How to Improve Muscle Recovery after Workout

24 Feb 2021 13:58:59

Can you recall one of those days on which evening moving would hurt? This happens when on an intense workout day. If you want to stand in the gym the next day, you must recover. What’s your remedy for an aching body? Popping an Advil and sucking it, right? But if your goal is to build muscle mass, you have got to do something else to boost the recovery and crush working out in the gym.

After all, you can’t make the most of your workout if you don’t rest and treat your body well. Without further ado, let’s have a look at the tips to improve muscle recovery after an intense workout:

Get to Sleep

Hands down, the best way to recover from sore muscles is to get sleep. After a tough workout, your body needs rest to recover and sleeping is the way thing you can do. Getting enough sleep can also improve your athletic performance since your body won’t be tired.

Eat the Right Food

Food has an important role to play in muscle recovery. Your body needs protein and carbs. Here is what your food intake should look like:

Post-workout protein intake

An intense workout damages the proteins that make the muscle fibers. That’s why as soon as you are done working out, you must consume protein. Your body needs it in raw form in order to initiate muscle damage.

20 to 40 grams of protein is enough for maximizing muscle growth.

Protein pre-workout

It’s also helpful to eat protein before the workout. This boosts the muscle protein system. Taking 0.4 to 0.5 grams of protein of your body weight is recommended.

Carbs post-workout

Muscles store carbs in the form of glycogen for energy. During an intense workout, the muscles use this glycogen as the primary form of energy.

Use a Foam Roller

The cause of soreness after exercise is when your muscles and fascia (the connective tissue running throughout the body) get knotted.

To get some relief, use a myofascial foam roller to reduce these knots. Get a semi-rigid roller to relieve the pain. It’s a great alternative when you need a massage badly but can’t afford one.

Take a Daytime Nap

A good old nap doesn’t just take the blues away but it makes you alert and enhances performance. Sleep does not have much effect on the strength but any tiredness caused by sore muscles can be reduced by taking a short nap. Make sure it’s a quick power nap, though.

Take a Day Off From Exercising

If you are too tired or sore, it’s ok not to skip a workout day. Some people need more rest and that’s totally fine. Factors such as your age and fitness level determine how much rest you will need between workout sessions.

If you continue to work out without giving a break, this can reduce your performance and might as well cause an injury. Stay safe and rest if your body demands it.

Take a Cold Bath

Athletes and bodybuilders take a cold bath after working out. It reduces inflammation and soreness to a great extent.

Cold water immersion sure is great when it comes to reducing inflammation in the muscles but it is not as effective as active recovery. So don’t rely on it completely but neglect it either.

Drink Tart Cherry Juice

When you are stiff as a board, tart cherry juice is a supplement that will reduce the swelling caused by damaged muscles. It will reduce the pain and help the body recover faster.

Research has shown that tart cherry juice can reduce inflammation and can help with DOMS after exercise.

Drink Lots of Water

This shouldn’t go without saying. Water is essential for fast recovery. It helps remove the metabolic waste out of your body produced by a heavy workout.

One should drink 8 ounces of water 30 minutes after the workout and between 16 to 24 ounces of every pound of your body weight lost during the workout session. You can loseup to 4 liters of water per hour in the heat so make sure to stay as much hydrated as possible.

If it’s hard to drink water, then get Gatorade.

Muscle Recovery Time – How Long Does it Take?

The time it takes for muscles to recover after an intense workout depends on how fit you are and the difficulty of the workout performed. The duration, intensity, and volume of the exercise have a significant role to play in determining what your body went through.

If it was a light workout, it will take 24 hours for your muscles to recover. On the other hand, if it was a challenging workout, it will take 2 to 3 days. In case the workout was intense, the recovery might take a few more days.

These are some of the factors that are likely to affect your recovery time:

The amount of sleep you get
Nutrition your body is receiving
How you are dealing with stress
Type of exercise performed

You must give your body the time to recover. During the recovery period, the muscles repair themselves from the wear and tear after the exercise. The body must clear lactic acid-producing during the strenuous workout. If you don’t give them the rest and care they need to repair, you may end up injuring yourself. The pain might as well keep on lingering for days and you won’t be able to continue working out.

The Takeaway

After reading the above, it is clear that if you fail to allow your muscles to fully recover, you are putting yourself at risk of injuring.

Let’s say your muscles feel sore and you are unable to see improvements in your fitness level. This is a sign that you must spend more time recovering from your workout. if you are training to stay in top shape, the best way of maximizing muscle recovery is to get restful sleep and a healthy diet.

FAQs

How long does it take for muscles to recover after a workout?

Generally, your muscles need about 48 to 72 hours to fully repair after a heavy lifting session. If you hit your legs with intense squats, they might need that full three-day window. Smaller muscle groups like biceps often bounce back faster. Listen to your body and avoid training the same sore muscles consecutively.

What is the best way to speed up muscle recovery after exercise?

The fastest way to recover is nailing your basics: get eight hours of deep sleep, eat plenty of high-quality protein, and stay hydrated. Adding active recovery, like a light walk on your rest days, keeps blood flowing to damaged tissues. Do not skip stretching, as mobility work flushes out lingering lactic acid.

How does sleep help with muscle recovery?

When you sleep, your body releases human growth hormone, which is essential for repairing the muscle fibers you tore up in the gym. Without enough sleep, your cortisol levels rise, which actively breaks down muscle tissue. Getting seven to nine hours nightly is just as important as your actual workout.

How much protein should you eat after a workout for muscle recovery?

Aim to consume around 25 to 40 grams of fast-absorbing protein right after you finish lifting. A whey protein shake is perfect for this window. Throughout the day, you should hit roughly one gram of protein per pound of your body weight to keep your body in a constant muscle-building state.

Are carbs important for muscle recovery after exercise?

Yes, carbs are critical. When you train hard, you deplete your muscle glycogen stores. Eating fast-digesting carbohydrates after your workout refills those energy reserves immediately. This stops your body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy and helps push protein directly into your muscle cells to kickstart the heavy repair process.

Does drinking more water help muscles recover faster?

Staying hydrated is vital for recovery because water transports the essential nutrients to your muscle cells. If you are dehydrated, your body cannot efficiently synthesize protein or flush out metabolic waste from heavy lifting. Drink at least a gallon of water daily to keep your muscles full, lubricated, and ready to grow.

Can foam rolling help reduce muscle soreness?

Foam rolling acts like a deep tissue massage you can do yourself. It breaks up tight knots in your fascia and increases blood flow to your heavily trained muscles. Spending just ten minutes rolling out your legs and back after lifting reduces delayed-onset muscle soreness and improves your overall mobility.

Is taking a rest day important for muscle recovery?

Rest days are mandatory if you want to grow. You do not build muscle while lifting weights; you build muscle while resting. Pushing your body every single day leads to central nervous system fatigue and overtraining. Taking one or two scheduled rest days a week actually makes you stronger for your next sessions.

Does taking a cold bath help with muscle soreness?

Cold plunges or ice baths quickly reduce inflammation and numb sore muscles by constricting your blood vessels. Many athletes use them to bounce back fast for their next event. However, if your primary goal is building massive muscle, use them sparingly, as severe cold can temporarily blunt the natural muscle hypertrophy process.

Do anabolic steroids speed up muscle recovery after workouts?

Yes, they drastically accelerate your recovery timeline. These compounds increase nitrogen retention and red blood cell production, meaning your muscles repair much faster than they could naturally. This allows enhanced bodybuilders to train with extreme intensity and high volume, hitting the same muscle groups multiple times a week without facing typical overtraining limits.

How do anabolic steroids affect muscle recovery?

They directly bind to your androgen receptors, which signals your body to rapidly boost protein synthesis. When you tear muscle fibers during a heavy workout, steroids ensure those fibers rebuild larger and stronger in record time. They also lower cortisol, preventing your body from breaking down hard-earned muscle tissue during stressful physical periods.

What should you know about recovery after an anabolic steroid cycle?

When you finish a cycle, your natural testosterone production is completely shut down. You must run a proper post-cycle therapy to restart your natural hormones. During this phase, your recovery will slow down significantly. You need to train a bit lighter and keep your diet strict to hold onto your new muscle mass.