You can try balancing on one leg and measuring the amount of time you can hold it to monitor recovery. But make sure you do a baseline test when you're fully recovered to figure out how long you can hold your balance. Figuring out how many days per week to work out is important when you're trying to map out your training plan. Recovery days are essential, depending on what you do during your workouts. A May research review published in Sports Medicine looked at 22 different studies on workout frequency.
The researchers found that it didn't really matter how many days per week the subjects lifted weights. In the end, the only thing that mattered was volume.
In other words, you can do three sets of 10 reps for squats on Monday or one set of 10 reps on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Both plans will give you similar results because each is a total of 30 reps over the course of the week. Different exercises require different recovery times.
A September study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that single-joint exercises took longer to recover from than compound exercises. An example of a single-joint exercise would be a bicep curl, in which the only joint that moves is the elbow. In this curl, only your biceps are working and only your elbow moves. In a compound exercise, like the chin-up, the biceps are working but other muscles are contributing as well.
If you do single-joint training, make sure you have at least one day to rest between muscle groups. That means you shouldn't do single-joint exercises for the same muscles on back-to-back days to allow time for recovery. Resting is the best way to recover, but proper nutrition is also key.
Your muscles need resources to help them recover from a tough workout. Fueling your body after a workout is crucial for recovery. Your muscles need protein to build back up along with carbohydrates for energy. The protein requirements for athletes are 1. This might seem high compared to what you're used to, but your muscles will require more protein than normal if you're working out.
For carbohydrates, you need between 5 and 7 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Fluids are also important because your muscles contain water. You can weigh yourself before and after a workout to see how much water you've lost. If you lose more than 2 percent of your body weight in water, you're officially dehydrated, according to the article from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.
So if you lose more than 2 percent of your body weight during a workout, start drinking water afterward to boost your recovery. But it's a valuable tool to have in your recovery arsenal. If your schedule allows, try to put your feet up and take an hour nap. Sleep is crucial to recovery, and a nap after a hard session will go a long way towards helping the body build and repair stressed tissues.
While it's not as well known as the ice bath, an Epsom Salt bath can provide significant relief to sore muscles. About 60 to 90 minutes before bed, add four cups of Epsom salt to a hot bath and relax in the water for 10 to 15 minutes. The salts help to remove excess toxins from the muscles, and the warm water and relaxation helps your body unwind and prepare for sleep. After drying off, take a few moments to stretch and roll out your muscles with a foam roller before heading to bed.
A full night's sleep may just be the holy grail of recovery for runn ers. While you are counting sheep, your body is absorbing all of the performance gains made during training. During the third and fourth stages of the sleep cycle, human growth hormone is released, which helps rebuild and repair muscle tissue and helps convert fat to fuel.
Without sufficient sleep, the body produces an excess of cortisol, which slows tissue repair and negatively impacts metabolism. The quality of your sleep matters as much as the quantity--aim to go to bed around the same time each day and set up your bedroom so that it's a dark, cool and quiet place.
Many runners swear by those eye masks to help them achieve total darkness and claim that a room at 67 degrees is ideal for extra Zzz's. While most of us will never hit the 10 to 12 hours that elites log, try to get a solid seven to nine hours per night.
And as your training increases, tack on an extra 30 minutes a night during peak mileage weeks. More Running Articles. Look for this banner for recommended activities. Cancel Yes. Join Active or Sign In. All rights reserved. Go Premium. Need Help? Learn More Customer Login. By Jennifer Fox. Eat 1 of Your body needs this recovery period. This is actually a much more complex question than it appears to be. The answer will vary depending on a variety of factors—the nature of the workout, which sets of muscles are being exercised, your nutrition, your age, and your sleep cycles—just to name a few of the big ones.
These are just guidelines. The American Council on Exercise recommends as a general schedule several high-intensity workouts per week, with at least 48 hours in between to give your muscles plenty of time to recover and rebuild. Lower-intensity workouts may require less recovery time, and you may feel comfortable with 24 hours of rest between workouts.
If you have any questions please contact me at or visit us at Chiropractor in Burke, VA. Blog Contact Us. So how long is enough rest between workouts?
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