Muscle Recovery For Beginners

Muscle recovery. Do you do it? Have you heard of it? From ice bath plunges, long stretch routines, or even utilizing the latest gadgets that promise to speed up your healing process, there are countless options available. But regardless of what camp you find yourself in, the world of muscle recovery has become heavily saturated with strict regimens and “expert advice” that often makes the process feel overwhelming and discouraging.

It shouldn’t be this way, especially with something as important as muscle recovery. While the previous methods certainly have their place, the world of muscle recovery is much broader and nuanced than you might imagine. It encompasses not just physical techniques, but nutrition, sleep, and mental strategies that collectively contribute to faster healing and better performance.

But what if better sports performance doesn’t matter to you? You are my target audience! The pro athletes and Olympians will already have a recovery routine written out for them by their coaches. I am here to speak to you. Whether you're a casual gym-goer or consider yourself a serious fitness enthusiast, understanding the nature of muscle recovery can be transformative in not only achieving your fitness goals, but maintaining your overall well-being.

Why Recovery Is Important (Even For You)

To care about our recovery options, we need to understand why our body needs that recovery in the first place. If you’ve ever returned to fitness after a long hiatus or challenged yourself in your workouts with heavier weights and deeper squats, you’ve probably felt some muscle soreness the next day. This soreness is referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. DOMS is caused primarily by microscopic tears in muscle fibers formed by exercise previously performed. Depending on the person, DOMS can be felt up to 72 hours after activity and usually subsides within a few days.

“So if DOMS subsides within a few days on its own, what’s the point of recovery?” Some make the case that recovery isn’t needed or important if your body takes care of things on its own, but this isn’t the best mindset to hold. To start, as our bodies get older, natural recovery processes take longer and become less effective. This is due to several reasons. One being the gradual decrease in muscle fibers as we age. This is referred to as Sarcopenia, and can contribute to muscle loss and muscle atrophying, or muscle thinning as we age.

Additionally, with aging, the inflammatory response to injury and exertion can become more pronounced and prolonged, leading to increased discomfort and potential setbacks in our training and daily routines. This means that while the initial symptoms of DOMS may dissipate within a few days, the underlying recovery processes may not be as efficient. If you’ve ever wondered why you feel so sore even after working out all your life, this may be why.

Now the inevitability of age is a constant, but how we protect and strengthen our bodies can play a big role in how we feel and move in the future. So in today's blog, let’s review practical and actionable ways you can tackle muscle recovery after your next workout.

Active Rest Days

After mentioning that many dismiss muscle recovery as a whole, it’s no surprise that rest days would be in a similar position. Both could be viewed as an “unnecessary” addition to your regime, or a “waste of time”. But after reviewing how our bodies change and adapt as we age, practicing healthy balance is key.

In terms of results, think of things this way, a NASCAR driver can only go around a racetrack so many times before needing to stop to refuel. Even in the heat of a race, driving upwards of 200mph, they need to stop for their cars to refuel and “recover”. Our bodies are similar. Regardless of how much we want to keep going, if you fail to rest, you will inevitably reach a point of diminishing returns. In other words, even if you keep pushing yourself, the results you reap will significantly decrease without proper recovery.

An active rest day is designed to promote the healing of muscles while still engaging in light forms of activity, as opposed to your typical workout. Here are a few ways this can be practiced.

1. A light walk

2. A gentle stretch routine

3. A fitness class designed with recovery in mind

For those concerned about not working out in order to take a rest day, let this be a bit of a mindset shifter. A rest day shouldn’t be a day when you are completely sedentary and avoid anything that gets your body moving. I’m not asking you to do that! Instead, dial things back a notch to show up to your next training session bringing 100%.

Proper Hydration

Up next, let’s talk about an often forgotten about aspect of muscle recovery. Proper hydration. We often associate being hydrated with drinking water when we are thirsty, however, there are many other cues our bodies give us to inform us of dehydration. From muscle fatigue, headaches, irritability, digestion troubles and so much more, hydration is an extremely important aspect to your bodily functions and recovery.

In the case of muscle recovery, hydration helps maintain optimal blood flow to the muscles, delivering oxygen and nutrients necessary for repair, while removing metabolic waste products like lactic acid that can contribute to soreness. The important part though, is to remain properly hydrated. And while there isn't a universal guideline for the exact number of cups of water you should consume daily, a practical starting point is to aim for one cup of water for every hour. This makes sense since most studies give advice of anywhere from 8-15 cups daily.

In the summer months, sweaty workouts and dry spells may entice us to consume sufficient amounts of water, but I’d like to give a friendly reminder not to forget about the colder winter months too. Hydration is just as important regardless of the season, yet without the piercing heat as a reminder, you may forget. Leading to dehydration on a more frequent basis. An easy way to go about this is to set phone reminders for quick hydration breaks throughout the day. Additionally, apps have taken the phone market by storm to create an easy and fun way to stay hydrated. Two recommendations would be Waterllama and WaterMinder.

A Home-Made Massage

Massage guns. Useless gym accessory or perfect recovery tool? To start, let’s see how these guns work in the first place. Massage, or percussive, guns use vibrations to warm muscle tissue and increase blood flow to the targeted areas. This increase in blood flow has been shown to decrease tight muscle tissue and elongate the muscle fibers. Similar to how stretching would.

Massage guns are a great option for recovery for a few reasons.

1. Massage guns are portable. Regardless of where your workout takes place, or when your muscles need the recovery, a massage is just a button press away.

2. While not a direct 1-1 replacement, massage guns can be a budget friendly and time conscious option if seeking a massage therapist is not possible.

3. Finally, due to the increased blood flow massage guns create, improved post-exercise soreness, or DOMS, is among the many benefits you can expect when used properly.

Modern massage guns have come a long way in making practical use simple. However, to get the most out of your recovery session with them, it’s important to take your time. If you’ve never used a massage gun before, start on a low-medium setting that is easy to handle. From there, place the gun up to the soar muscle without applying any extra pressure. The gun will do all the work for you. Slowly move your massage gun in a small circle to fully cover the affected area. One thing to keep in mind is that massage guns are for muscles only. If you feel the gun kickback from hitting a bony area of your body, move over that spot to avoid injury or inflammation.

Recovery For Life

Today, my goal was to show that recovery doesn't have to be a hyper-specific or difficult routine to integrate. Whether it's an active rest day, staying properly hydrated, or enjoying a relaxing massage gun session, there are a variety of options available. This makes it easier than ever to keep your body primed and healthy. Remember, recovery is just as important as the effort you put into your workouts. So the next time you're feeling sore, don't let it hold you back. Embrace it as an opportunity to try out new recovery techniques and bounce back stronger than ever!

This post was originally written for Nivati, the employee mental health platform. You can read the blog post on the Nivati blog here.