THE OPPORTUNITY FOR muscle growth begins the moment you stop training, and that growth can’t happen without proper recovery.
Muscles don’t grow in the gym or out on the pitch; they grow afterwards, so while it’s important to stress the body, it’s just as important to let it heal properly.
Thankfully, there are several ways – some more convoluted than others, to aid your recovery and we suggest not limiting yourself to just one of this list of five we’ve compiled.
1. Massage, foam rolling and stretching
After a hard race, game or training session you’re probably going to feel pretty beat up and in need of a bit of a service. Ideally, get a massage but these can add up if you’re getting one a week, so a great alternative is a combination of foam rolling and stretching.
Why not get a head start and do 10-15 minutes of each in the morning and the same before bed?
A combination of both can help remove ‘knots’ in your muscle and while effective, can be quite painful, so ease yourself into it.
2. Sleep
Shock, horror! Nothing beats sleep when it comes to recovery. Why? A good night’s shuteye will increase your tolerance to training, alter mood (positively) and decrease your perception of fatigue. We suggest trying to get at least eight hours a night of uninterrupted sleep – and that means silencing your phone.
If possible, try for an afternoon power nap of 30. But ask the boss first.
3. Hydrate
This is something that begins now, yes now. You cannot hydrate for a workout by guzzling a 500ml bottle of some isotonic drink 10 minutes before it. It’s important to take this very seriously and things like drinking before you get thirsty sounds like total clichés but they’re so, so true. This is, in theory, one of the easiest ways to recover and will have a huge bearing on your performance, but is so often overlooked.
4. Cut down on alcohol
It’d be impossible to compile a full list of alcohol’s bad points when it comes to recovery but just a few include; it hinders muscle recovery, it dehydrates you, it affects your sleep, it leaves you feeling bloated, it interrupts your sleep, it is loaded with sugar….
5. Have a cold bath…
If the world’s best jump into a bath of ice after training, there must be something in it. Here’s what; by slowing down cell processes and using water to apply light compression, ice baths help to circulate blood throughout the body and move waste products, like lactic acid, outside of the muscle.
