January is nearly over and for those of you who haven’t yet broken their new year’s resolution to stay fit and active for 2023, you’ve been bettering yourself for almost a month now. Get you! Working out is important, but we often neglect the recovery stage of our exercise, which can be just as crucial. if you’re not seeing the results you want, or you would just like to see more tangible results then I have some great advice for you on post-workout recovery, so read on.
What is post-workout recovery?
Post-workout recovery is the process of rebuilding and repairing the muscles that have been damaged during exercise. This process is essential for muscle growth and improved performance. There are several things that can be done to aid in post-workout recovery in order to get more bang for your buck for every minute that you exercise.
Hit the showers
Of course a post-workout shower is great for keeping yourself clean and hygeinic, as is washes away the sweat prduced from your hard graft. But did you know that the water from the shower can actually help your muscles too? Alternativng between hot and cold water during your post-workout shower can help to alleivate the muscle soreness you sometimes get after a workout and improve your recovery altogether. if you have access to a steam shower at your gym then even better, as steam is the equivalent of wrapping your muscles in a nice warm blanket.
Stay hydrated
While almost everyone remembers to take water with them to the gym or wherever they are working out, but how many remember to drink water after exercising? Drinking post-workout is vitally important to aid your recovery. Experts conclude that for every 15 minutes of exercise you do you should be drinking 260ml of water, followed by another 230ml no more than 30 minutes after the end of your workout. Bonus points for adding electrolytes to your post-workout recovery drink.
Stretch!
It’s something that so many people are guilty of neglecting – the post-workout stretch! While the majority of us will always stretch before a workout in order to reduce the chance of an injury, many forget to stretch at the end of the workout, which is a mistake. Stretching your muscles post-workout gives them a kick-start into recovery mode, while simultaneously releasing stress and tension, which boosts the flexibility of your joints.
Get some protein
Regardless of whether you are low-carbing it like me or following a different kind of strict diet, making sure you take in plenty of protein is one of the most important ways to help your body recover from the stress that you put it through during exercise. Protein can come from a special shake, eggs, steak or seitan if you’re a vegan. As long as the food you consume post-workout is rich in protein it will aid your body into recovery so you can get the most from your workout and really benefit from that exercise.
Rest – but not too much
Many people take the ‘rest’ aspect of rest day a bit too seriously. After working our all week, many people try and spend their rest day being as sedentary as possible, which isn’t very good for you. Not doing anything on your rest day will actually do you more harm than good. You don’t have to go all out with a HIIT session or anything like that. A gentle walk, some yoga or stretching or even a couple of games on the Nintendo Wii with the kids will be enough to prevent your muscles from seizing up. This also has the knock-on effect of making it easier to get back into exercise on your workout days.
My post recovery shake is the one thing that keeps me going throughout my HIIT workouts. Mmmm, chocolate!