If one of your 2024 resolutions was to achieve peak physical performance, then as we near the halfway point in the year, it’s a great time to stop and assess the progress you’ve made so far. Whether you’ve already smashed your goal or have barely got off the starting block, fitness is an ongoing journey, and whilst pushing your limits in the gym or on the track might form the main basis of your approach, there’s another crucial ingredient in the recipe for success that shouldn’t be overlooked.
The recovery process is just as important as your workouts and exercise sessions themselves, and form the foundations for muscle growth, allowing them to repair and become stronger so that you’re ready to level up that little bit more in each workout. Proper muscle recovery is essential for preventing injuries, maintaining consistent progress, and achieving long-term fitness goals – yet it’s something many athletes and fitness fanatics fail to dedicate the time and attention it deserves.
Here, we take a look at the best practices for muscle recovery and the science behind them to help you optimise your fitness regime and elevate your hard-won results.
Why muscle recovery is key
During intense physical activity, such as weight-lifting or long-distance running, muscles are placed under stress and microtears occur. It might sound worrying, but in fact, it’s all part of the process of improving your performance, as the body’s natural response is to repair the damaged muscle fibres, making them stronger in the process. It’s a necessary step in muscle growth and ultimately, improved performance, yet many continue to underestimate its role and so fail to give their bodies the time they need to allow this to happen.
Without adequate recovery, muscles cannot repair efficiently, leading to fatigue, overtraining, and an increased risk of injury. Recovery periods are also vital when it comes to your mental wellbeing, because they help to reduce overall stress and fatigue. It’s far easier to stay motivated when you’ve had sufficient rest time and feel ready to go again, rather than pushing yourself to burnout, and you’ll be able to make far steadier progression by incorporating it into your routine.
Get the basics right
Nutrition, hydration, rest, and specific recovery techniques all play a role in muscle recovery. First and foremost, optimising your nutrition is key, and will help your body to repair muscle damage, replenish energy stores, and reduce inflammation.
Nutrition
After a workout, consuming high-quality protein sources such as lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy, or plant-based options like beans and lentils is essential and will aid in the process of muscle repair and growth. A protein intake of about 20-30 grams within 30 minutes to two hours post-exercise is a good goal to aim for and will ensure your body is getting sufficient amounts of the amino acids needed to rebuild muscle tissue.
You’ll also need to load up on carbs after a workout to replenish lost glycogen stores, which are rapidly depleted during intense exercise. Foods like sweet potatoes, rice, fruits, and whole grains are excellent choices, but be sure to eat them together with your protein source to slow digestion and keep your blood sugar steady.
Healthy fats, found in avocados, nuts, seeds, and oily fish, are also key and play a role in reducing inflammation and supporting overall recovery, so add a thumb-sized amount to each meal to ensure you’re getting enough.
Hydration
Never underestimate the power of good hydration. If you’ve noticed a difference in the quality of your workouts when you have and haven’t drunk sufficient amounts of water over the 24-hour period beforehand, then it should come as no surprise that proper hydration can have just as much of an impact on muscle recovery.
Water supports metabolic functions, helps transport nutrients to cells, and aids in removing waste products. Ideally, your water should be infused with electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium, which the body loses through sweat. Sports drinks or electrolyte supplements are a good way to ensure yours stay balanced.
Rest
When you’re striving to achieve an ambitious fitness goal, it can be easy to neglect rest, subscribing that just one more workout could make all the difference in getting to where you want to be that bit faster. But on the contrary, rest is the most vital component of muscle recovery, and without it, the body is unable to adequately repair and strengthen muscles. We’re not just talking about sacking off one of your weekly gym sessions for a night in watching Netflix; quality sleep is critical, too. The time when you’re asleep is when the body does most of its repair work, increasing hormone production to facilitate the process, so you need to be getting enough of it. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night to ensure you’re allowing yourself time for optimal recovery.
Incorporating low-intensity activities, such as walking, yoga, or light stretching into your rest time – known as active recovery – can also enhance blood flow and help muscles recover without additional strain.
Nutritional supplements
While supplements alone won’t make a dramatic difference to your overall results, when used as part of a strategic approach to recovery, they can help. Branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs), creatine, and omega-3 fatty acids can all support muscle recovery. You could also try a beef spleen supplement, which can help to maintain your iron levels and reduce tiredness and fatigue. Grass fed beef testicles are a surprisingly good supplement to consider too, as by helping to keep your testosterone levels optimal, they can support you in building muscle more quickly.
