How to accelerate muscle recovery after a workout?

To speed up muscle recovery after a workout, both massage and stretching exercises, as well as moderate cardio and an active recovery technique, will help. It consists in carrying out light and short strength training on rest days. The main task will be to flush out toxins and improve the nutrition of muscle tissue.

Recall that excess training and lack of sufficient time for recovery leads to overtraining – and is characterized by increased production of the stress hormone cortisol. It not only speeds up the heartbeat but reduces testosterone and triggers catabolic processes.

Post-workout recovery

Traditionally, the term “recovery” means passive rest to unload muscles – the athlete does not do sports at all, but simply rests. However, for professional athletes who train often enough, this method is not suitable.

During training, toxins and lactic acid are formed in the muscles (often muscle pain is caused by these substances). In fact, with passive recovery, toxins are removed from the body too slowly – however, the recovery process can be accelerated.

Since large muscle groups require up to 60 hours to fully recover, they should be trained no more than once every 3-4 days – in the remaining time, you need to work small muscle groups, as well as do moderate cardio or light strength training.

Muscle pain – good or bad?

It is important to distinguish between “healthy” muscle pain and pain caused by injury. If the muscles begin to ache a little on the 2-3rd day after training and stiffness appears, this is a normal recovery process. However, if you experience sharp pain when moving, then this is most likely an injury.

As for lactic acid, it is excreted from the body within a few hours after the end of training. In other words, the burning sensation in the muscles during exercise can be caused by its excess, while the pain the next day is a more complex physiological process.

What is active recovery?

Active recovery is one of the most effective ways to quickly regenerate muscles and accelerate the process of removing toxins from the body. Typically, active recovery refers to a combination of massage, stretching exercises, and light cardio.

Good results for accelerating recovery are also shown by the myofascial release technique – that is, the independent use of a massage cylinder to work out large muscle groups. This improves the circulation of fluids in the tissues and helps to remove toxins.

Recovery for leg muscles

For faster recovery of the muscles of the legs and lower half of the body, a short strength training (about 20-30 minutes) helps, performed the next day with loads of 30-50% of the usual. That is, if you squatted with 100 kg for 5 repetitions, then you should squat with 30-50 kg and 10-12 repetitions.

However, running, cycling, football, and other activities that involve the leg muscles can negatively affect the rate of recovery of the muscles of the lower body. If you use cardio, keep your heart rate steady and opt for a rowing machine.

Nutrition and supplements

BCAAs, taken directly during exercise, stop the catabolic processes in the body – and can reduce pain the next day. In addition, regular intake of creatine also improves energy metabolism in the muscles.

The classic recipe for a sports cocktail to speed up muscle regeneration processes is a mixture of creatine, simple carbohydrates, and protein isolate (about 30 g of carbohydrates, 10-15 g of whey protein, and 3-5 g of creatine in total), taken before starting an active recovery workout.

Such a cocktail will become a source of nutrition for the muscles, and the increased blood flow as a result of training will facilitate the rapid absorption of nutrients. Among other things, make sure you get enough vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, and iron in your daily diet.