The Need to Rest and Recover After Training
You can carve a firm, sexier body by doing nothing. That is because relaxation and recovery are just as important as your workout sessions. When you are training, you tear at your muscle fibers. The fibers become better and healthier as they rejuvenate. Its between workouts during your resting state that your system heals and transforms.
I always remind my clients to rest, stretch and listen to their bodies…
Get plenty of sleep
Your body reconstructs itself best when you are asleep. Your normal hormone levels are also disturbed when you are sleep deprived, thereby, depleting you of required energy to get you prepared for an efficient workout. Not only will you get an ineffective workout but you will also crave for sugar as an alternate energy source.
Based on a study at Stanford University of 1,000 subjects who did not get sufficient sleep per night, the subjects had a greater body fat content compared to the control subjects who had at least seven hours of sleep each night.
Take a break between your workouts
Give yourself a minimum of 24 hours between workouts. Take a minimum of one day off weekly. You can still get excellent results from your weight training exercises twice a week. If twice a week is not enough for you, then limit your weight training to 5 times a week. Otherwise, your body will not have time to rejuvenate and all your hard work will be wasted.
Ninety five percent of bodybuilding professionals will remember that the biggest mistake they ever made in pumping iron is that they over did it. Your muscles are going to require rest if they need to regenerate. In situations like this, muscles that are worked to frequently do not have time to heal, no muscle gain will occur. If you are doing it properly, intensity wise, and if you work out every day you are sure to over strain yourself, possibly leading to injury. Do not forget that complete muscular failure and any stress in your body could take five to ten days to recover.
Working another part of your body the next day can still lead to over training. As an example, if you work your quadriceps to failure, then attempt heavy bench presses the very next day, you can still inhibit your muscle growth. For example, after a hard workout of the legs, the body starts the process of recovery from the blow it has received by the workout only to be subjected to another blow from heavy bench presses.
You cannot rely on your system to get over an arduous workout the accompanying day unless you ingest steroid hormones or other stimulants to handle the catabolic operations applicable within your body. Include rest and recuperation as part of your work out program.
Do not ignore aches and pains
Disregarding muscle irritation or cramping just confers you with bigger issues. If you feel any distress while training, stop. If you feel tightness, pause to stretch. Regularly stretch after warm-up and before ending your workout.
Avoid anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers
DOMS or delayed-onset muscle soreness is seen and understood as muscle swelling, tenderness, weakness and a decrease in range of movement. It normally peaks at about 1 to 3 days after a farfetched strength training or cardiovascular workout. Although anti-inflammatory drugs do appear to reduce muscle soreness during DOMS, studies show that they may slow down the ability of the muscles to repair the damage.
Eat properly
A study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, reported that snacking with a 4-to-1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein within 30 minutes of a workout, neutralizes muscle damage. That is because after a workout your body is damaged and depleted of energy. Therefore, it requires immediate nourishment.
You will also get almost instant rebound if you drink your snack in liquid form because your body soaks up fluids quicker than solid foods. You can purchase ready to drink protein shakes at most grocery stores. Be sure that the sugar and fat quantities are below 2 grams per serving. Consume your shake with an apple, small banana or one and half cup of berries.
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