How to Recover Quickly and Safely
Fitness often demands that you expend significant amounts of physical exertion to attain your desired goals. You will tear down muscles and tissues as part of the strength-building process while spending this energy. This juncture is where recovery comes in.
While physical recovery takes place outside the gym, it is still considered an essential pillar for effective fitness. The time outside the gym after a strenuous workout is crucial because it is when your body repairs all the torn tissues and muscles and rebuilds them stronger than they first were.
Most fitness experts agree that the ideal recovery period lasts 24 to 48 hours. This range allows your body the optimum length of time to repair and rebuild. Conversely, any recovery stretch that falls under the minimum 24 hours is wholly inadequate- so much so that performing any exercise at that point becomes counterproductive (you will cause more net muscle breakdown than growth).
So how can you maximise your recovery time to ensure that you do it quickly and safely to get back to the gym?
Table of Contents
Hydrate
You cannot overestimate water’s importance. Hence experts recommend making drinking water a habit. You must drink plenty of liquids before, during, and after your workout. In doing so, you replenish the fluids your body lost while exercising. Moreover, water supports your body’s metabolic functions, so drinking plenty of it keeps your body functioning at optimum levels.
In addition to boosting recovery, water also staves off dehydration which causes reduced performance and muscle fatigue. Consequently, it is crucial to remember to hydrate at all times.
Sleep
Sleep forms a vital part of recovery. It is also imperative when you have higher physical activity levels while awake, including while exercising. Your body produces a crucial growth hormone that facilitates tissue repair and growth during the sleep cycle. So if you don’t get sufficient quality sleep, your body is also unable to grow new muscles properly. In addition, getting less sleep will lower your physical performance levels.
The optimum sleep period should last between seven and nine hours each night. You will enhance your mental and physical well-being if you can manage that.
Get A Massage
Massages are great recovery aids, particularly after intense workouts. They help encourage muscle relaxation while improving blood circulation. Furthermore, you don’t have to go to a professional for a good massage. Instead, you can perform one on yourself using simple apparatus like foam rollers.
Eat Well
Diet and exercise go hand-in-hand. Therefore nutrition is a major consideration. Eating good, healthy food provides your body with critical fuel reserves to support tissue repair, muscle growth and recovery. Your meal timing is also important. It is best to eat some food within an hour of completing your workout as a means of giving your body the tools it needs.
Beyond the timing, your meal contents is something you need to consider. For example, your post-workout meal must contain plenty of high-quality protein to facilitate muscle building. Additionally, some carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals are needed to boost recovery.
To guarantee that you are ingesting the proper nutrient amounts to power your workout and support recovery, you can add supplements to your meal rotations. Most popular among them are protein supplements like Optimum Nutrition- Gold Standard 100% Whey, Dymatise- ISO 100, Max’s 100% Pure Whey Protein, and International Protein- Superior Whey which are great for making post-workout shakes that boost your recovery.
Once you have put in your time at the gym, you also have to remember that the best way to get back quickly is by acknowledging the need for and enforcing an adequate recovery period.
