How To Speed Up Muscle Recovery

Muscle pain can be quite satisfying. It can also be quite, well, painful at times. It may also take up to 72 hours to go away all the while you may have only 48 hours or less to recover. While it’s a good idea to split your training by muscle groups to give your sore muscles enough time to recover between sessions but there are a few things you can do to speed up muscle recovery.

Tips on Speeding Up Muscle Recovery

Rest Rest Rest

Ever heard the line ‘rest and recover’? Well, apply it to practice. After a gruelling workout that left you walking funny and sore all over the best tactics is to rest. Sleep is the best muscle pain medicine but you can also relax in a hot tub or sauna, and take a well-deserved nap after, especially if 8 hour sleep isn’t something you can achieve (not that you shouldn’t strive to). Other things that can help you rest, relax, and recover may include massage, meditation, foam rolling.

Stretch

Active rest can help too as it removes lactic acid (which causes the pain) from muscles aiding recovery. Stretching is one of the things you can do as part of your active recovery. It can help you relieve muscle pain as well as give you other great benefits like energy boost, increased flexibility, stress relief, and better circulation.

Nourish Your Body

Nourishing your body with healthy whole foods can actually help speed up recovery far more than you may think. First and foremost, make sure to fuel up on protein and fast carbs like fruit after a workout. This will help promote muscle recovery and rebuilding. Consuming enough protein will help your muscles rebuild faster. Eat nutrient-dense as opposed to calorie-dense foods as it is the best and most effective way to lose fat and give the body all the necessary tools to rebuild and repair itself. Foods that are said to aid in speeding muscle recovery include chocolate milk and tart cherry juice. In reality any whole foods rich in vitamins will help your muscles recover fast enough.

Repeat

Exercising regularly will help your muscles adjust to the training so that they don’t hurt as much or at all after subsequent sessions. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let your body rest and recover as it is still required for you to perform intensive heavy workouts. When your workouts are sporadic the muscles don’t get a chance to adjust and thus always hurt after another random bout of exercise or any strenuous physical activity.