How to recover properly
Exercise imposes stress on your body, which requires proper recovery in order to come back stronger. If you’re not taking your recovery as seriously as your training, you’re missing out on gains you could be making!
You’re probably in the gym because you’re trying to become stronger, faster, or fitter in some way. If you’re pushing your body to the limit you must prioritize recovery with the same intensity otherwise you’ll be leaving gains on the table.
Working out stresses the body, that’s the goal! You’ll experience muscle fatigue, hormonal fluctuations, and inflammation as a result of training stress and these changes are what lead to muscle growth, fat loss, and overall healthier bodies. But if you’re not recovering as hard as you’re training, you won’t give your body time to make these changes before stressing it again.
How To ensure you’re recovering properly from your training sessions
1. Adequate protein and nutrient intake
The foods that we consume are the building blocks of muscle growth and repair. Without sufficient protein and overall nutrient intake, our body won’t have the inputs to be able to promote muscle growth and recovery. Make sure that you’re eating a minimum of 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight to maximize muscle growth and repair.
2. Getting enough sleep
Sleep is critical for us to be functioning properly. It enhances training recovery by improving immune function and helping our body manage stress effectively. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not giving your body enough time to repair! 7-9 hours each night is what your body needs to recover optimally!
3. Drinking enough water
Water helps flush toxins from your body, transports nutrients, and is critical for muscle protein synthesis. Women should aim for at least 90 oz per day and men should aim for at least 120 oz of water per day from a mix of food and beverages.
4. Mental health
Your body doesn’t know the difference between stressors. Stress from training, work, relationships, etc. are all treated the same. This is why you may find that your training suffers during periods of heightened stress elsewhere in your life. In order to progress training as much as possible, it’s important to manage your mental health and moderate other external stressors.
5. Managing fatigue over time
You won’t be able to max out your training every single week. In fact, if you try to push intensity for too long without a deload then you’ll make yourself susceptible to overtraining. This occurs when your body is unable to adapt to imposed stressors and rather than coming back stronger, you’ll hit exhaustion and dip below your baseline. You should be implementing deload weeks (planned reduction in training volume and intensity) every 4-6 weeks to help manage cumulative fatigue over time.
The goal of training is to impose a stressor, recover, and come back stronger. But without recovery, rather than supercompensation your body will hit exhaustion and you’ll dip below your baseline. But by paying attention to these five parameters, you can ensure that you’re recovering as hard as you’re training and growing as much as possible!
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