Which quickly restores muscles. Drugs for muscle recovery. Restoration of hormonal levels

During the study Resistance Exercise Augments Postprandial Overnight Muscle Protein Synthesis Rates ., the results of which were published in the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, it was noted that the combination of protein foods and strength training shortly before bedtime allows for faster muscle recovery.

The study, conducted at the University of Maastricht (Netherlands), involved 24 young people. Two hours after dinner, shortly before bed, they drank protein cocktail. Right before drinking the shake, one group of participants did a lower body strength training session. The other group did nothing.

Those who exercised before taking the protein shake increased protein synthesis overnight by 30% compared to participants who simply took the protein before bed without exercise.

In earlier works of this group of scientists Protein Ingestion before Sleep Increases Muscle Mass and Strength Gains during Prolonged Resistance-Type Exercise Training in Healthy Young Men. It has already been proven that by consuming shortly before bedtime, you can increase muscle protein synthesis during the night.

This discovery will be useful not only for bodybuilders, but also for other athletes, such as runners. Long, hard runs also damage muscles. After a hard workout, you need to help the muscle fibers recover so that the muscles quickly adapt to serious loads. By increasing the rate of recovery using this technique, runners will be able to quickly acclimate to increasing loads.

Lead researcher Jorn Trommelen says the technique results in more mitochondria being produced in the muscles, which increases the body's aerobic capacity. The combination of exercise and food rich in protein maintains the number of mitochondria in the muscles, therefore improving not only strength indicators, but also endurance.

How to train and what to eat before bed

The training that the subjects did lasted one hour and included:

15 minutes ride on an exercise bike;
six sets of 10 repetitions of leg press in the simulator;
six sets of 10 repetitions of leg raises in the simulator.

However, Trommelen says that less intense training will also be effective.

Any quantity physical activity may stimulate protein synthesis, although to a lesser extent.

For example, simple walking only slightly increases muscle protein production. Most effective strength exercises with your own body weight or, especially if you repeat them until your muscles fail.

Trommelen recommends choosing three sets of push-ups and three sets of pull-ups for exercise before bed. Number of repetitions - until muscle failure.

Another good training option is a combination of squats, leg raises and hamstring exercises (calf raises in a machine, with your own body weight, with weights).

As for food, protein shake, used in the study, contained 20 grams of protein. Here is an example of a regular meal containing the same amount of protein: 600–700 grams of low-fat milk, three eggs or 100 grams of tuna. Eating foods with less protein will also increase the rate of muscle recovery, but not as significantly.

Trommelen believes that combining strength training with a protein meal before bed will be the most effective way for athletes to recover after a day of hard training.

You have a great opportunity to test this statement. Try a new technique and share your impressions in the comments.

Overtraining and recovery

Intensity is a measure of how hard you force your muscles to work. The more work you do in a given period of time, the more intense you train. However, the harder you work, the longer the recovery period your body requires to rest and grow.
Overtraining occurs when you train your muscles too intensely, without giving them the opportunity to fully recover. Sometimes you can hear from athletes that they “tear” their muscles and then let them recover. But such an approach is not entirely justified from a physiological point of view. During a hard workout, minor tissue damage can occur and this is what accounts for residual muscle pain. However, pain is only side effect, indicating that the muscles need time to recover from the stress suffered.
Tense muscle contractions accompanied by a number of complex biochemical processes. The process of using energy in working muscles leads to the accumulation of toxic waste byproducts such as lactic acid. The fuel for energy release is glycogen accumulated in the muscles.
The body needs time to restore the chemical balance of muscle cells, remove residual breakdown products and replenish depleted glycogen stores. But there is another, even more important factor: time is necessary for cells to adapt to the stimulating effects of exercise and grow. So if you overload your muscles by making them work too hard and without enough rest from the previous workout, you won't give them a chance to grow and your progress will slow down.

Different muscles recover after exercise at different speeds . Biceps, for example, do this faster than others.
The muscles in the lower back are the slowest to recover. It takes approximately one hundred hours to completely rest after a hard workout.
However, in most cases, forty-eight hours of rest is sufficient for any part of the body, which means that there should be a break of at least two days between training the same muscles.

First stage training should take place only at a medium level of intensity, so less recovery time is required here. But in subsequent stages of training, in order to overcome the growing resistance of muscles to change and growth, the intensity level must be increased. We should not forget about another important factor - Trained muscles recover faster after fatigue than untrained muscles. Therefore, the more results you achieve in bodybuilding, the faster you will restore your strength and the richer your training program will become.

Athletic exercise(except very special exercises with limited range of motion) should be performed in such a way that each muscle moves with maximum amplitude. Any part of the body must be fully straightened and then bent until the muscles contract completely. This is the only way to affect the entire muscle as a whole and individual muscle fibers.

Overtraining syndrome
Fitness is a medicine that heals not only the body, but also the spirit. However, like any medicine, if the dose is exceeded, it turns into poison. Excessive physical activity has a destructive effect. First, training begins to lose effectiveness, then it takes more and more time for the body to recover, and finally, health problems begin.
The opinion that overtraining only affects professional athletes is fundamentally wrong. They are the ones who train under the close attention of professional trainers and their load dosing is correctly distributed. Unlike those who are in an ardent desire to lose 5-10 extra pounds does not notice the approaching disaster. And you just need to learn to listen to your body. Perhaps the reluctance to jog or take another approach to performing the exercise does not indicate laziness, but fatigue. Undoubtedly, improving your figure is impossible without increasing the intensity of your training, but working too hard is harmful to yourself.
Time is a necessary condition on the way to beautiful body. After just a few months of training, the first visible results. But only after 2.5 - 3 years can you come to a perfect body. There is no way to speed up the process of fat burning or muscle growth, so patience is the best thing that can come in handy in this case.
I am my own diagnostician.
You can carry out the initial diagnosis yourself. To do this, in the morning, at rest, after waking up naturally and before drinking your first cup of coffee, you need to measure your pulse. For women, the normal heart rate ranges from 68 to 72 beats per minute. A slow or rapid heart rate should be a sign of concern.
The symptoms of overtraining are subtle at first. It may take several months before the feeling comes that something is wrong with the body. Decreased training efficiency, emotional depression, poor physical condition, and sleep disturbances are often attributed to stress occurring at work or at home. It is quite possible that this is the case, but you should not ignore the duration of the unpleasant sensations. If the unpleasant situation is far behind you, and the symptoms do not go away, then it may still be overtraining syndrome. So, listen to yourself and answer the following questions:
Are you having trouble waking up in the morning?
Do you sleep 12-14 hours a day, but still feel sleepy all the time?
Have you suddenly developed insomnia?
Do you wake up before dawn and try to fall back to sleep to no avail?
After sleep, do you feel tired and tired, even though you went to bed on time and slept enough?
Even one positive answer indicates a violation of the usual sleep pattern.
Can't cope with your sudden irritability?
Have you started having regular attacks of anger?
Have you become constantly nervous?
You constantly Bad mood last time?
Have you started crying often?
Even one positive answer indicates the presence of psycho-emotional disorders.
Has it become difficult for you to master your usual training program?
Do you feel like your usual weights are starting to weigh more?
Have you found yourself recovering longer after training?
After training, you begin to experience muscle pain and aching joints
Positive answers to questions from this group indicate a diminishing return on training.
Have you started getting colds more often, like acute respiratory infections or herpes?
Is recovery taking longer than before?
Positive answers to questions in this group indicate a decrease in immunity.
If you see symptoms from each group at the same time, then measures should be taken immediately, otherwise everything will become much more serious. Unbridled training combined with a constant diet can lead to hormonal imbalance. And these are: skin problems, menstrual irregularities, thinning bone tissue.
Prevention can be a diet of normal calorie content, consumption of sufficient quantities of vegetables and fruits, and intake of complex vitamins and minerals.
Causal relationship.
What can cause overtraining? In short: violence against own body. In more detail, a number of reasons can be identified:
Reason one– excessive physical activity. Physical activity is stressful for the body, but there is nothing bad about it. It is impossible to change yourself for the better unless you shake your muscles or cardiovascular system. But any stress beyond measure destroys the psyche and worsens physical condition. Stress accumulates if you constantly exhaust your body with training without giving it enough time to rest.
Reason two- poor nutrition. The most important factor in determining overtraining syndrome is calorie deficit. In order to recover from stress, muscles need amino acids, sugar, vitamins, etc. By depriving yourself of most calories in order to lose weight, you are also depriving yourself of nutrients, which in turn significantly reduces the body’s ability to recover after training. This is a double blow for the body.
Reason three- excellent student syndrome. Excellent student syndrome is the desire to do everything better than others, to do absolutely everything with an A plus, spending a minimum of time on what other people spend long years. “Excellent students” place their desire to be better than others above all else. They themselves ruin their health with this approach.
And finally, overtraining syndrome can strike those who forget that fitness is a science, neglecting the rules of which can lead to disastrous results.
Basic methods of treatment and prevention.
Overtraining syndrome, fortunately, is easily treatable and you won’t have to give up fitness forever.
First, you need to give your body a break: cancel standard workouts for a few weeks and replace them with walking, yoga or stretching.
Secondly, it is necessary to reconsider the principles of nutrition: the calorie content of the diet should be brought to normal, the consumption of vegetables and fruits should be increased to 5-8 servings per day, and you can additionally take a complex of vitamins and minerals. Foods containing large amounts of vitamin C are also beneficial. A balanced diet will immediately show its positive effects.
However, it is still not worth leading to overtraining syndrome. Following basic preventive measures is not difficult at all.
Don't get stuck on the same program over and over again. after all, the same exercises affect only a few muscles, which leads to stress. Avoid monotony: exercise on fresh air, play tennis, practice extreme hobbies such as rock climbing.

keep a training diary, where you will record all your approaches and repetitions, the order of exercises and your body’s reaction to them. This will help to identify in time not only delays in growth dynamics, but also overtraining syndrome.

do not hurry . Remember the 10% rule, according to which the increase in load should not exceed 10% per week. For example, when running a 5 km, the weekly increase should not exceed 500 m.

drink more water, because even the slightest drop in hydration levels has a very significant impact on the general condition of the body. If your workouts take more than 60 minutes, you can drink sports drinks; if less, you can drink plain still water or diluted fruit juice.

don't starve! A hungry body cannot be healthy. In addition, the diet must be balanced and contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates in appropriate proportions.

Of the total calorie intake, 50% should come from carbohydrates, 35% from proteins and 15% from fats.

Recovery time
Recovery time
Since muscles are able to recover faster after non-traumatic training than after traumatic training, the recovery time should also be different. Therefore, you should give your muscles more rest after an traumatic workout.
In most gyms, bodybuilders train, for example, chest on Monday, no matter what. Whether she recovered from her last workout or not, if today is Monday, that means it’s chest workout day. This is mistake. The recovery time for each muscle should be determined by how quickly it recovers. As I already noted, if you do not allow the anabolic response to training to fully occur before next workout, you will lose all the positive effects of training on protein metabolism and, as a result, you will get, on the contrary, a negative effect - an increase in catabolism.
Your recovery options are limited.
To make matters worse, the human body's healing abilities are limited. Let's imagine that they are measured in dollars. Let's say you have ten dollars a week in your recovery fund. Non-traumatic arm training costs one dollar, and traumatic one costs two. Non-traumatic leg training costs two dollars, traumatic - four. Non-traumatic training for the chest, back and shoulders costs one dollar each, and traumatic training costs three. If you train each body part in a trauma style for a week, you will need about $15, i.e. much more than your budget allows ($10). However, by alternating between traumatic and non-traumatic training, you can reduce the cost of recovery. Doing a non-traumatic leg workout instead of a traumatic one will save you two dollars. By doing the same with your chest and arm muscles, you'll save another three dollars. Reducing the amount of injury your muscles sustain over the course of a week will allow you to recover more easily. Therefore, if you want to increase the frequency of training one part of the body, you should either reduce the degree of injury from training other parts of the body, or train them less often.
Let's imagine that your arms are lagging behind in development, and you want to tighten them up by increasing the volume of load. If you were only working them, you could do it with injury training five days a week. (Please don't try this; I'm just giving a theoretical example.) If you alternated between two traumatic workouts and two non-traumatic ones, you could train your arms every day. What if you want to have big feet? In order to include one traumatic arm workout in the program, you must sacrifice two traumatic arm workouts. Every time you increase the frequency or intensity of your workouts, you slow down the recovery of other parts of your body. While it's true that tightening up a lagging muscle group requires training it more often, many bodybuilders fail if they don't realize that additional work on that group requires some sacrifice.
Even most symmetrically developed bodybuilders have muscle groups that respond better to training. The lag in the development of some parts of the body is due to not very efficient protein metabolism in them. In such muscles, training causes a relatively low anabolic drive and at the same time a rather strong catabolic response. The only way to improve the situation is to increase anabolism in them, while simultaneously reducing the level of catabolism. Most people aren't very good at this. Ask the last two Mr. Olympias why they couldn't get their biceps up to par with the rest. muscle groups. Only a radical approach can reduce the imbalance.
How can you speed up muscle recovery?
Training can be an effective way to trigger muscle growth if you give it enough time to rest. The more traumatic the training, the more time it takes. Strong parts of the body usually recover faster than weak ones, which seem to take forever. This distinction has important implications for bodybuilders. This means that you must tailor your recovery time to each muscle group. Obviously, you should not overload a muscle that has not yet fully recovered, otherwise local overtraining will occur. Such a simple statement is completely contrary to what we see in most gyms. Many bodybuilders go three to seven days between training the same muscles. This interval is set in advance and is the same for all muscle groups. Since they decided to work out a muscle once every three days, that means they will have two workouts a week, and individual recovery time is not taken into account. The fact is that lagging parts of the body need more time to rest than strong ones. As noted in previous parts of this article, the degree of injury caused by the training is also an important factor to take into account when determining the amount of rest needed.
The main problem with conventional training schedules is that you load the strong parts of the body more than the weak ones, resulting in unbalanced development. The imbalance is further exacerbated when you re-use a muscle that has not yet fully recovered. This prevents the growth of weak muscle groups, leading to their overtraining. By training them less often, you will allow them to recover and grow a little. Of course, it would be even better to train them more often if you could find a way to speed up recovery. A rest day is the best accelerator of anabolism. The first muscle reaction to training is very negative - increased catabolism and slower anabolism. Your body tries to combat this by increasing anabolism and slowing down catabolism. Best helper In this battle, he needs a day of complete rest, on which you do not put any catabolic stress on your body. This significantly reduces the catabolic drive. And since you avoid the training-induced slowdown in anabolism, protein synthesis increases significantly. During rest, the level of anabolism is high and catabolism is low, which creates a very favorable environment for rapid recovery and muscle growth. Unfortunately, this metabolic trick cannot be repeated twice. After 24 hours, the anabolic response subsides, and the ratio of levels of fiber synthesis and breakdown again leans in favor of the latter. This is why people who don't exercise regularly don't grow. The body responds positively to a rest day only if you challenge its recovery capabilities with regular training.

Overtraining and Progress
According to statistics, the main reason that more than half of fitness club clients stop their exercise is the lack of results. And indeed, after a period of quick and fairly easy successes, a moment suddenly comes when the process continues, but no achievements are observed.
Neither increasing the load, nor introducing it into your schedule additional training unable to influence the situation. In addition, there is a feeling constant fatigue and apathy. “Apparently, fitness is not for me,” the man thinks disappointedly and sadly leaves the club
It’s a pity, we shouldn’t have capitulated so quickly to the difficulties that arose, especially since they are all temporary. This period of failures and disappointments is just a test of strength, from which each of us can easily emerge victorious. To do this, you just need to know what is happening to us during this period, and respond in a timely manner to the signals that our body sends us. And then the period of physical improvement will last for a very long time, and the process itself will bring only joy and pleasure.
Success in cultivation physical fitness depends on how effectively we manage to implement the basic principles of fitness - training, nutrition and recovery.
Practice shows that, as a rule, enough attention is paid only to training and nutrition, and the process of rest and recovery is left to chance.
This omission is quite understandable and understandable. IN Everyday life The bulk of our time and energy is devoted to work, study, raising children and household chores. What if we add to this regular workouts at the fitness club? But all the main processes in your body occur outside the gym. Our muscles strengthen and grow not during the training itself, when only the adaptation mechanism is activated, but when we passively rest - we give the body the opportunity to direct energy to “repair work” to restore the muscular-ligamentous apparatus and to strengthen its “combat positions”.
This also applies to the fat burning process. the main task training aimed at reducing body weight is to set the body to receive energy in everyday life from fats and speed up metabolic processes. But in a state of overfatigue and overtraining, the metabolic rate automatically slows down and the effectiveness of the training inevitably decreases, or even comes to zero.
If, after a high-intensity workout, we continue to actively expend our energy, do not sleep enough, and are also in a state of constant nervous tension, then we greatly increase the risk of falling into a state of stress. And then no more about anything muscle growth There is no need to talk - I would like to preserve what was. Moreover, prolonged under-recovery leads primarily to loss muscle mass, since it consumes the largest amount of energy and, in conditions of energy deficiency, becomes economically unprofitable for the body.
Rules for a good holiday
Our recovery period needs the same careful planning as the training process. There is nothing overly complicated about this, especially if you know the basic rules of the recovery strategy, also known as the rules for combating overtraining.
Rule 1. Get enough sleep!
The textbook eight hours of mandatory sleep is a very relative figure.
Each of us needs our own sleep time, which is necessary for good health. So in this matter, focus solely on your individual characteristics and needs.
Rule 2. Follow
Even if you are a pronounced night owl, try to fall asleep no later than 24 hours (at least make it a time of passive rest). It is at night that regeneration processes occur most intensively. One sleepless night can set you back far from your fitness goals. If you have difficulty falling asleep, your sleep is restless and interrupted, try to determine the reason for this and, if possible, eliminate it. Do not forget about the methods of auto-training and psycho-emotional relaxation.
Rule 3. Recover!
Is your goal to increase muscle mass? Then “heavy” training for the same muscle group should be carried out only if they are fully restored, otherwise your training will take place in the mode of catabolism - the destruction of muscle tissue.
The ability to recover is different for each of us. For some, two or three days of rest is enough, but for others, even a week is not enough. Different muscles it also takes its own time to recover. And each of us must clearly define this time for ourselves. An indicator of muscle readiness for new work with weight - if, when performing a working approach, you feel that you could add one or two more repetitions.
Rule 4: Take Supplements!
During high intensity training take a complex of antioxidants and (or) adaptogens.
Antioxidants (vitamins A, E, and C, synergistically acting in combination) promote tissue regeneration and protect against the damaging effects of free radicals, the number of which increases sharply during periods of heavy physical activity.
Adaptogens are natural preparations that increase the body’s resistance to adverse environmental influences - for example, Eleutherococcus, Rhodiola rosea, Leuzea, ginseng. Their positive effect achieved through optimization metabolic processes, and not due to sharp stimulation nervous system(as, for example, when taking caffeine-containing drugs).
Rule 5: Break up your workouts!
It has been proven that the cyclic training regime – best prevention stagnation in training results. This is the mode that will help you maintain high level internal motivation.
Break the training process into cycles, between which there must be several days of rest from training. The duration of the training period depends on its intensity and varies from one and a half to three months.
Rule 6. Don't overwork yourself!
If you, overcoming yourself, train in a state of general physical fatigue, you thereby increase the risk of injury (both during training and outside the gym), since the muscles that have not recovered for new work shift part of their work to the ligaments and joints. Overfatigue also threatens the development of overtraining syndrome, which is characterized by a feeling of depression, apathy, a sharp decrease in immunity and muscle weakness. This syndrome can last for quite some time. for a long time.
How to determine in time that you are living at the limit of life's possibilities?
The appearance of the following signs should be a reason for you, at a minimum, to reduce the intensity of your training, and at maximum, to introduce a break in your training process for a week or two:
-Lately you have to force yourself to go to training.
-Even after a sufficient period of sleep in the morning you feel lethargic and weak.
-Post-training muscle pain lasts longer than usual.
- Joint pain appears.
-You have difficulty falling asleep even after a busy day.
-Your appetite is out of control. You either start eating too much (and leaning on foods that are prohibited by your diet), or, conversely, too little, having difficulty forcing yourself to swallow something.
-Concentration drops sharply, irritability and aggressiveness appear in behavior.
-You become too susceptible to fluctuations in atmospheric pressure, react to weather changes.
-During training, an increased heart rate appears, blood pressure rises more than usual, and these symptoms persist for a long time after training.
-You strive to reduce your workout time, feeling that you are having difficulty coping with the planned load.
And please remember: overcoming yourself at all costs is not always possible. The best way achieve your goals.

After training properly, you definitely need to provide the body with the opportunity to restore the resources spent in the gym. The period after training is the time when - that is, what exactly happens in the gym is for. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to recovery Special attention.

How correctly and fully you rest, it is in this proportion that muscle building will occur. Let's figure out how to properly recover after training.

In a business like bodybuilding, it is imperative to take into account that each body is individual. Everyone works out differently: for some people, to stay in shape, it’s enough to go to the gym twice a week. And some people have to be there literally every day to see the result. Therefore, usually all these ingenious techniques that are posted on the Internet professional athletes, usually have little help for ordinary amateurs who are not on steroids and do not engage in heavy training professionally.

Having read smart advice, you go to the gym and push yourself there until exhaustion, rightly expecting after such an investment of strength good result. And he’s still not there. And if there is, it is insignificant. This is because you need not only to exhaust yourself, but also to rest properly after that. Without proper recovery, don't expect your muscles to grow quickly and turn you into a macho man on the cover.

Compensation and super compensation

Roughly speaking, training for our body is a muscle tear. While lifting weights and power loads muscle fibers are subject to deformation - stretched, torn, “bursting at the seams.” After training, any athlete can definitely experience multiple microcracks and muscle fiber tears.

Since the body does not tolerate anything imperfect, immediately after the training has stopped, it begins to recover and heal these breaks, quite logically considering them unacceptable.

This process of recovery and wound licking is called compensation.

But if immediately after this compensation phase the body is provided with excess nutrients and proper rest, the supercompensation phase begins. During this period, the muscles become rougher, increasing their volume in order to prevent similar tears and injuries in the future. This is how muscle mass increases.

How to know when to recover

It is impossible to accurately calculate down to the minute when one phase ends and another begins. However, based on your feelings, if you listen to your body, you will understand it yourself. Example:

On the second day the pain becomes even more severe. Tissue healing begins - where ruptures occurred, new fibers grow.

The third day - the pain is weaker, but if the muscle is pulled or strained, it appears again. The fourth day - the pain is practically not felt. This means that the restoration is already being completed.

Overtraining and what it leads to

If you don't give your muscles time to rest and recover, fatigue will build up. And if you start to increase the pace of the loads, overtraining may occur. At first, it manifests itself as a persistent, incomprehensible desire to skip training. It is the body itself that gives you a sign that it is time to rest. Even if you continue training in a state of fatigue, muscle growth will occur slowly and very little.

If you overcome yourself “courageously” for a long time, then fatigue accumulates more and more and as a result leads to the following results:

loss of appetite;
muscle stiffness;
joint pain;
stagnation of results - they stand still, there is no growth.

Therefore, the golden rule of an athlete: if you’re tired, it’s time to rest. Well, or “war is war - and lunch is on schedule.” It is important to listen to the body - it constantly gives signals, but very often we ignore them.

What should be done?

If overtraining occurs, the solution is simple: do not train for several days, skip classes. It is important at this time to sleep enough, eat well and eat a lot. Usually a couple of days are enough to bring yourself back to normal and feel a surge of strength and vigor.

The most accurate indicator that the body has recovered is that when you lift weights that were recently serious for you, they now seem light. And I want new heights.

How to properly recover after a workout

Let's consider the most basic criteria for proper recovery after training.

Full sleep

The most important condition for the restoration of the body. This is important for everyone, and even more so for those who load their bodies to the fullest. Muscles grow and gain volume during sleep.

Ideally, you should sleep at least 8 hours continuously. And it’s better to sleep than not sleep enough. If you have problems falling asleep, then you definitely need to do something in this direction: tune in to calmness in the evening, take a walk, go to bed early.

Try to create ideal conditions for sleep. A person can get a full night's sleep in complete darkness and silence, when no one disturbs him. Make sure you have the right pillow and a good mattress.

Nutritious food

BCAA - you should take 3 grams of this drug either during training or immediately after it to stop catabolism - muscle breakdown.
Creatine in the amount of 2-3 grams immediately after training compensates for the creatine phosphate lost during exercise.
Glutamine. You should take 3 grams of this substance after training in order to activate the production of growth hormone and provide the body with energy.

More important rules:

An hour and a half after sports activities you should eat a hearty meal. Provide yourself with a complete diet, which will contain all the necessary substances and microelements.
We should not forget about providing the body with fats. Vegetable oils, especially flaxseed, are beneficial for athletes. Fatty fish are also great for your diet.
Vegetables are a must. They improve digestion and are an excellent source of fiber and coarse fiber.
You should divide your daily diet into 5-6 doses - it’s better more often, but little by little, than vice versa.
If you feel hungry and it’s not time for lunch/dinner yet, then don’t torture yourself - eat a banana or a handful of dates.
Be sure to drink plenty of clean water. Drink both during and after training. An indicator that water enters the body in sufficient quantities will be the color of urine, especially in the morning. If the urine is clear, it means there is enough water. If it’s yellow or orange, you’re not drinking enough.

You can't keep increasing the pace. If the time has come for intense training, then provide yourself with enough time to recover.
At the end of the workout there must be stretching - the so-called cool-down. This technique will help remove excess lactic acid from overworked muscles and stabilize the pulse. As a result, we recover faster and our muscles become more elastic. 5-10 minutes will be enough. But it must be done efficiently.
A contrast shower is beneficial for an athlete. It is important to enable first hot water, then cold, and not vice versa. This significantly improves blood circulation.
If your muscle pain is very severe, taking an ice bath may help. Ice cube massage and other cooling procedures also help. This technique helps reduce muscle pain and promotes their speedy recovery. The following principle operates here - under the influence of sharp rhythmic contraction and expansion muscle fibers toxins are quickly and actively removed from them.
Massage is useful, especially in the evening, before bed. As a result simple movements the ability of muscles to absorb nutrients increases. In addition, the transport of these same substances to the muscles is accelerated and activated.
Desirable leisure. You shouldn’t lie on the couch in front of the TV, “recovering.” This type of vacation is not for an athlete. Better take a walk. A visit to a bathhouse or sauna will be useful. Swimming in the pool is also pleasant and healthy.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize the only criterion by which you can evaluate whether you have recovered sufficiently. If you have a persistent, irresistible desire to go and lift iron, and there is no muscle pain, you have done everything right. Good luck and anabolism.

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A process that should be perceived as a natural necessity. Muscles begin to grow only after its completion. In order for this process to go much faster and without consequences, it is important to be able to properly relax and restore the strength necessary for the next workout.

What you need to know about training?

Proper exercise is the key to ensuring that recovery after training will be quick and painless. The basic rules for playing sports include:

Limit the duration of one workout to one and a half hours.
One day a week you need to give your muscles rest.
Alternatively, a minimal amount of exercise may be performed on this day.
Every day it is necessary to give the body rest, not only at night, but also during the day. One hour of sleep at lunchtime will be enough.

Rehabilitation after training

How to properly restore the body after training? The main means of rehabilitation include the following:

passive rest;
well-chosen diet;
massage;
bath;
water procedures.

Massage for athletes is one of the most effective methods recovery. By removing waste products from the muscles during this procedure, they become more elastic. As a result, their level of performance increases.

You should also pay attention to such a remedy as a steam bath. It promotes muscle relaxation, which is achieved by increasing thermoregulation and activating sweating.

When visiting, you should adhere to some rules. For example, while you are in it, it is unacceptable to douse yourself with cold water. This procedure should be done after the session is completed.

Passive rest is a normal night's sleep. Its duration should not be less than eight hours. This time is quite enough for muscle recovery.

Water therapy makes it easy to relax your muscles. In addition, she films muscle tension. The most effective way is to visit the pool.

Post-workout recovery: nutrition

Among the products that have a positive effect on the body’s recovery after sports training, the following should be highlighted:

Eggs. They will always be number one on an athlete's menu. Their protein has the highest value compared to other food products that must be present on the table during the recovery period.
Salmon. Due to the proteins and omega-3 contained in salmon fatty acids, the recovery process is much faster. This occurs due to a decrease in protein breakdown products in the muscles.
Water. Impaired fluid balance in the body can reduce the rate of muscle recovery.
Beef. It is an excellent alternative to creatine. Meat contains large amounts of iron and zinc.
Yogurt. This is a product that combines proteins and carbohydrates. For quick muscle recovery after training, this is the best solution.
Almond. It contains large amounts of alpha-tocopherol. It is a form of vitamin E.

Post-workout recovery medications

Antioxidants occupy a leading position among drugs that promote muscle recovery. They are responsible for suppressing free radicals. This reduces muscle pain and suppresses the development of inflammatory processes. Antioxidants include vitamins A, C, E and others.

You should also pay due attention to amino acids. The body does not produce them itself, so it needs help. Amino acids are presented in the form of "L-isoleucine", "L-valine" and other substances. Thanks to these additives the immune system will always be protected.

Another drug that promotes rapid regeneration is Inosine. It removes lactic acid from the body, which, in turn, contributes to muscle fatigue.

How else can you stimulate recovery after training? Immediately after its completion, it is recommended to take up to 5 grams of BCAA. This complex stimulates production. In addition, it inhibits catabolic processes.

You also need to take 3 grams of creatine and the same amount of glutamine. Creatine will restore the lack of energy, and glutamine will increase the production of growth hormone.

It is equally important to drink at least a liter of clean still water immediately after training. It will help restore water balance.

Additional Information

Each workout must end with a mandatory cool-down ( light exercise). In addition, special attention should be paid to professional massage. By stimulating blood and lymph flow it is possible fast recovery after training.

Reception anabolic steroids will have a positive effect on the general condition of the body.

How to define recovery?

Two hours after training, you need to measure your pulse. If the indicator is less than 75 beats/min, it means the recovery process has been successfully completed. An indicator of more than 75 beats/min is a signal from the body about overtraining or about the occurrence of problems in the cardiovascular system.

Sound sleep indicates an intensification of the process of restoring vitality. If an athlete is accompanied by anxious dreams, as well as morning and daytime sleepiness, then the training regime should be adjusted.

Pain in the chest area is a signal that the body has not yet completed recovery processes after past training.

The speed of muscle recovery directly depends on the degree of load, so in different days it may not be the same. If the load was insignificant, the muscles will recover within a day. It will take two days for them to recover from a moderate load.

Full recovery after training is possible only after a week. In some cases - two weeks after the big one physical activity.

Every repetition was difficult! Your muscles were burning from the resulting load and tension! The workout was incredibly hard and intense, but it didn't help build an ounce of muscle tissue!

The opportunity for muscle growth begins when you finish strength training, and this growth cannot occur without a proper recovery “protocol.” Muscles don't grow gym- they grow after. When you pick up heavy weight, the muscles receive microtrauma and undergo a process called catabolism. Immediately after stopping physical activity, your body begins to repair itself, but it needs help.

If you want to get the most out of your efforts in the gym, then you need to focus on post-workout recovery. Follow these 8 principles to achieve your desired results - stay on top.

Push the boundaries of what's possible

"No pain, no growth!" is one of the most popular phrases in the gym. Pushing your limits is good practice, but how far can you go? There must be a measure that provides the necessary stimulus for muscle growth, rather than trying to reach a point where the muscle is completely destroyed, resulting in soreness for many days.

The emphasis should not be on the speed of recovery, but on its quality and productivity. If you constantly push yourself to the point of exhaustion every workout, this damage accumulates over time and the body spends more energy trying to repair these effects, leaving less energy for building muscle. Train hard enough to push yourself outside of your "comfort zone" - try to do more than the previous day. By following this principle, you will see lasting and constant progress, rather than taking one step forward and two steps back.

Take Pre-Workout Nutrition Seriously

What you do directly affects the quality and time of recovery. Since absorption is a long process, nutrition before going to the “rocking chair” also plays an important role. The proteins and carbohydrates that you ate before the start of the training will circulate in the body for some time. Therefore, choose your products wisely. Make sure you are getting high quality protein from lean meats, and complex carbohydrates, if you plan to exercise intensively. Eat food 2 hours before training to avoid digestive problems.

During strength training it would be nice to take BCAAs that will be actively absorbed muscle cells. And don't forget about a portion before bed.

Don't skip stretching

Stretching doesn't seem that big of a deal when the main objective- size. But it may be the most underrated player in muscle growth. Without the necessary flexibility and muscle plasticity, you limit yourself in many ways. basic exercises. For example, if your ankles are too tight, you won't be able to squat deep enough to get the most benefit from barbell squats.

Stretching - great way Reduce muscle tension and soreness during recovery. Take at least 15 minutes after your workout to cool down and stretch.

Protein after workout

“Feed your muscles!” Give them fuel to grow and improve. A portion of protein after physical activity is vital. Aim for 20-50 grams of protein after each workout, depending on your weight. For women, 20 grams will be enough, but for men it is better to strive for a higher value.

Whey protein is the most popular protein supplement, and for good reason: it's convenient, easy to mix, and has a fast absorption rate, perfect for taking after a tough workout.

To speed up and optimize your recovery processes, along with fast carbohydrates. These can be foods with a high glycemic index, such as fruits or juices (preferably in large quantities to get 60-100 grams of carbohydrates). They will boost insulin and replenish glycogen and energy levels. Insulin is a powerful anabolic factor that helps restore muscle proteins.

Eat foods rich in potassium

Potassium-fortified foods should be included in your post-workout shake. At the end of intense training, potassium reserves in the body will be depleted. Potassium, along with other nutrients such as sodium and calcium, is a key mineral that plays an important role in muscle energy.

Bananas and potatoes are good sources of potassium. The former go with almost anything, and mashed potatoes in your first post-workout meal are also a good idea.

Quality sleep

Sleep is not just for rest. This is the forced "down time" the body needs to recover. By sacrificing hours of sleep over a long period of time, you make yourself mentally weaker and have a negative impact on the training process. You need to sleep at least 7 hours, and athletes get all 9. Find ways to help make changes to your daily routine - go to bed early.

Active recovery after training

Rest days give your muscles a break. But some light activity, such as swimming or cycling, will stimulate the recovery process and speed it up. This method is known as "active recovery." Also, light cardio after strength training will help relieve pain by stimulating blood circulation and improving circulation to the muscles.

Reducing stress

Physiological stress received after performing physical exercise- a good thing. Chronic stress from other sources, such as deadlines at work or stress, can significantly impact how you feel on a daily basis, as well as how quickly you recover.

The combination of chronic stress and heavy physical activity in the gym negatively affects the overall well-being and capabilities of your body. Take steps to reduce your stress levels so you can bounce back faster. Do something that you really enjoy or makes you laugh.

Now you know that recovery is an integral component in achieving any goal in the gym. If you want to get stronger, faster and fitter, you must integrate each of these tips into your daily recovery plan to get directly proportional results from your strenuous workouts!