Regular exercise and good nutrition are only half the battle when it comes to achieving your fitness goals. What you do after your workout can significantly impact your results and wellbeing. To make the most out of your efforts, you need to be using proper recovery techniques to reduce muscle soreness, prevent injury, and optimize your body’s ability to rebuild itself stronger.
Here are four things that can help you recover better after your workouts.
1. Wear compression socks
Depending on what activity or workouts you’re doing, you might benefit from compression socks. While not everyone gets results from compression socks, many people say they reduce discomfort after a workout. It’s not known exactly what factors lead to a person getting relief compared to those who do not, but since compression socks are affordable and easy to get, it’s worth a shot.
2. Get proper sleep
Proper, deep sleep is crucial to your wellbeing. If you struggle with insomnia or other sleep disorders, or you just have a hard time falling asleep after a hard day, it’s worth the effort to correct your sleep problems.
Your body repairs itself during sleep, and that’s when and how results are created. While you’re asleep, your body goes through a cellular repair process and produces the hormones required to strengthen your muscles. You’ll never see results – no matter how hard you work out – if you don’t get proper sleep.
If you don’t get good quality sleep, you’re at risk for injury because you’re essentially tearing down your body without allowing it to repair and rebuild stronger. Your physical performance will drop, you’ll see a decrease in your cognitive function, and you may even experience mood disturbances.
The best place to start getting your sleep on track is to eliminate anything that is actively disrupting your sleep, like noise in the house, an uncomfortable bed, or a warm temperature. If you need to set boundaries with other people in your home, do it because your wellbeing depends on your ability to get deep, restorative sleep on a regular basis.
You can try supplements, like melatonin, but many people say exogenous melatonin gives them nightmares and causes them to wake up with a migraine, feeling disoriented. If you take a natural approach to establishing good sleep, you won’t need to rely on supplements.
3. Stay hydrated
Stay hydrated. Drink water after your workout and throughout the day. You need to be hydrated before you work out to support post-workout recovery.
Most people don’t drink enough water every day. Coffee, tea, soda, and other beverages don’t count, even though they contain plenty of water. The impact on your body is different. Water is water. Nothing else counts as water. Your body needs pure water every day to stay hydrated, and it will use a significant amount of water for repairing your body while you sleep. If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling parched, it’s because your body needed to use more water than it had access to for repair.
Water cushions your joints, supports healthy heart function, and keeps you in a good mood. Dehydration can result in cramps, irritability, and can negatively impact your flexibility and speed.
The amount of water a person should drink daily is always a hot debate, so do what feels right for you. Experiment to find your ideal water intake, but don’t skip the water and don’t convince yourself you’re okay because you drink a lot of coffee or tea.
4. Don’t overwork your muscles
There are divides within the fitness community that can’t agree on how soon you should train the same muscle groups. Traditionally, it has been taught that you should only train each muscle once or twice a week max. When you get into using time under tension, you’ll find people saying that science supports training muscles just three days apart. There are studies to back up both positions, but the nuances of each are important to understand.
You don’t want to overwork your muscles, but you’ll need to figure out what constitutes overworking them based on the type of exercise or sports you’re doing. It won’t be the same for everyone, so consult with an experienced trainer to find your sweet spot.
Prioritize recovery
You probably know that results are gained during the recovery period, not the workout period. So prioritize your recovery process. Remember, it’s not just an optional part of your fitness routine – it’s an essential component where the magic happens. When you prioritize recovery, you’ll not only feel better, but you’ll see better results while reducing your risk of injury.
