Muscle Recovery: A Complete Guide

-How Long To Rest Your Muscles

-How To Reduce Muscle Soreness

-What Foods Help With Muscle Recovery

March 18, 2013

By Brian Rigby, CISSN, Clinical Nutrition Writer
and Holly Klamer, MS, RD

Gaining strength and improving endurance are often associated with lifting a lot of weights, pushing yourself to new limits, and "feeling the burn". Often, pushing through pain day in and day out is seen as an advantage for muscle building, fat burning, and strength gaining.

However, muscle growth and gains in strength are actually developed when you're not exercising. When you exercise, muscles are broken down, and muscles need to be rebuilt during recovery time.

Recovery days and cycling your workout intensities are also needed to prevent injuries and burn out. Training too many days in a row leads to overreaching, which can increase your chances of injury or illness, but which you can recover from quickly by resting and decreasing training load.

If you continue training in an overreached state, eventually you will become overtrained, a serious condition which can cause physical fatigue and depression. Working out too much, too hard will actually hamper your exercise goals.

During exercise, glycogen and creatine stores are depleted in muscle tissue, and proteins may be torn. These microtears may later cause delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Increased hydrogen ion levels (H+), which cause the burn frequently blamed on lactic acid, impair your muscles' ability to work efficiently, and need to be cleared.

Catabolic hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline rise in response to the body's increased need for energy, which drives the free testosterone to cortisol ratio down. This ratio is suspected to be critical in the prevention of overtraining. The lower your ratio drops, the more prone you become to overtraining.

With so much at stake for recovering, what exactly is needed and how can you improve your recovery?

It Takes Time

One of the key elements to prevent injury and maximize increases in performance is time. How much time is needed for optimal muscle recovery depends on the type and intensity of exercise.

For example, a 2007 study from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports found that protein synthesis was elevated for 3 days after a strenuous 60-minute one-legged exercise. The elevation in protein synthesis is an indication that muscle recovery is taking place.

This isn't to say it takes three full days for your body to recover from an hour of exercise. Rather, it suggests that your body will continue to adapt up to three days post-exercise. If you fail to take recovery time, your body may fail to adapt as well as it could.

Recovery time may be influenced by other factors such as nutrition, sleep, and icing after a workout. DOMS can last 2 -- 4 days and may require longer rest for muscles to repair to a state where they can be used without being painful.

Listen to your body. If you are too tired to do your workout, or your muscles are not recovered from previous day's activity, then take a rest day. This rest day will probably do more good than if you pushed through.

Strength Training Versus Endurance Training

Muscle recovery time for aerobic exercises like running or cycling is different than for lifting weight or other anaerobic exercises. You may not need to schedule a "recovery day" after an easy ride, run, or session on the elliptical. However, if you are doing a more strenuous aerobic workout, a recovery day may be warranted.

After weight lifting, muscle groups may need to rest for longer, possibly up to 48-72 hours before the next workout. This is one reason why many people who lift weights focus on single segments of the body during each session. After a lower body day, the upper body is still fresh and can be worked out sooner.

Regardless of whether you switch between exercises or upper and lower body workouts, you still need to take an official rest day. On this day, the only activities allowed are gentle ones such as walking or yoga. This will help you keep your free testosterone to cortisol ratio higher, and prevent overtraining.

Remember, muscle recovery is only part of recovery. You also need to let your mind and hormones recover!

Icing Tired Muscles

Ice baths are often used after a hard workout, and many professional athletes will have them as part of their recovery practice. You can do an ice bath yourself in your home as well! Fill up a tub with cold water, and add extra ice if you feel brave. Sit in the cold water for about 5 -- 10 minutes.

Icing is thought to increase muscle recovery time and decrease muscle soreness, and many research studies have concluded that icing does indeed decrease recovery time. The cold environment helps reduce muscle swelling and tears.

Some athletes will also do contrast therapy which is alternating cold and warm water. To take advantage of this, a difference of at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended. For example, this could be using 50F and 100F water. Plunge your body (or body part) into the cold water for a minute, then switch into the warm water for 3 -- 4 minutes. This can help increase blood flow, and increased blood flow helps the muscle recover.

Using warm water alone has not been shown to increase muscle recovery time. However, warm baths or soaks in a hot tub can decrease stress, which will decrease cortisol and possibly contribute to a faster mental recovery.

Refueling Your Muscles After Exercise

Nutrient timing is a critical piece to recovery and increasing muscle strength that often gets overlooked. After exercise, your body is primed to restore the lost protein and carbohydrate from the workout session. Planning meals to occur within an hour of finishing your workout is ideal, but if that can't happen then eating a snack after working out is another option.

It's easy to dismiss the important of this recovery window, but consider the results of a 2006 in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. In this study, there were two groups, divided by when they consumed their workout supplements. In the first group, the subjects had their supplement in the morning and evening, not near when they exercised. In the second group, the subjects had their supplements right before and right after exercise.

After ten weeks, the second group had gained about 6 lbs. of muscle compared to the other groups 3 lbs. Even more impressive, though fat loss was not the subject of the study, the group eating before and after their workout had lowered their body fat percentage by 1% whereas the other group had no change whatsoever.

The only difference between the groups was when they ate--what they ate and how they exercised were the exact same. It makes a strong case for timing your meals close to exercise!

Ideal Recovery Foods

Your post-workout recovery food should contain both carbohydrates and protein most importantly. Fat is also important, but to a lesser degree than carbs and protein, both of which get depleted during exercise. This can be done with either real food or supplements. Some examples of recovery foods and supplements are:

Fruit and jerky A protein shake with some oatmeal A tuna sandwich

Many people turn to bars as a recovery food, but a lot of caution must be exercised. In an attempt to make a bar which tastes nice, most manufacturers load them up with fat and skimp on protein. As a result, they do little to promote muscle growth or fat burning post-exercise. If you do opt for a bar, make sure that the protein content is at least double the fat content. For example, 20 grams protein, 10 grams fat.

When taking supplements after a workout, it can be easy to overdue it. Getting calories through supplements in addition to your normal diet may not be necessary if your training is not that intense. However, not getting enough calories is as bad as getting too many. Muscle recovery and strength gains will be hampered if you don't get enough total calories, no matter how much protein you eat.

Consuming too few calories also sets your body up for overtraining. Despite its name, overtraining is most frequently caused not by too much training but instead by too little nutrition. Not consuming enough calories will keep catabolic hormones like cortisol high while suppressing anabolic ones like insulin.

If you are exercising with the goal of losing weight, make sure to consume no fewer than 10 -- 20% of your normal caloric goal. For example, if your resting metabolic rate was 1,400 calories daily, and you exercised for 600 additional calories, your total caloric needs for that day would be 2,000 calories.

In order to maximally support both strength gain and fat burning, you should consume at least 1,600 -- 1,800 calories during that day, otherwise your body will increasingly use your muscle as a fuel and fat loss will be hurt.

Refueling After Exercise: Carbohydrates

All forms of exercise deplete glycogen, but intense exercise is especially depleting. After exercise, when glycogen has been depleted, your body releases an enzyme called "glycogen synthase" which allows your muscles to quickly restore glycogen. Insulin helps your muscles bring blood glucose into your muscle cells, which then can store it as glycogen.

The Australian Institute of Sport recommends that after glycogen-depleting exercise, you should eat or drink 1.0 -- 1.2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight within the hour. This is equivalent to about 0.5 grams per pound, so if you weigh 160 lbs, you should consume 80 grams carbohydrates.

If you have training sessions within 8 hours of each other, this principle is even more important as you have limited time to restore glycogen. Supplements like sports drinks can be a quick way to replenish glycogen stores, but eating real food can work just as well.

Remember, this type of refueling is only important for intense or long exercise that depletes muscle glycogen. Moderate exercise lasting less than an hour typically will not need additional carbohydrates to restock glycogen. For shorter or less intense workouts, just be sure to eat within an hour of finishing.

Refueling After Exercise: Protein

Carbohydrates aren't the only nutrient that can help with muscle recovery. Protein has been getting attention as another recovery star player. When protein is added to carbohydrate after exercise, it stimulates muscle rebuilding to a much greater degree than carbohydrate alone.

Protein consumption is often associated with weight lifting as a recovery tool. However, a 2009 editorial from Journal of Applied Physiology suggests protein with carbohydrate is important for recovery from endurance exercise. Often, endurance athletes train 5 -- 6 days a week using the same muscles (usually their legs). Due to the nature of endurance exercise, the body may also catabolize more muscle than during resistance training. This makes it even more important for runners and cyclists to get enough protein after exercise, to replace what was lost.

The amount of protein that is needed for optimal recovery depends to an extent on age. For younger individuals, it has been shown that only 20 grams of protein is necessary to maximally stimulate muscle growth. For individuals over the age of sixty, 40 grams or more may be necessary.

Amino Acid Supplements

Proteins are made up of amino acids. There are nine essential amino acids, and when these essential amino acids are consumed they can help rebuild muscle proteins as well. In particular, the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, valine, and isoleucine are key for protein synthesis and muscle building.

BCAAs are added to some recovery products, and you can buy them as supplements as well. If you purchase them as a supplement, be warned that they are extremely bitter. Food sources high in BCAAs are whey protein and meat, but you can also get substantive amounts of BCAAs from pea and rice proteins.

Staying Hydrated: Fluids and Electrolytes

Replacing fluids during and after exercise is very important for optimal recovery, and most people simply don't rehydrate enough. The Australian Institute of Sport recommends replacing 125 -- 150% of fluids lost during exercise.

One way to estimate this is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. The amount of weight you lost can be attributed to sweat. For every pound lost, replace with 2 cups of water and make a note for how much more you should drink during your next workout. Ideally, you should finish your workout at the same weight you started at.

Make sure you are well-hydrated before you start to work out. If your urine is clear, that is a quick way to determine if you are well-hydrated. If it is yellow to dark yellow, you are dehydrated and should drink some water.

Sweat contains electrolytes and water, so it is also important to replace electrolytes. Electrolytes are needed for fluid balance, muscle contraction and nerve activity. Common electrolytes include sodium, chloride, magnesium, calcium and potassium. Exercise lasting longer than 60-90 minutes may require electrolyte replacement, but rate of sweating and individual differences need to be accounted for.

When electrolytes are not replaced during exercise, blood volume will drop. Your blood likes to always contain the same amount of certain electrolytes, and will expand or contract to dilute or concentrate them. When you lose electrolytes, your blood volume contracts to accommodate, which means less oxygen and nutrient delivery as well.

Drinking beverages or eating foods with electrolytes can help replenish levels. Sports drinks, salty foods, fruits, and energy bars are some examples. There are many electrolyte supplements on the market that you can also take, but unless you are working out for many hours the only electrolyte you need to worry about is sodium. Check with a fitness professional if you have specific questions for your training and electrolyte replacements.

Antioxidants and Muscle Damage

Antioxidants help the body by decreasing damage from free radicals. With the heavy increase in oxygen consumption during exercise, lots of free radicals are formed. These free radicals can drive inflammation up and hinder recovery.

There are many recovery supplements on the market that have high levels of antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E, but research is mixed on whether individual antioxidants or antioxidants in combination can actually support recovery. Some research shows the opposite may in fact be true. The most likely reason for this is that newer research suggests that antioxidants work best in certain ratios to each other, and taking supplements for only a few upsets that balance.

Food is the ideal place to get your antioxidants from. One recent study showed that blueberries may improve muscle recovery time to a greater extent than other foods, outside of its antioxidant potential. Other foods which are beneficial and contain large amounts of antioxidant vitamins and phytochemicals are kiwis and berries in general.

Vitamins and Minerals

There are mixed opinions if athletes need higher amounts of vitamins and minerals or if they can get enough through diet. Some athletes may be at a higher risk for nutrient deficiencies if their diet is not adequate in calories or unbalanced. Females, in particular, are at risk for iron deficiency anemia and bone-related injuries from low calcium and/or vitamin D intake. Eating foods high in these nutrients is important, and supplements may be warranted under a health professional's care.

Getting adequate amounts of these nutrients if you are low can improve recovery time and prevent injury, not to mention improve athletic performance. Iron-rich foods include red meat, spinach, and whole grains. Calcium-rich foods include leafy greens and fatty fish with small bones.

If you are vegetarian or vegan and get 100% of your mineral intake from vegetables, it is recommended you blanch your greens quickly before eating them. Blanching removes most of the oxalic acid, an "antinutrient" which binds iron, zinc, and calcium in the gut and makes them unavailable. People who eat meat should get adequate minerals without needing to prepare their vegetables in a special way.

Sleep Is Incredibly Important!

Getting enough sleep is another component for muscle recovery. According to a 2011 study from Medical Hypotheses, not getting enough sleep can decrease protein synthesis and increase protein degradation. How much sleep is needed varies--listen to your body.

Sleep also affects levels of critical hormones for exercise and recovery like testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol. Not getting enough sleep sets your body up for fat gain instead of muscle gain, so 100% effort should be put into getting adequate amounts of high-quality sleep!

Summing It All Up

There are many aspects to muscle recovery. Rest days and varying intensity of exercises are important to have in your training schedule so your muscles can have time to grow and repair. Proper nutrition is key to rebuilding muscle stores.

Eat something after exercise, especially on days where exercise is intense or lasts more than 90 minutes. Combining carbohydrates and protein appears to be advantageous for muscle recovery. This can be done with real food or supplements, but it is important to eat within the hour.

Many nutritional supplements may not offer additional benefit for muscle recovery, with certain exceptions. Protein powders and BCAAs both can improve muscle growth and repair. However, more research needs to be done for exact details on this.

Get enough sleep and listen to your body to avoid over training and injury. Even if you vary exercises, make sure you have at least one full rest day per week where you engage in nothing heavier than walking. Resting is about more than your muscles, it's also about your brain and your hormones.

Overtraining may have "training" in it, but under-nutrition is a better way to look at it. Eat enough, even if you are trying to lose weight. If you don't eat enough, your body will burn your muscle in addition to fat, and you will make less progress.

Top Ten Take-Away Points for Muscle Recovery:

1. Every week, take at least ONE full rest day--no more than walking on this day!
2. Vary your exercises from day to day. Don't work the same groups too frequently or they will not recover well.
3. Eat within an hour after your workout. Muscle gain and fat loss are maximized this way.
4. Consume at least 20 grams protein post-workout, 40 grams if you are 60+ years old.
5. After long or intense workouts, consume 0.5 grams carbohydrates per pound body weight.
6. Do not starve yourself! Overtraining is caused primarily by under-nutrition. Never consume less than 10 -- 20% under your normal caloric intake, including calories burned during exercise.
7. Eat antioxidant-rich foods like berries and other fruits post-exercise to help with muscle repair and soreness. Supplements may not be as effective.
8. Get plenty of high-quality sleep! Sleep helps determine the hormonal message you send to your body. Little sleep = fat-gain message. Enough sleep = muscle-gain message.
9. Icing your muscles may help, but nutrition is MUCH more important.
10. Overtraining is not caused by training too much--it is caused by training too much and not eating enough food or the right foods! OVERtraining = UNDER-nutrition!

Related PEERtrainer Guide: How To Build Muscle

PS: Over training is one of the things that is measured in the PEERtrainer Success Index. Get your score here, or test yourself again!

References

1. Haus JM, Miller BF, Carroll CC, Weinheimer EM, Trappe TA (2007). The effect of strenuous aerobic exercise on skeletal muscle myofibrillar proteolysis in humans. Scand J Med Sci Sports, volume 17(3);260-66.

2. Gregson W, et al. (Dec 27 2012). Post exercise cold water immersion does not attenuate muscle glycogen resynthesis. Med Sci Sports Excer.

3. http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/factsheets/competition_and_training2/recovery_nutrition

4. Rodriguez NR (2009). Making room for protein in approaches to muscle recovery from endurance exercise. J Appl Physiol, volume 106;1036-37.

5. Howarth KR, Moreau NA, Phillips SM, Gibala MJ (2009). Coingestion of protein with carbohydrate during recovery from endurance exercise stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in humans. J Appl Physiol, volume 106(4);1394-1402.

6. Gilson SF et al. Effects of chocolate milk consumption on markers of muscle recovery following soccer training: a randomized cross-over study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010, 7:19.

7. http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/715/electrolytes-understanding-replacement-options/

8. Teixeira VH, Valente HF, Casal SI, Marques AF, Moreira PA (2009). Antioxidants do not prevent postexercise peroxidation and may delay muscle recovery. Med Sci Sports Exerc, volume 41(9);1752-60.

9. Close GL, Ashton T, Cable T, Doran D, Holloway C, McArdle F, MacLaren DP (2006). Ascorbic acid supplementation does not attenuate post-exercise muscle soreness following muscle-damaging exercise but may delay the recovery process. Br J Nutr, volume 95(5);976-81.

10. Ohtani M, Sugita M, Maruyama K (2006). Amino acid mixture improves training efficiency in athletes. J Nutr, volume 136(2);538S-542S.

11. Dattilo M et al (2011). Sleep and muscle recovery: Endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, volume 77;220-22.

12. McLeay Y, Barnes MJ, Mundel T, Hurst SM, Hurst RD, Stannard SR. Effect of New Zealand Blueberry Consumption on Recovery from Eccentric Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. July 2012;9:19. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-9-19.

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