will not be able to recover in time after training. This is the secret of the correct periodization of loads, which is much more productive than banal constant wear training. There should be only one powerful workout for a given muscle group per week. And 1-2 others should be lightweight. Their essence is not in pumping mass, but in accelerating muscle recovery and maintaining good exercise technique, on which the following workouts with maximum load largely depend.

How to recover between workouts for weight loss, relief

This is a slightly different story, as training goals are in many ways the opposite of mass gain.

The main feature of training for weight loss and gaining muscle relief is that athletes strive to use as much muscle as possible in the shortest possible time. That is, to perform the maximum possible work per unit of time with the help of a large mass of muscles and get a significant metabolic response from the body.

It is important here that there is no special concentration on any one muscle. Large muscle masses are important. Therefore, exercises of general action are mainly used.

Such a load is created using special training techniques:, etc.

This is manifested by a significant acceleration of metabolic processes and increased oxygen consumption within 1-2 days after training. The calorie consumption between workouts remains elevated for a long time. Of course, the body's needs for proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, water and energy are increasing.

And here it is important to correctly understand how the recovery process of losing weight differs from the recovery process of gaining weight.

For effective weight loss, it is important to give yourself a fairly significant load between workouts. Yes, you should practice more often. Ideally, twice a day, six times a week.

In practice, I often advise on rest days to walk a lot or do cardio.

The essence of this simple technique is that during intensive training with iron or body weight, fatty acids are released into the bloodstream due to the stimulation of the activity of catabolic hormones. These are the same fats from those same fat folds on your body.

These substances remain circulating in the blood for 1-2 days. Of course, their number decreases rapidly over time. And if during this period you give a sufficient load in the form of an intense walk, cardio, strength training, then these fats quickly turn into fuel for muscles. That is, they burn successfully! That is the purpose of terrain training!
This process is greatly helped by the intake of L-carnitine.

However, everything needs to be measured. If you go through with the load in the circuit training (it's very easy!) and do too much cardio between workouts, and even go on a rigid diet, you will quickly feel terrible overwork and psychological depression. And be sure to stop exercising. Checked many times. Be sure to consider this in order to have time to recover after training.

Therefore, nutrition and training should ideally match each other, complement each other.

For losing weight, the frequency of classes and rest time for muscle recovery is not critical. After all, even intense circuit training cannot destroy muscle tissue as much as it takes place in purely mass-gaining programs. Therefore, the muscles recover quickly, even if it is strong. And so the same training can be done almost every day. And even on the same muscles.

The main thing here is the restoration of energy.

Recovery between terrain workouts

For proper recovery during terrain training, the following is necessary.

Be sure to take one day off a week. On this day, do nothing at all. Rest!

Get enough sleep! This is essential for the fat burning process.

On rest days between strength training for terrain, lead an active lifestyle, do cardio, active games, and walk a lot. But be sure to measure, not to the point of exhaustion.

Eat right according to your goal. The diet should be rich in proteins and complex carbohydrates. However, carbohydrates must be handled properly. They should be in moderation and taken only at certain times of the day.

Fats should be in accordance with physiological norms - at least half a gram per kilogram of weight. Under no circumstances should this norm be lowered below! After all, they are very necessary for health.

After training, always take a protein shake of whey protein and pure water. No carbs! This will support muscle mass against the background of overall weight loss.

So, now you know how to recover between workouts.

Be healthy! As always, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.