Muscles need time between weight-training workouts to recuperate strength and restore damaged tissue. If muscles don’t have time to rebuild between sessions, all their resources will be funneled into repairing new tissue damage rather than building extra muscle mass. Without enough time to recover, muscles become weaker with each session rather than stronger. Listen to your body to know when you’re ready to train again.
Cellular Damage
A weightlifting workout causes tiny tears in the muscle fibers, depletes a muscle’s carbohydrate stores and interferes with the calcium balance within the cells, causing muscle soreness and weakness. After a workout, immune cells rush in to repair the damage and the muscle begins to swell. Even when the swelling goes down, carbohydrate stocks are replenished and the cellular chemical balance is restored, it takes four to seven days for muscles to fully recover their strength after an intense workout. It takes another two to three days for muscles to reach maximum strength gains beyond their original level.
Intensity
Athletes lift weights with different goals in mind and therefore have different recovery needs. Bodybuilders and power lifters lift extremely heavy weights and may require several weeks’ light training to recover between maximal workouts. On the opposite end of the spectrum, endurance athletes do high repetitions using a light weight to build up muscular endurance. Because muscular endurance training doesn’t build new muscle tissue, it can be done several times a week. As a rule of thumb, the lighter a weight feels, the less time is needed to recover from the workout.
Indicators of Recovery
Use your body’s feedback, not a calendar, to tell you when you’re ready to train again. Don’t train a muscle that is still sore or stiff. If you cannot lift as much weight as in your previous workout, take another day or two to recover. John Bernardi, Ph.D., a nutrition and exercise biology specialist, suggests that athletes with strength and bodybuilding goals take about seven--and no more than 10--days to let a muscle recover between intense workouts. If you simply cannot stay out of the weight room, do “split sessions” where you train a different muscle group each day.
Individual Variations
Genetics, age, sleep quality, nutrition and stress all determine how quickly a person recovers from her workouts. Weight-training experience also determines recovery time, with novices needing more time than veterans to recover from moderate workouts. Even so, an advanced weightlifter’s workouts often are so intense that he requires a great deal of recovery time.
Recovery Techniques
Light exercise between key workouts increases blood flow to the muscles, decreases soreness and speeds recovery. Stretching also enhances blood flow to the muscles and preserves range of motion. Ice baths and compression clothing are two ways to limit post-workout muscle swelling.
Eating the right foods between workouts speeds recovery and enhances results. Eat nutritious, protein-rich meals beginning immediately after your workout. Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants that clear the harmful byproducts of exercise from your cells. Remember to drink enough water to keep recovery processes running smoothly.
Member Comments