20 Tips to optimize muscle recovery after exercise

Having a good workout session is great for stimulating muscle growth, but you won’t be adding any more size or strength without optimizing your recovery afterward.

This is the reason why most people crush it in the gym and see no results, so here are 20 tips on how to optimize your muscle recovery:

What to do:

1-Eating enough protein

Protein is the most important macronutrient in the building muscle process. It gives you the amino acids needed to repair and create new muscle tissue.

Therefore, making sure that you are getting enough protein should be your number one priority if you want to optimize muscle recovery.

Aim for at least .8-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight daily and separate them equally around 4-5 meals.

2-Eating balanced healthy diet

We already talked about getting enough protein and carbs to build muscle and restore the lost energy during your workout session. But, don’t forget that your body needs other nutrients to stay healthy and speed your recovery along the way.

So, try to eat a fair amount of food (depending on your goal) from all the food groups especially fruits and vegetables to get those vitamins and minerals that you need.

3-Optimize what you eat around the workout

What you eat around your workout (pre/post workout) makes a huge difference in your performance, strength, and recovery.

I wrote a whole article about this topic, which you can find HERE. But in general, 20-40g of protein with twice that amount from complex carbohydrates 2-3h before a workout is a good start.

As for the post-workout meals, try to get the same amount of protein and carbs without much fat but from simple and fast-digesting sources.

4-Get enough high-quality sleep

It has been shown that lack of adequate sleep can decrease the reduced tolerance to training, alter mood, increase the perception of fatigue and negatively affect the physiological mechanisms responsible for adaptation from the stresses of training.

Therefore, try to develop a regular sleeping routine where you go to bed at a similar time each night of the week. Remove distractions like light, smartphones, and TVs. If possible, try for 8 hours of sleep per night and/or fit in an afternoon power nap for 30 minutes to rejuvenate the body.

5-massage

Massage from a therapist or self-massage AKA self-myofascial release (SMR) with foam rollers, massage sticks, and even baseballs can reduce muscle stiffness, promote circulation and induce a state of relaxation in the muscle, although research has been equivocal.

It might be painful, but SMR can be performed the night of a hard workout to remove scar tissue, adhesions in the muscle, and restrictions in the fascia (a type of connective tissue that wraps around the whole body).

There is how to do a self-myofascial release, gently roll a baseball, or massage stick over all major muscle groups until you find a sensitive spot. Apply direct pressure until the pain dissipates. Roll over the muscle again and repeat if necessary.

6-Ice path

Some athletes swear by ice baths, ice massage, or contrast water therapy (alternating hot and cold showers) to recover faster, reduce muscle soreness, and prevent injury.

The theory behind this method is that repeatedly constricting and dilating blood vessels helps remove (or flush out) waste products in the tissues.

You can give it a try and see how it will affect you in terms of muscle relaxation and reduction of pain.

7-Stretching

Doing stretches before and after a workout not only prevents injuries but also promote muscle recovery by keeping the tissue elastic, promoting blood flow, clearing waste products, and preventing the formation of scar tissue.

So, try to do 5-10 mins of dynamic stretches before a workout and another 5-10 static stretches after.

8-Rest & Relax

Time is one of the best ways to recover (or heal) from just about any illness or injury and this also works after a hard workout. Your body has an amazing capacity to take care of itself if you allow it some time.

Resting after a hard workout allows the repair and recovery process to happen at a natural pace. It’s not the only thing you can or should do to promote recovery, but sometimes doing nothing is the easiest thing to do.

9-Low intensity cardio

Easy, gentle cardio (such as a brisk walk or a bike ride) improves circulation, which helps promote nutrient and waste product transport throughout the body. In theory, this helps the muscles repair and refuel faster.

Just pick an easy cardio exercise that you like and keep your heart rate below 120 beats per minute the entire workout and go for about 20-30 minutes.

10-Wearing compression garment

Wearing compression garments has become common among athletes over the past several decades.

There’s a limited number of studies looking at their effectiveness for speeding up recovery from exercise. But a small 2019 study found that they lowered time for body muscle recovery in German handball players.

In the study, the athletes wore the garments for 24 hours and then alternated between 12-hour breaks and 12-hour periods of wearing them for a total of 96 hours.

11-Stay hydrated

Dehydration can reduce performance potential, but also delay the recovery process. Exercising especially in hot weather increase the body’s need for water and electrolytes.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking 16 to 24 ounces of fluid for every pound you lose while exercising and that the minimum amount of fluid intake per day for males is 3.7L/day and 2.7L/day for females.

12-Taking creatine

Creatine is one of the most widely studied supplements. Research consistently shows it can help improve muscular strength when combined with resistance training.

Research has also found creatine may help athletes recover from intense training by helping reduce muscle damage and inflammation, as well as aiding in replenishing your muscles’ glycogen stores.

13-Having slow digesting protein before bed

Barring a serious case of sleepwalking, we’re not usually giving our body nutrients while we sleep. And you probably know by now that, when we do a workout, we cause tiny tears in our muscle tissue.

The body immediately goes to work repairing these tears, fueled by the protein we eat as I mentioned earlier. Research shows that consuming a decent amount of slow-digesting protein before bed allows our bodies to keep repairing muscles overnight.

You can go for things such Casein, yogurt, milk, meat, chicken, fish… etc.

14-Listening to music

Science is beginning to confirm what gym rats have known for years, that music helps you get more out of workouts by listening to relaxing tunes, which aid in exercise recovery.

Slow-tempo songs can help reduce your heart rate faster and get your blood lactate (the stuff that causes the pain in the first place) down back to resting levels more quickly after exercise.

A 2016 study looked at subjects who exercised with and without their favorite music playing. When they trained to music, parasympathetic nervous system activity increased afterward.

The parasympathetic nervous system kicks in after you train and is key for recovery, controlling processes such as digestion, going to the bathroom, and sexual arousal.

15-Taking a deload week

Training for several months non-stop with high volume and intensity is not always the best way to grow more muscle and strength. In fact, you will eventually be exhausted and won’t be able to add any more weight to the bar.

If this is your case, taking a deload week is strongly recommended. And a deload week doesn’t necessarily mean taking a whole week off training. It could be done just by decreasing the weight by 50% or decreasing the total volume by doing fewer sets and reps.

What to avoid:

16-Doing too much cardio

As I mentioned before, doing cardio will in fact enhance your recovery, but doing too much of it (especially with high intensity) will do more harm than good.

Your body’s ability to recover from training is limited, and if you push it too hard with too much cardio and strength training, it won’t be able to recover from both.

This eventually will lead to an injury or at least you won’t see any significant results.

17-Drinking alcohol

Consuming alcohol is damaging to many aspects of your muscle-building and recovery process.

Research has found that consuming alcohol after cycling impairs your muscles’ ability to replenish glycogen after endurance exercise. Alcohol also impairs protein synthesis in your muscles.

Also, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, anything with 4 percent or more alcohol can increase how much you pee, which delays rehydration after exercise.

18-Smoking tobacco

Smoking tobacco negatively impacts your musculoskeletal system.

Although there’s a limited amount of research on the effects of tobacco on muscle recovery, there’s some evidence that smoking is associated with an increased risk of muscular injury.

Smoking tobacco is also associated with an increased risk of developing joint disease and an increased risk of fracturing a bone.

19-Stressful life

Cortisol is a hormone released during stress. It is made to help you cope with stressful events, but it also stimulates glucose, fat, and protein breakdown.

Losing these nutrients will not only prevent you from building new muscle tissue, it might also make you lose what you already have.

Therefore, try to avoid any stressful situations as much as possible and stay relaxed most of the day.

20-Overtraining

One simple way to recovery faster is by designing a smart workout routine in the first place. Excessive exercise, heavy training at every session, or a lack of rest days will limit your fitness gains from exercise and undermine your recovery efforts.

The basis of any good training program is small incremental increases in intensity or volume over time. If you jump ahead too quickly, you put yourself at risk of injury or overtraining.

Designing your program so you work alternate muscles groups in different workouts is a good way to increase the recovery period between sessions.

And if you don’t know how to design your own workout plan to optimize your results, feel free to pick one of my transformation plans by clicking here