How to Optimize Workout Recovery

Fitness enthusiasts are competitive types. They’re always trying to run faster, lift more weight, and build more muscle, and they quantify everything, relentlessly. For the most part, that attitude is healthy, and helps sustain them through those long, grinding hours in the gym or out running the lonely roads, when there’s no one around to be impressed by their dedication. But sometimes that competitive spirit becomes unhealthy, and the best example of that is the “no pain, no gain” attitude, which rapidly becomes counterproductive and even dangerous. RELATED: How to Optimize Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition If you’re living your life outside of the gym in a constant state of soreness and fatigue, don’t fool yourself: your exhaustion and bodily pain aren’t proof positive that you’ve been busting your butt in the gym, but clear evidence that you’re inadequately recovering from your workouts – and probably setting yourself up for failure in the long term. Here are some of the telltale signs of poor post-workout recovery: Muscle soreness Joint pain Chronic fatigue Decreased muscular strength Loss of motivation Headaches or migraines Decreased athletic performance Weakened immune system Obviously none of the above symptoms are pleasant, but notice, also, that they’re also all major obstacles to you making progress on your fitness journey. Fatigue, joint pain and muscle soreness all dramatically increase your risk of injury, and nothing quite derails an exercise regimen like a bad injury. Similarly, headaches, migraines and a drop in motivation all severely undermine your ability to stick to your routine, let alone enjoy yourself while you’re training. And a weakened immune system is nothing to sneer at, either: you won’t be training properly or eating well if you’re sidelined with a bad cold or flu. Re-Examine Your Diet So what can you do to defeat soreness and fatigue and optimize your recovery between workouts? The first and easiest solution is to simply sleep more. If you’re someone who likes to burn the midnight oil, or boast about how they can get by on six hours of sleep a night (with enough coffee, at least), it’s time to change your ways. Sleep is dedicated recovery time, and the less of it you get, the more you deny your body the chance to repair itself. The next two areas to tweak for optimal recovery – diet and exercise routine – are a little more complicated. The first step is establishing a diet plan that makes tracking simple. Calories are your first clue. If you’re trying to build muscle, you’re going to want to eat a surplus amount of calories; if you’re trying to lose weight, you’re aiming to consume fewer calories each day than your body needs, to force it to burn up your fat stores for energy. But here’s the catch: eat too few calories, and you’re not just forcing your body to burn up fat, but impairing its ability to recover from workouts, putting yourself at a much greater risk of injury and chronic fatigue. What’s the optimal amount of calories for you? Nothing short of trial and error can give you that answer, but if you’re struggling to recover between workouts, the first thing to consider is upping your daily caloric intake. The next dietary component to adjust has to do with the nutrients you’re consuming. Adequate protein intake is an essential part of both building muscle and losing fat, and if you’re not ingesting enough protein, muscle breakdown (and hence increased muscle soreness) will be the inevitable result. For years, the gold standard in recommendations for protein intake came from the International Society of Sports Nutrition, who found an intake of 1.4-2.0g per kg (roughly 0.6-1g per pound) of body weight was the ideal range for most physically active people. If you’re not experiencing optimal muscle recovery, protein intake is one of the first variables you need to consider. But there’s another component of your diet that is often overlooked but no less important than protein consumption, and that’s your micronutrient intake. Vitamins and minerals are an essential part of total body wellness, and though your diet of chicken and white rice might be enough to meet your protein and carbohydrate needs, it’s almost certainly leaving you deficient in key nutrients. Dial Back Your Workout Intensity The next variable to address is your exercise routine. If you’re noticing increasing muscle soreness and chronic fatigue, it might be time to dial things back a bit. That might mean doing fewer sets or reps, reducing the weights you use, or simply going to the gym less often. If the term “rest day” isn’t in your vocabulary, it’s time to introduce it, even embrace it, because your time off from the gym and strenuous exercise can actually increase your body’s ability to do work. If a full day off seems too much, consider doing “active recovery work,” designed specifically to aid in your recovery.   Light walks outside, with your friends or your dog, as well as yoga and guided breathing exercises all promote proper recovery, and go a long way towards keeping your body in good condition. Set Aside Time for Stretching & Massage Exercise is designed to stress the body, to force a favorable adaptation and hopefully bring you closer to your goals, but there's a fine line between stressing the body and torturing the body. If you're asking a lot of your muscles, you also need to ensure you're giving them the proper care as well, otherwise you're heading towards injury faster than your goals.  There are a ton of fantastic massage and myofascial release options on the market, from relatively inexpensive options like foam rollers and massage sticks to high-tech options like ice baths, thermal spas and fancy massage guns. You don't need to use all of them but you should use some of them, with particular concentration on areas of your body that are chronically sore or painful.  Good candidates for special care include the feet, calves, hamstrings and lats, as these all tend to hold a lot of tension and cause problems elsewhere in the body when that tension goes unaddressed. It's also a very good idea to stretch regularly, whether that's with a beginner yoga practice or just a basic stretching routine you do regularly.It's even a good idea to book a massage once or twice a year, just to have a professional assess your progress and work out any lingering tension you couldn't resolve yourself. The bottom line: if you’re suffering from exhaustion and prolonged muscle soreness, you need to treat these symptoms as signs of a greater need for post-workout recovery, and make the necessary changes. The younger you are, the longer you can get away with ignoring this advice, but take it from people who learned the hard way: it's better to start now. You Might Also Dig: Best Tasting Protein Powder The Six Fundamentals of Workout Recovery Best Pre-Workout Supplements