Understanding the best methods for muscle recovery after exercise will help you optimize your fitness regime.
Many of us exercise regularly for fitness, to lose weight, or even just for fun. However, a fitness world that constantly preaches people to ‘punch through the pain barrier’ may do more harm than good.
While most people will instinctively focus on exercise, what they should be doing is looking at muscle recovery. Exercise is excellent for health and longevity, but you could waste time and effort if you don’t give your muscles time to recover. Here’s why…
What is muscle recovery?
As the name implies, muscle recovery is simply the process by which your muscles recover after a hard exercise.
During vigorous exercise, you may push your muscles to muscle failure – the point at which you can no longer do another repetition. Exertions can break down the fibers in your muscles, rendering them less capable of doing their job. You’ll feel the effects of soreness, stiffness, and a reduced ability to lift weights.
Many people will see this as a positive sign that exercise is working. ‘No pain no gain’, goes the slogan. If it’s not hurting, it’s not doing any good.
That’s only partly true. Most people don’t realize that intense exercise is not where you experience the real gains. That comes later when your muscles have had time to recover.
This is when your body repairs your muscles, building them back bigger and better. If you’ve scheduled your recovery well, you should be able to keep going longer the next time you exercise.
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How long do muscles take to recover?
Recovery times can vary between people. They depend on the intensity of the exercise session and their general fitness levels.
Relatively light exercise might take around 24 hours for recovery, while more strenuous sessions can take two to three days. It might take even longer if you’ve been pushing things particularly hard.
The table below estimates how long it takes for your muscles to recover from different types of exercises.
| Type of exercise | Recovery time needed | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Light exercise | 24 hours | Activities such as light jogging, yoga, or gentle stretching. |
| Moderate exercise | 24 to 48 hours | Includes moderate weight lifting, cycling, or aerobic workouts. |
| Intense exercise | 48 to 72 hours | High-intensity interval training (HIIT), heavy weight lifting, or long-distance running. |
| Very intense exercise | 72 hours or more | Extreme exertion includes marathon running, advanced HIIT, or heavy lifting competitions. |
Listening to your body is important—it will tell you when it feels recovered. Generally speaking, including a couple of rest days in your weekly schedule will give your muscles the space they need to recover.
You should also vary workouts so you’re doing different types of exercise and working different muscles. For example, if you follow up a day of weight training with a run, you’re giving one part of your body a chance to rest while exercising another.
How can I improve my muscle recovery?
You can do many things to speed up muscle recovery, even from home. Top athletes, for example, will use sports massage and cryotherapy to improve the speed at which muscles recover.
Ensuring you get plenty of proteins in your diet, staying hydrated and getting a balanced range of nutrients in your diet can all accelerate your recovery times.
Equally important is to get enough sleep, stay relaxed, and avoid stress. Stress is an unavoidable part of our modern life, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a recent study by the World Health Organization, the pandemic triggered a 25% increase in occurrences of stress and anxiety around the world.
Studies also show that exposure to psychological stress can harm muscle recovery. Aside from harming our well-being, stress can also harm our attempts to get fitter.
9 Tips to maximize muscle recovery
Maximizing muscle recovery is essential for enhancing performance, reducing the risk of injury, and ensuring you can continue to train effectively. Here are some key strategies to help you get the most out of your recovery periods:
1. Get more sleep
There’s a reason why you feel like taking a nap after a heavy exercise session. Your body needs it.
Sleep gives your heart a chance to rest, cells a chance to grow, and muscles space to repair themselves. It also helps the body build an effective immune system to fight off disease and ensure you’re in the best possible position to increase your fitness levels.
2. Eat well
Eating a healthy, balanced diet at all times is essential, but it can be particularly important in muscle recovery.
When athletes are training, they will try to get a lot of protein into the system, which will help to rebuild muscle fibers. Carbohydrates will restore your glycogen levels, which will have been depleted during exercise.
Meanwhile, a good, balanced diet will ensure the body has a steady supply of the nutrition it needs to maintain operations.
3. Stay hydrated
It is always important to stay properly hydrated. During exercise, especially in hot weather, you can lose a lot of water from your body.
Dehydration can impair your muscles’ ability to repair themselves. A particularly useful drink could be tart cherry juice, which is linked to reducing muscle inflammation after workouts.
4. Avoid bad stuff
Alcohol and tobacco will affect your musculoskeletal system and can hinder recovery.
5. Get a regular massage
Regular massage can ease the pain you feel in your muscles and improve muscle elasticity and flexibility. Top athletes use massage as a way to improve recovery time as well as reduce the risk of injury.
6. Try hot and cold water therapy
Switching between hot and cold water causes blood vessels to dilate and changes your heart rate. It improves blood flow and, according to some research, has been shown to improve muscle recovery.
7. Cryotherapy
In recent years, top athletes have been using cryotherapy treatments to improve muscle recovery. The idea is that exposure to extreme cold can improve the muscles’ ability to repair themselves.
Research has shown that this can be effective in reducing pain, inflammation and reducing muscle tiredness. This obviously is only available to people with access to specialist facilities.
8. Use compression garments
Many athletes have taken to compression garments to reduce muscle soreness in relation to exercise. The idea is that it acts as a low-intensity massage and raises the skin’s temperature, promoting improved blood flow to muscles.
9. Consider taking supplements
Taking some supplements has also been shown to improve muscle recovery. This market is booming, with a whole range of supplements being promoted that promise to improve muscle condition.
The supplement industry is a big business, and a host of products are on the market that promise better recovery times, better fitness, and increased endurance.
Some will be better than others, which is why it’s important to focus on those that come backed by verifiable information.
Supplements that help muscle recovery
One supplement dedicated to improving muscle recovery is Timeline, made of purified urolithin A from Mitopure.
A major player in muscle health is our mitochondria, famously known as the cell’s powerhouse. These microscopic batteries power our muscles and allow us to move.
Unfortunately, our mitochondria begin to malfunction with age, causing muscle fatigue. In human clinical trials, mitopure has been proven to support mitochondrial health and boost muscle endurance.
Closing thoughts
Muscle recovery, therefore, is perhaps the single most important part of your exercise regime. Without it, much of the work you do in the gym could go to waste. Some of it may even end up being counter-productive.
Muscle recovery is the second part of the equation if exercise is the first part of gaining fitness. It’s when your body puts the rebuilding blocks in place to become faster, fitter, and stronger in the future.
So, while you may think you don’t have the time to rest, you can’t do without it.
