5 Proven Workout Recovery Strategies To Maximize Results

What you do after your workout is a deciding factor in how well you recover. The faster you recover from a workout, the sooner you can get back into the gym. The sooner you get to the gym, the faster you achieve your goals. These 5 proven workout recovery strategies will help you maximize results.

It may not be your favorite part of your workout routine, but recovery is imperative. If you want to maximize the results you get from your effort in the gym, improve your performance and continue to see results, it’s worth making time for.

The Five Rs of Recovery

The purpose of recovery is to give your body time to repair, adapt and build. During recovery your body has time to:

• Repair and rebuild muscle damage
• Rehydrate from intra-workout sweating
• Refuel depleted stores
• Restore energy systems
• Remove metabolic by-product

You see, you don’t actually build muscle during your workout.

Lifting weights actually breaks down muscle fibers. Each lift, every progressively heavier weight that you pick up, causes microtears in the muscle tissue. Long bouts of cardio put stress on your joints and pressure on your skeletal system. When you feel sore after a workout, it’s because of this damage and stress. It’s only with good nutrition and a smart, science proven workout recovery routine that you start to build more, and stronger, muscle.

Workouts tax your energy systems. If you’ve ever done a workout on an empty stomach and felt completely wiped out – well before you normally would doing the same workout with a well-fueled body, well, that’s because you’re working on empty. Your body uses what energy/fuel it has available, then taps into stores if it can, and then poops out (that’s a technical term). Rest and recovery allows your body the time to refuel and build up those stores again.

In the process of making energy to get you through a workout, metabolic waste accumulates. The molecules that are left behind from the energy-producing pathways – specifically lactate and protons – negatively affect your muscles ability to contract and recover. You need time both during your workout and in between your workouts to fully recover and get rid of the waste in your cells.

5 Proven Workout Recovery Strategies To Maximize Results

These post-workout recovery strategies are immediately implementable. Read on for the details.

#1: F.I.T.T.

Maybe you’ve heard of the F.I.T.T. principal in reference to your workouts. Well, the acronym works for recovery purposes too.

F.I.T.T. stands for: frequency, intensity, time and type. Here’s how you can apply it to your post-workout recovery routine.

Frequency of Recovery

This piece of F.I.T.T. refers to the number of days off, or in active recovery, that you include each week. Frequency will vary depending on your current fitness level and the type/intensity of the workouts you do. If you’re recovering from a 60-minute, full body strength workout that is moderately hard, you might just need a single day of rest before you can do it again with maximum effort. But if you’re recovering from a marathon or a more intense workout, you might need a couple of days to fully recover.

Intensity of Recovery

In the case of intensity, I’m really referring more to your recovery post-exercise, not post-workout. The intensity of your recovery period between work sets is critical to improving performance and getting the desired results. For example, if your workout includes sprint intervals where you get your heart rate up to 90-95% of your max heart rate, you are going to want to recover by walking or resting for 2-3 minutes until your heart rate has dropped to a lower intensity. Skipping that low intensity rest interval limits the amount of work effort you can produce time after time.

Time of Recovery

This refers to the above intensity of recovery. The fitter you are, the faster your body is able to recover from intense bouts of exercise. Likewise, the more intense the work, the more time you want to spend in recovery. If you are a beginner just starting out with HIIT training you’re work to rest ratio might be 1:3 or even 1:4. As you progress and get stronger, you can reduce the amount of time you need to recover.

Type of Recovery

There are two types of recovery: active and passive. Active recovery consists of low intensity movement done to stimulate blood circulation, reduce tightness and reduce soreness. Passive recovery is resting completely. Again, what you choose to do and what you should do depends on how intensely you workout, your current fitness level, the other recovery techniques you apply and your goals. I encourage most of my clients to choose active recovery. Whether you lift or run or do CrossFit, consider cross-training on your off days to maintain a well-balanced, healthy body.

#2: Post-Workout Nutrition

When it comes to tried and true, timeless and proven workout recovery strategies, that post-workout fuel window ranks #1. The latest research suggests that it’s not necessarily crucial to refuel within the notorious 1-hour window. What is crucial is to ensure your body has the nutrients it needs when it’s looking for them. And your muscles do happen to be highly receptive to refueling within the first few hours post-workout, though the window remains open longer than that.

Hard workouts deplete your energy stores. They also, as you now know, create tears in muscle fiber that need to be repaired and reinforced. Immediately post-workout, your muscles are most susceptible to soaking up nutrients. That’s partially because blood flow to the musculature is greater just after a workout and partially because muscle cells are more receptive to the effects of insulin at this time.

What that means is that a combination of protein and carbohydrates is best for post-workout recovery and to maximize results. The carbohydrates replenish diminished nutrient stores so that the protein can get to work building and repairing. You need both!

The ratio of carbs : protein differs depending on your goals.

• Goal: build muscle – aim for a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein.
• Goal: fat loss – aim for a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Consume

Choosing the right carbs and proteins is just as important as getting the right ratio.

Whey protein is the ideal post-workout protein. Whey is considered a “fast protein”, because of the body’s ability to rapidly absorb it. It also contains lactose, which slightly elevates insulin – necessary for growth, energy and development. Perfect for a post-workout shake.

Simple carbohydrates are ideal for your post-workout recovery meal or drink for the same reasons whey is ideal. Simple carbs are absorbed quickly. While this isn’t an ideal trait in carbohydrates that you consume throughout the day, it is ideal for getting hard-earned nutrients to well-deserving muscles.

#3: Hydration

Fun fact: of the energy that your body produces for exercise, 75% of that energy is released as heat. That heat raises your body temperature and causes you to sweat. As a result of your body’s natural cooling system, you can lose a lot of H2O during exercise.

Any loss of bodily fluid is going to affect your ability to recover, and perform at peak potential. So it’s absolutely key to stay hydrated throughout your workout and rehydrate immediately upon finishing.

On average, you lose about 4 cups of water per hour of exercise. This of course depends on your size, the intensity of your workout and your perspiration rate (some people sweat more than others). It also depends on altitude and ambient temperature. Regardless, rehydrating is imperative is you want to recovery quickly and maximize your workout next time.

The simplest way to ensure you don’t lose too much body water and risk dehydration is to sip on water throughout the day. Drink 8-16 ounces during your workout and another 8-16 ounces in the hours immediately following your workout. In total, aim for 9-12 cups of water each day.

#4: Cool Down, Stretch and SMR

Always finish your workout with a cool down and stretch session. Just 5-10 minutes is enough time to slow your heart rate and lower your body temperature.

Start with a cool down walk or cycle. Continuing to move your body, albeit at a much lower intensity. This gives your muscles time to stretch and lengthen while oxygenated blood is still pumping at a higher rate.

Your post-workout stretch is a good time to include isometric holds. Think toe touches, quad stretches and piriformis stretches. Your muscles are still warm and limber from your workout so holding stretches and pushing a bit further into the hold is safe and beneficial.

SMR, self-myofascial release, is also known as foam rolling. Think of foam rolling as a massage that you can give to your self. It can relieve muscle tightness, reduce post-workout soreness, decrease inflammation and increase your range of motion. All results that in turn maximize performance and results during future workouts.

>> 5 Reasons to Start Foam Rolling

#5: Sleep

The ultimate recovery strategy: sleep. There are a number of reasons why sleep is so crucial to recovery.

First up: hormones. When your body enters deep sleep it releases growth hormones. These hormones promote muscle growth and stimulate repair. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t have the time to release these hormones. Without them, it is difficult for your muscles to recover.

Another hormone that comes out to play at night is prolactin, an inflammation regulator. Without the time to produce enough of it, recovery becomes more difficult.

On top of that, as you fall into deep sleep your muscles actually experience a higher rate of blood flow. That means that there’s more oxygen reaching your muscles, and more nutrients. The combo enhances recovery and repair.

Do you have trouble falling asleep or feel like your quality of sleep could be better? It might be time to change up your nightly routine to support improved sleep. Shut of electronics 2 hours before bed to minimize exposure to blue light. Drink chamomile tea or use lavender essential oils. Consider high-quality supplements to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Lower the temperature in your bedroom and get black out curtains. All of these little tips have helped my clients rest easier at night!