When you’re super sore it might be tempting to lay down and hang out on the couch all day. However, research suggests that doing absolutely nothing might not be the best recovery technique. Use these tips to improve the speed and quality of your muscle recovery so that you can keep working towards your health and fitness goals!
1. Practice Active Recovery: Doing some sort of gentle, light movement following a workout or other physical activity helps to accelerate the removal of lactic acid from muscles while stimulating blood flow and signaling proteins to initiate healing and adaptation into localized tissue.
Immediately following a workout: Spend about 6-10 minutes performing some active recovery for best results. Walking, cycling at a low speed, and taking some deep cleansing breaths can help gradually lower your heart rate. Finnish with additional stretches and foam rolling.
The day after an intense workout: Get some low-intensity movement in like walking, swimming, yoga, or biking at a leisurely pace.
2. Get Plenty of Sleep: Sleep is one of the most important aspects of recovery for the human body (physically, mentally, and emotionally). Our bodies need 7 - 9 hours of quality sleep per night to function at it’s peak and properly repair damaged cells and tissue.
Research shows that lack of sleep negatively impacts athletic performance, including slower reaction time, quicker exhaustion, decreased accuracy and increased risk for injury.
3. Eat Enough Protein: If you want to build lean muscle mass and help repair muscle fibers after a physically demanding task or workout, consume 20 - 30g of a complete protein within 1 hour of completion. A complete protein has all 9 essential amino acids that our body can not produce on it’s own (it must be consumed through food). Complete protein sources include beef, poultry, fish, whole eggs, pork, and dairy. Plant-based diets can combine different foods to create a complete protein - it just takes more knowledge and planning to do so.
Drinking a protein shake after a workout is an easy way make sure you’re getting a sufficient amount of protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Just check your labels - not every protein powder is high quality. Make sure your protein powder is organic, grass-fed (if not plant-based), and has no added sugar, artificial sweeteners, or additives.
4. Enjoy a Massage: If performed immediately after an intense workout, massage may decrease feelings of delayed onset muscle soreness. If you already have sore muscles, opt for a gentle massage (like a Swedish massage) to relieve muscle tension and boost blood flow.
5. Use Heat: If your muscles still ache 48 hours later, apply heat. It can stimulate blood flow to your muscles to ease tightness and help them feel better. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a sauna, that will also increase blood blow to muscles, keeping them fueled with nutrients while removing metabolic byproducts, and it can even build new red blood cells.
When Ben came to see us, he had been dealing with knee 🦵 and back pain for over 20 YEARS. The chronic stress on his body made sleep 😴and basic daily activities like playing with his kids difficult and uncomfortable.
Once he began receiving TRT adjustments from Restore, he was extremely pleased to find out how FAST and EFFECTIVE they were.
👉Ben’s nervous system responded so well to adjustments that he reports “virtually NO back pain and much LESS knee pain.” 🎉 Now that his pain is gone, he’s able to exercise often, keep up with his kids, play kickball, and even ice skate – something he never imagined being able to do! He’s also thankful for better sleep and more energy to get through the day. 🙌
If you're tired of dealing with an aching back or joints and want to help your body heal itself with gentle, effective TRT adjustments, book an appointment today! You can be PAIN FREE and get back to enjoying your favorite activities once again!
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