Recovery after training stayfitlonger.com ,No pain no Gain ! Shut up and train! If you are exhausted, tired and your muscles hurt, then you are doing it right! You must have come across such motivational training quotes. Although they are not the greatest evil in the world, their main problem is that they leave a misconception about what it takes to achieve the desired sports results. Such motivational quotes ignore perhaps the most important training element – recovery. In short:
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Recovery is a collection of different processes that restore balance in the body and this helps maintain a certain level of productivity between workouts.
- Recovery depends on a number of factors such as the quantity and quality of food, sleep, stress, as well as the training structure itself.
Table of Contents
What is recovery?
The word recovery largely speaks for itself, but in practice it hides a serious complexity. Bishop and team define recovery as the ability to reproduce or outperform a particular performance or achievement in an activity, between two separate time points. In the scientific literature, recovery is divided into 3 main types:
- momentarily;
- short-term;
- training.
Instant recovery
An example of instant recovery is that between repetitions during a training series of an exercise. This type of recovery occurs at the cellular level, where you need to quickly and instantly recharge the amount of energy available, which at this level is in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Each repetition, in addition to depleting the available energy reserves, leads to the formation of metabolic by-products, which reduce the body’s ability to synthesize new energy units.
Logically, when the load exceeds the body’s ability to restore the available energy units, the exercise stops due to the inability to perform the next repetition.
Short-term recovery
When we talk about standard weight training, the short-term recovery occurs between the performance of two separate training series. If, for example, the training is in the form of sprints, then this type of recovery occurs between two separate sprints. Here the recovery processes are similar to those of instantaneous recovery. The difference is mainly in the amount of recovered energy reserves and the amount of reduced metabolic by-products.
Here, the recovery is considered successful when we have the opportunity to repeat the previous series. If in series 1 we lifted 100 kg 5 times, and in series 2 we managed to lift them only 3 times, then by default the time was not enough for full recovery.
Training recovery
Training recovery is the recovery between two separate workouts, whether those two workouts were on separate days or every few hours (two workouts). Like short-term, training recovery can be considered successful if in training 2 the same number of repetitions can be performed, with the same weight, with the same effort, as during training 1. If you do a 5×5 @ 100 kg squat on Monday, but only 5×5,5,4,3,2 @ 100 kg on Wednesday, then by definition you are not recovered.
Although all three types of recovery are important and to some extent related to each other, recovery between workouts is often of the greatest interest and is most important to most exercisers. Mostly it depends on him whether we will progress in training or our productivity will decrease and we will lose shape.
Why is it important to recover well?
As mentioned above, recovery is probably the most critical element in any training process and training program. In order to progress in training, a variety of training principles can be used, depending on the goals and the type of sport itself. However, regardless of the principles and training parameters, success is directly dependent on the ability to recover. Even the best training program (assuming it exists) is doomed to failure if the trainer’s ability to recover from the load is not taken into account during structuring or during its duration.
If you have to do 5 reps with a weight of 100 kg, but manage to do only 3 reps with 100 kg (or even less) because the previous workouts were so crushing and you failed to recover well, this there is no way to call progress. Quite logical, isn’t it?
What does the need for recovery require?
It is based on the fitness fatigue model, which was created more than 40 years ago by Banister and his team. According to this model, each workout leads to 2 physiological responses from the body – one positive and one negative:
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fitness, which is a positive response and represents, for example, an increase in muscle mass or neurological adaptations.
- fatigue, which masks the positive adaptations of the gym and in reality they remain “hidden”. Fatigue is the negative answer.
As time goes on, various hypotheses in science divide fatigue into two main types – central and peripheral. Behind the central fatigue is considered to be the brain, which serves as a brake and interferes with the performance of additional work in order to protect the body from injury. This is most often done by reducing the amplitude and strength of the nerve impulses that the brain sends to the muscles.
Peripheral fatigue, in turn, is caused by the inability of the muscles themselves to do work. The brain has the ability to send strong enough signals and nerve impulses, but in the muscle tissue itself does not have the necessary conditions for quality performance. Factors leading to this are, for example, the depletion of glycogen stores or the accumulation of metabolic by-products such as lactic acid. Peripheral fatigue may include injuries and damage to muscle fibers inflicted during exercise.
In her book Recovery: Revive survive and prosper, Angela Calder adds that fatigue can also be metabolic, nervous, psychological and emotional. As a rule, fatigue always accumulates faster and to a greater extent than fitness, the positive adaptations remain hidden. The purpose of recovery is to dispel and reduce the amount of accumulated fatigue so that the gym can “come to light” and the trainee can take advantage of it in his next workouts.
What happens when we train unrecovered?
In the short run, there has been a slight decline in productivity. In the beginning you manage to perform strictly all repetitions, but you put more effort compared to previous workouts. As fatigue builds up over time, you begin to miss 1-2 repetitions of some exercises. You feel exhausted and wake up a little harder in the morning.
Short-term training not restored in English literature will be found under the term overreaching. Due to the lack of another good term in Bulgarian, here we will call it overload. While a little fatigue is not a big problem and does not affect training performance, the problem of fatigue is that it accumulates and the more it accumulates, the more training begins to suffer. In chronic training unrecovered and especially if the accumulation of fatigue is not dosed correctly, at some point the overload turns into overtraining.
Slight fatigue turns into severe fatigue. You no longer just put more effort into performing the exercises, but you also need to significantly reduce the weights used so that you can perform the same number of repetitions and sets. Muscles and joints begin to ache. There is a serious change in behavior (apathy, depression). The quality of sleep is significantly impaired. The immune system collapses. The levels of stress hormones increase, which at chronically high levels worsen a number of other elements of health.
Last but not least, the risk of injury increases significantly. If a person is stubborn and stubborn enough and continues to train hard despite the presence of all the symptoms, sooner or later through an injury the body forcibly sends him to boxing. Some people still consider overtraining a myth, but we can assure you that it is something very real.
It is important to note that while any training strategy seeks at all costs to avoid long-term overtraining (also called non-functional overload), many of them, especially those for intermediate and advanced, intentionally include a well-dosed overload (also called functional overload) for a short period of time (4-6 weeks), followed almost inevitably by a period of enhanced recovery in the form of a deload or tapering. However, this is out of the focus of this material.
How do we know that we are (not) recovering?
To a large extent, we have already answered this question above, and you probably already understand. The most important marker remains training performance. If you fail to train with the same volume, intensity and / or frequency, the results slowly decline for more than 1-2 weeks, then you are not recovering well enough.
If you regularly have muscle fever that lasts for days after training, if strength and energy levels fall, old injuries call and you go to train by force, instead of as before with desire, then the recovery is lame. Some other, more specific health markers may also be a guide. High levels of cortisol, for example, or reduced levels of testosterone in men. Increased markers of inflammatory processes as well.
Hearth rate variability is also often used as a guide. For example, if in the morning immediately after waking up you have a standard heart rate of 60 beats per minute, but then start measuring 65-70 beats, it is considered that something is wrong with the homeostasis of the body and the nervous system. Last but not least, an increase in injuries can also be a marker of poor recovery, although an injury can also result from poor performance technique, and sometimes from outright stupidity on the part of the trainer.
How to improve recovery?
Training recovery depends on really many factors and we will not be able to affect absolutely every detail. Let’s look at some of the most important ones.
Amount of food
In order to be able to restore all depleted resources, the body will normally need enough nutrients. One of the most common causes of poor recovery is poor nutrition. In the first place, the amount of food is essential. Quite simply, the body needs enough energy. It is recommended that you are at least in a calorie balance or even better in a slight excess of calories. In a calorie deficit, especially a long one, recovery can never be optimal, except in very specific situations.
Food quality
In addition to the quantity of food, quality is also essential. Protein is critical. Try to get at least 1.6 grams per kilogram. For safety, do not bother to increase up to 2 g / kg. However, do not neglect carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates help recharge glycogen, which serves as a source of energy during exercise. Fat, among many other things, is critical to hormonal balance.
Carbohydrates and fats can depend on a number of factors, all highly individual, but as a guide, try about 30-40% of your daily calories from carbohydrates and 30-40% from fat. Do not underestimate the importance of vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and other nutrients. In short, the menu should be well balanced, made up of foods with high nutritional value.
Sleep
Sleep is important both quantitatively and qualitatively. This is indisputable, despite the propaganda of another by some sources on the Internet. It has been proven many times that less than necessary sleep significantly impairs recovery and sports performance. Exactly how much sleep should also be very individual, but as a guide, the minimum should be 6 hours, and the optimal time for most people will be about 7-8 hours.
Stress and emotional state
When we talk about stress and training recovery, most people pay attention only to the stress of the training itself. However, something important is missed, namely that the stress to which the body is subjected can be of a different nature. In her post, Ian Jeffreys points out that stress is not only physical, but also psychological and emotional, and they all play a role in recovery.
The study by Matthew Stults-Kolehmainen and team clearly demonstrates how devastating stress can be. Two groups of people undergo the same, rather heavy training. The main difference is that one group is subjected to high levels of mental and emotional stress in their daily lives, and the other is not. While the group with low stress levels managed to recover in 48 hours, the group with high stress levels took 96 hours. You can read a detailed analysis of the study in the article by Greg Nuckols.
Even if you are not subjected to many different stressors, if you feel stressed and easily stressed even by small and insignificant things, find a way to improve this part of your daily life. This will significantly improve your training recovery and your quality of life in general.
Taking food supplements
Some supplements can also be a very good helper in recovery, but the rule is that they are useful only if they manage to fill a lack of nutrition or provide you with something in an amount that is very difficult to achieve through food alone. In practice, the most direct and practically significant impact on recovery between workouts have the following supplements:
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protein powder;
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amino acids;
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vitamins and minerals;
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omega-3 fatty acids;
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creatine;
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carbohydrate powder.
Some important clarifications:
Protein and amino acids are directly involved in the repair of muscle tissue. Protein powder has a higher priority over amino acids, as the total amount of protein for the day is most important. Vitamins, minerals and omega-3s are especially helpful if your menu does not include enough fruits, vegetables and fish. They help mostly for the general health and optimal functioning of the body, which in turn is necessary for optimal recovery.
Creatine has little to do with muscle tissue repair, but mostly helps to restore and even increase creatine stores in the muscles. This is important for strength and muscular performance. Like creatine, carbohydrates as a supplement have little to do with muscle, but help restore glycogen in them, which serves as an energy reserve. This is especially useful if you train twice or if large amounts of glucose are required to maintain sports activities.
Structure of the training program
Each organism can maintain a certain rate of recovery. No matter how hard you try to eat well, get enough sleep, whatever supplements you take and not succumb to stress in everyday life, sometimes all this is simply not enough. If you have taken into account all the factors in everyday life that affect recovery, but it is still not good enough, then it’s time to reconsider your training program.
It is known that high training volume with moderate intensity leads to more fatigue, more inflammatory processes and more damage to muscle tissue compared to training with high intensity and low to moderate volume. Simply put, typical bodybuilding workouts of the 15-18 series per week for a muscle group and weight to perform reps in the 10-15 range need more serious recovery than typical strength training of the 10-15 series per week for muscle group and weight to perform repetitions in the range 1-5.
Therefore, the first thing you can try is to slightly reduce the total number of weekly sets and / or repetitions per muscle group. If you make the mistake of training with both high volume and high intensity (no pain, no gain?), You will “thunder” even faster. Remember that training volume and intensity are on opposite sides of the scales. Both can be high only for a very short period of time, followed by enhanced recovery (deloud).
Maybe the total weekly training volume is okay, but it is distributed unbalanced. You can train a muscle group too often. Try to evenly distribute the number of sets of workouts, and leave enough time for recovery between each two workouts for a muscle group. Unfortunately, there is no way to give an exact scheme, because recovery, as you have already learned, is very individual and everyone will need if not a radically different, then at least a slightly different approach.
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