How to Recover After a Workout

If you’ve ever had a hard session at the gym, you may be all too familiar with delayed-onset muscle soreness — that strong muscle pain a few days post-workout. Muscle soreness is part of the growth journey and so is recovery. Here are a few tips on how to recover after a workout to ensure you reach your goals and avoid injuries and forced downtime.

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1. Cool Down and Stretch

Too often, people do a challenging workout or push themselves with a run and then neglect to stretch afterward. Stretching helps prevent injury and is essential as part of a cooling-down routine. Five to 10 minutes of stretching helps release built-up muscle tension, aiding the workout recovery process.

2. Hydrate Your Body

A big part of post-workout recovery is drinking water. During your workout, you sweat and dehydrate, which can lead to cramps and headaches. Drinking water during and after training helps your muscles recover.

3. Eat Right

Eating a balanced diet is a crucial part of working out. You should introduce healthy items to your:

• Overall diet: Eating nutritious foods gives your body the nutrients it needs to recover and strengthen. Reduce the ultra-processed food you eat, up your daily vegetable and fruit intake, and consume at least 0.7 grams of protein per pound (or 1.6 grams per kilogram) of your body weight.
• Pre-workout fuel: Consuming protein before exercise helps increase muscle protein synthesis, which promotes building and maintaining muscles.
• Post-work food: Enjoying post-workout snacks with proteins and carbohydrates can aid muscle recovery. Eat a healthy snack within 60 to 90 minutes after your workout for the best results.

4. Take Care of Your Muscles

You only have one body — treat it well by loving on it and allowing your muscles recovery time by:

• Resting: Rest days are critical for post-workout recovery, especially if you are on an intensive training regime. Professional trainers can work out a program tailored to your needs. Recovery includes getting a good night’s sleep.
• Getting massages: Use foam rollers to massage your muscles after your workout or go for a sports massage.
• Wearing compression tights and sleeves: According to research, the sweet spot to benefit most from this clothing is to apply pressure for 24 hours and then intermittent 12 hours on and 12 hours off for a 96-hour cycle.
• Listening to your body: Pushing yourself is good, but overdoing it is not. Listening to your body and respecting it is essential.

5. Avoid Certain Activities

Part of recovery after a workout involves not doing things like:

• Consuming alcohol: Drinking large amounts of alcohol can disrupt protein synthesis and increase your urination, which reduces your body’s ability to rehydrate.
• Smoking: Using tobacco products is detrimental to your skeletal system, can cause joint disease and negatively affects your overall health.

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Ready for a fitness transformation? 5 Bridges Health & Fitness has a talented team of certified trainers to guide your journey to success. Our mission is to champion community, nutrition, fitness, education and recovery. We offer fitness classes and personal training sessions that focus on these five pillars to give you the best results.

If you want to positively transform your life, view our membership plans and join our club!