What is Recovery & why is it important?

When we partake in physical activity whether that be running/ resistance training, or sport, our muscles become damaged ( where micro-tears occur in the tissue as a result of exercise. The volume, intensity, and duration of your workout all play a role in determining how taxing it is on your body ie. how much damage is done to the tissue. If you don’t let your muscles recover between workouts, you put yourself at risk of getting injured. Repeated stress from exercise causes small tears called micro-tears that lead to muscles feeling sore and inflamed. An accumulation of tears puts you at risk of developing torn muscles, also called muscle strains or pulled muscles. Muscle strains can range from mildly uncomfortable to complete ruptures that may need surgery to repair. If you’re not recovering fully, you’ll also likely notice your athletic performance decline over time. So, with all this in mind, how do we maximize this damage and turn it into " good" for the muscle, in order to gain potential.

Living a generally healthy lifestyle is the most important step you can take to maximize your muscle recovery. Generally, no recovery method can make up for poor nutrition and lack of sleep, so keep that in mind, but there are other small things that can aid your recovery which I'm going to go through below.

Active Recovery- low intensity, low impact, promoting blood flow and tissue repair without further damaging the tissue. If you are fatigued from strength training, then engage in low-intensity cardiovascular work such as bike or walking, which will allow your body to continue to circulate waste products leftover from the intense workout. Something also such as a gentle pilates or yoga session that focused on mobility would be beneficial. Think of active recovery as things you can do without becoming exhausted or fatiguing your muscle tissue.

Passive Recovery - Complete rest from exercise/ physical activity. How much of this you need will depend on your fitness level & how intense the workout was. Cross-training- the bang for your buck kind of recovery! It works off by changing the style of workout you do on a regular basis so that you are fatiguing different muscles. For example, Cross-training may look something like: running, strength training, and pilates, so you are stressing the body in different ways, albeit maybe crossing over on the same muscles.

Food

Proteins- when we exercise as mentioned above, the tissue becomes damaged, this is mainly the proteins that make up your muscle fibers. So, consuming protein regularly throughout the day or having substantial proteins at every meal will give your body those raw materials it requires to repair that damage. It is said, according to research, that individuals generally should intake 1.2-1.8 g/kg body weight of protein per day which if you are 70kg would mean you should be eating between 84-126g of protein every day.

Balanced diet- Eating an overall healthy diet can ensure that you don't develop any nutrient deficiencies that may impair your muscle ability to recover.

- THINGS TO NOTE:

1:Minimize your consumption of ultra-processed foods ( generally junk food)

2:Eat lots of fruit and veg

3:get at least 1-2-1.8g/kg body weight of protein a day

Hydration

dehydration can impair your muscle's ability to repair themselves. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking between 16-24 ounces of fluid for every lb you lose whilst exercising. A good way to measure this is to step on the scales pre and post-workout, the weight you've lost is what you've got to replenish in fluid intake to ensure adequate hydration.

Supplements

Creatine- One of the most used and studied supplements that can improve your muscle strength when you combine it with resistance training. It has also been shown to help you recover post-workout by reducing muscle damage and inflammation as well as helping to replenish glycogen stores.

Protein powders- a wide range of them and a convenient way of increasing your daily intake of protein.

Sleep

The time you have to sleep allows your muscles to recover, Research has found that depriving sleep may impair your muscle recovery by decreasing the body's inflammation reaction and the production of hormones that aid muscle growth. Make sure you are getting 8 hours of sleep if you are exercising intensely

Other

Massage- many people incorporate massage or massage tools into their training regimes to help reduce muscle soreness. A review in 2020 found that massage has a small but significant effect on improving flexibility and decreasing DOMS after exercise. Massage guns have been proven in research to have a similar effect on improving flexibility post-exercise.

Compression- Has become quite popular in recent years to aid your recovery by using external compression devices such as compression socks/ wraps or compression boots such as the Normatec Boots. Compression is well researched when it comes to aids post-surgery such as prevention of clotting, clearing or reducing lymphodema, aiding in wound healing. It is only recently compression has been looked at in terms of athletic performance and there are mixed reviews but there is a notable difference in recovery length when using compression boots.

Cold Therapy/ Cryotherapy - exposing your body to extremely cold temperatures for a few minutes. Has been shown to reduce inflammation, pain, and muscle tiredness after activity.

How long does it take for muscles to recover?

Anywhere from 24 hrs to 2-3 days depending on how strenuous the activity was

How do you prevent injury during muscle recovery?

Ensure you are working alternate muscles groups on different days maximizing recovery periods between sessions.

Increase the volume and intensity of your workouts incrementally, allowing for adequate recovery and adaptation time.

Complications from not recovering properly?

Not allowing adequate recovery time may lead to injury. As already mentioned, when we exercise we cause microtears in the muscles which need time to heal. Not allowing this healing process and having repeated stress on the area may in time lead to larger tears, also known as muscle strains. Muscle strains as we know have different grades from minor to major that may need surgery to repair if close to the attachment point at the bone.

You may notice also that your performance in the gym may start to decline if you are not recovering properly.

Take home notes:

- There is a multitude of ways to help with recovery but nothing will aid in this area more than a good night's sleep and good nutrition.

- Not recovery fulling may lead to injury.

- If you are noticing a decline in performance in the gym/ sport then you may need to take a step back and focus more on your recovery sessions

If you need help with your recovery sessions, or perhaps you feel you may have a muscle injury then book in for a Physiotherapy Consultation so that you can get back to your exercise routine soon! The Link to book in is below.

Feel Well, Move Well, Live Well.

Aisling

Chartered Physiotherapist MISCP, MISCPSEM.