Published on October 7th, 2021 | by Biplab Das

10 Tips to Speed Up Your Workout Recovery

Recovery and rest are crucial parts of any exercise routine. Your post workout recovery program has a huge effect on your physical performance allowing you to train better. The downside is, a lot of people do not have – or do not follow a post workout recovery routine. With that in mind, here are some tips to get your post-workout recovery back on track.

Why recovery is important

Post workout recovery is important to building strength in your muscles and repairing damaged tissue. This is even more important after completing weight training sessions.

Your muscles need about 24 to 48 hours for rebuilding and repairing. This means that working these muscles or working out again too soon will lead to the muscles further breaking down, rather than rebuilding.

If you are doing weight training exercises, this means you need to refrain from working out the same muscles more than 2 days in a row.

You will find there are plenty of recovery methods for athletes and non-athletes alike. Here are some of the most popular methods as recommended by fitness experts:

Stay Hydrated

When you exercise, you tend to lose a lot of fluids and ideally, you need to replace them during your workout. However, replacing lost fluids after your exercise is also a quick way to improve and shorten your recovery period.

Water aids your body’s metabolism as well as in transferring nutrients throughout your body. Ergo, having sufficient amounts of water guarantees optimal bodily functions. Sufficient fluid replacement is also critical for athletes who undergo endurance training since they tend to lose large amounts of water while they train.

Choose recovery foods

Once you’ve depleted your energy stores because of exercise, you have to refuel if you want your body to repair muscles, become stronger, recover, and get ready for your next round of training. This is extra necessary if you do endurance training every day or building muscles.

Ideally, you need to eat within one hour after your workout and you need to add carbohydrates and lean proteins.

Relax and get plenty of rest

Spending some time off is among the best ways to heal or recover from nearly any injury or ailment. This would also include strenuous workouts and this also works after a hard workout.

Resting after strenuous activities speeds up the recovery process and allows muscle repair to happen naturally. Although this is not the only thing you should do or can do to recover, it is definitely the easiest.

Do stretching exercises

After an intense workout, go do stretching exercises. This is a quick and easy way to allow muscles to recover.

Do active recovery exercises

Easy exercises like bike rides or walks help boost circulation, allowing for better nutrient transport and waste product disposal throughout the body. This results in faster energy refueling and muscle repair.

Massage always helps

Massages feel great and boost circulation while enabling you to relax. You can also use a percussion massager to relieve muscle tightness.

Take ice baths

Many athletes take ice baths, or alternate hot and cold showers to help their bodies recover quickly, minimize muscle soreness, and stop injury. The reason behind this technique is that by constantly dilating and constricting your blood vessels helps eliminate waste products in the muscles.

Use contrast water therapy

When you take your post workout shower, alternate 30 seconds of cold water with 2 minutes of hot water. Do this four times with one minute moderate temperature between every hot and cold shower.

Get more sleep

During sleep, your body heals itself. Getting optimal sleep is crucial for anyone who regularly works out. While you sleep, the body produces the Growth Hormone which is mainly responsible for tissue repair and growth. To help prepare your body for optimal sleep, you can relax by using a handheld massager.

Do a visualization Exercise

Doing a bit of mental practice and adding it to your exercise routine can benefit any athlete. Spend time doing visualization exercises or mindfulness meditation programs to help reduce anxiety and keep you calm.

Understanding how your mind works, as well as how your thoughts can affect you and others is a great way for you to recover both physically and mentally. In addition, doing positive self-talk helps a lot to change your internal dialogue.

Do not overtrain

Another easy way to recover quickly is to have a smart workout routine to begin with. Excessive workouts, overtraining, and not having enough rest will not only limit your gains, it undermines any effort you put into recovery.

The most effective thing you can do to quickly recover is to listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel sore, tired, or experiencing lower performance, you need more time to recover.

Tags: speed up, tips, workout recovery

About the Author

Biplab Das My name is Biplab Das. I’m a writer, sometimes a tech YouTuber, blogger, ICT tutor and a part time website developer whose childhood obsession with science fiction never quite faded. A quarter-century later, the technology that I coveted as a kid is woven into the fabric of everyday life. I’ve spent the past years to learn these technologies, People say smartphones are boring these days, but I think everyone is beginning to take this wonderful technology marvel for granted.