Do you find that a day or two after your training sessions you get stiff joints? Muscle soreness? Fatigue? I have encountered quite a few clients over the years who follow a proper warm up/cool down routine with 15 minutes of stretching after their workout but still feel extremely sore for the next 24 to 72 hours. If this sounds like you, it is perfectly normal.
When you lift weights or place any type of load on your joints, the forces being applied tear muscle fibres. I am not talking about the kind of tears that send you to the hospital, but tiny micro fibril tears that are required for your muscles to grow. These tiny tears cause an inflammatory response which is the reason that we get sore after we train. After a few days these tiny tears will heal. The end result is that they grow, get stronger and you can train more frequently. The more frequently you can train, the more muscle you will be able to build. The good news is that you don’t need to sit around and wait for the soreness to subside. There are pro-active protocols that you can follow to speed up the recovery process. Give some of these suggestions a try and I think you will like the results.
To speed up the recovery process, focus on consuming alkalizing foods such as cruciferous vegetables and dark coloured fruits (think blueberries and broccoli). Consume them as frequently as possible. By eating a higher alkaline diet you’ll recover faster from your workouts and you will have more energy because your blood will be better able to transport oxygen throughout your body. Keeping your body alkaline will help remove all the excess acid that is created from your training sessions. You also need to consume adequate amounts of protein to heal and repair muscle tissue. Just don’t overdo it because excess protein is acid forming. I like to use a whey protein supplement (25 grams post exercise is plenty). If dairy doesn’t agree with you, look for a plant based alternative. Hemp, rice and pea proteins will do the trick.
Limit your caffeine intake. I realize this is very hard for most people to do. Ingesting large amounts of caffeine produces a ton of acid in your body. It overstimulates your adrenal glands and causes your blood sugar levels to drop, which is extremely hard for your system to recover from. Try a tall glass of water with lemon first thing in the morning. That will set you up to stay alkaline all day. If you must have caffeine, stick to green tea. Less caffeine equals less acid formation.
Get some sleep! A lack of adequate sleep can decrease tolerance to training, alter mood, increase fatigue and negatively affect the physiological mechanisms responsible for recovery. Hormonal secretion during sleep is the most important factor influencing recovery. The purpose of sleep is to create a state of physical and mental recovery in the body. Anabolic (muscle-building) hormone activity increases during sleep while catabolic (muscle breakdown) hormones decrease. When you don’t get enough sleep your anabolic hormones are negatively affected. Try to get into a routine where you go to bed and wake up at the same times throughout the week (10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. works well for me) and minimize the amount of light your eyes are exposed to 30 minutes before you retire for the night.