Does exercise leave you aching for days? Do you find that this is getting in the way of your life? Allowing yourself time to recover properly from exercise is important. However, you shouldn’t be left incapacitated after a workout. Most intense workouts take 48 hours to recover from. By taking the right recovery steps, you can reduce this and ease the pain without harming your exercise results or causing injury to yourself. Below are a few tips on how to recover faster from exercise.
Avoid overtraining
Aching for days after a workout could be a sign that you’ve overexerted yourself and possibly even developed an injury. While there’s some truth to the ‘no pain no gain’ principle, it’s important to know the difference between good pain and bad pain. Good pain should be nothing more than a gentle burn. Sharp pains and cramps are a sign that you should stop training – don’t let your workout get to this point.
Hydrate and fuel up
Muscles need water, protein and vitamins to repair themselves. If you don’t hydrate or fuel up after a hard workout, your muscles won’t be able to heal as well. Your body may also struggle to burn fat. All in all, it’s important to drink lots of water and consume the right nutrients after a workout. You could consider taking muscle recovery supplements to help speed up your recovery. Avoid salty junk foods which won’t provide you with the right nutrients and won’t hydrate you.
Massage your muscles
Massages can help to reduce achiness and boost muscle repair. They can help blood to flow to the muscles to prevent them from cramping and seizing up. There are various tools such as rollers that you can buy for massaging your muscles at home. Alternatively, you could treat yourself to a professional sports massage after a hard workout.
Get a good night’s sleep
Sleep is very important for repairing your muscles and restoring energy levels. After a day of intense exercise, try to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep. Depriving yourself of sleep will slow down your recovery and could even increase the risk of an injury developing. Try to get an early night if you plan on getting up early the next day. It’s also not a good idea to train late at night unless you’re able to get a lie in the morning after.
Try an ice bath
This one is a little extreme, but is something that professional athletes often rely on. Ice baths have been proven to reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) by lowering inflammation. Ice baths involve filling your tub with cold water and ice. If you don’t have the money, time or freezer space to buy loads of ice, a cold water bath may have a similar impact, providing that the water is completely chilled. Aim to do this an hour or two after you exercise.
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