How can I recover more quickly from my workouts?

August 11, 2005 4:34 PM

How can I recover more quickly from my workouts?

Whenever I workout, I feel tired for the next one to two days. I don't want to move. I just want to lounge around and sleep. What can I do to improve my turnaround time?

posted by creeront to Health & Fitness (19 answers total)

How hard are your workouts? How long have you been working out and what sort of cardio are doing?

Also, are you making sure to get some energy food back in you between 45 minutes and an hour and a half after your workouts? Also, do you drink alot of water before, during and after your workouts?

With some more information it should be possible to figure out what's going wrong.
posted by fenriq at 4:37 PM on August 11, 2005

Have you been working out for a long time? I definitely found that when I started seriously working out (especially weight-lifting) that I was physically depressed after workouts, but that went away after a few weeks of keeping it up. Now I feel the opposite- energized, focused, if perhaps unable to climb stairs or lift a glass of water to my mouth. :)

On preview: what fenriq said.
posted by thethirdman at 4:39 PM on August 11, 2005

From what I've read and based on my own experiences, I try to take in some carbs and protein after a run or a hard ride within 30 to 45 minutes after exerising. The ratio that you should aim for is between 2:1 to 4:1 (by weight) carbs to protein, but I usually down some chocolate milk, or eat some cereal and milk.

On preview: fenriq's comment
posted by scalespace at 4:40 PM on August 11, 2005

Snacking on a banana or yogurt (potassium and protein!) after your workout helps repair muscles a tad faster. Cuts the day-after pain and sluggishness in half.

Then again, if you are having that much trouble, it would be a good idea to talk to a trainer or doctor.
posted by idiotfactory at 4:41 PM on August 11, 2005

I don't know what kind of workouts you're doing, but with my long-distance running, I've found that an ice bath after a long workout really improves my recovery. I literally run the cold water and dump in a bunch of ice cubes, cover up my top half with a sweatshirt, and try not to shriek when I get in the tub. I sit in there for 5-10 minutes, dry off, wait until I'm warm, and then take a regular shower. This has greatly improved my recovery time and [in my opinion] helped prevent overuse injuries.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 5:02 PM on August 11, 2005

Until you answer fenrq's it is hard to know but either you are : Very out of shape (and/or), really over doing it (and/or), have an underlying medical problem--a recovery time of 24-48 hours is not "normal"--not knowing your age, type of workout, medical history, etc. makes tr very hard to speculate. Are you doing aerobic/anaerobic exercise--I think a normal recovery period would be roughly as follows:Pulse drops 25+ beats per second with in one minute of stopping exercise, drops to 60-65% of age adjusted max. with in 10 minutes, normal with in 20-30 minutes--after burn for 4-8 hours, total recovery with in 12-24 hours if it is very hard work out--trained athletes often do 2 workouts a day with lrss than a 6-8 hour recovery period--Take Care
posted by rmhsinc at 6:06 PM on August 11, 2005

creeont,

I'd have hardcore workouts at age 22, where I'd nearly puke. Strength training, kickboxing....I'd be sore and sometimes not until two days later. If you're going down the high intensity route, this may be why. If this is the sort of training you're doing...you could be overtraining...add a day in between your workouts...make sure you're not working out every day (your body needs a break of two days a week.)
posted by filmgeek at 6:30 PM on August 11, 2005

Response by poster: Sorry for lack of specifics. I'm 20 years old, and I'm asthmatic, so my aerobic endurance is quite poor. Medication has never really done the trick, so the most I can run is 3-4 miles. Most of my workouts consist of an hour or so of weightlifting and perhaps some stationary biking. I usually do 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps of bench press, curls, lat pulls, tricep extensions, a few sets of 50 situps, a few sets of 50 pushups, and a few sets of lunges.
posted by creeront at 6:32 PM on August 11, 2005

creeront--shooting from the hip but I would encourage you to establish a regular aerobic program--45 minutes 4-6 times a week--plenty of resources on the internet--I know very little about anaerobic so will leave that to others--as you know the aerobic activity--unless specifically medically contraindicated-- will help with O2 uptake, recovery and should help fatigue and some of the adverse effects of asthma--get in the habit of checking your recovery time after exercise as it is a very good indicator of (over) training.
posted by rmhsinc at 6:53 PM on August 11, 2005

Two things you need to consider: The type of work out you are doing builds a lot of lactic acid in your muscles. This is what makes you feel stiff and sore. I have long experience in reducing this muscular lactic acid buildup by taking Thiamine (Vitamin B-1) 100 mgs before working, 100 after and 100 before bed. If I feel stiff or sore after waking up the next day, I take another 100 mgms. I have literally exercised to the point of such exhaustion as to be unable to climb 2 steps, yet be fine the next day with this.

The second point to consider is what Selye refers to as General Adaptation Syndrome (many books on Amazon). Your asthmatic history leads me to believe that your cortisone reserves are probably depleted, so that the stress of your workouts exhausts your available cortisone. These hormones (there are many of them secreted by the adrenal cortex) are essential for life. Their low levels make one feel overwhelmingly tired and sore-boned, like flu symptoms.

There are 2 pre-cursors to cortisone production that most people are short of - Vitamin C and vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid/Calcium Pantothenate). You should take 5,000 mgm/day of the Vit C (spread out over the day with meals) and 3,000 mgm of B5 per day, again with meals. Many will say that the daily requirements for these vitamins are only a tiny fraction of the numbers above, and that is true. However, some years ago I chaired an international conference on the use of aggressive vitamin therapy to treat such conditions and I was amazed at the efficacy of such a regimen for treating unusual symptoms such as yours.

IANAD, and you might want to consult a sports physician. The vitamins I mention above are water soluble and will not build up in your body. Thus, ingesting too much of them will not harm you.
posted by RMALCOLM at 6:55 PM on August 11, 2005

I have to eat some sort of carb before I work out or I am dragging all the way through it and after it. I usually eat a half a bagel. I think that I used to drag a lot after working out in the beginning. But now I'm okay. I do about 45 minutes of cardio with 15-20 minutes of weights a couple times a week.

--Sacre_bleu's wife
posted by sacre_bleu at 6:57 PM on August 11, 2005

Get in shape. The better your shape, the faster your recovery. Staying hydrated and keeping up with the carbs also helps. Protein immediately after a hard workout seems to help. Do not lounge the day after a hard workout, do an easy, make that an EASY, workout the next day. Just enough to get your pulse up a bit. It will improve your recovery.

If it takes two days to recover you are working too hard or something else is wrong. For someone out of shape the amount you describe could easily be too much right now. Take your time getting into reasonable aerobic fitness.
posted by caddis at 7:23 PM on August 11, 2005

Get one of these. Very cool, pun intended.
posted by shinynewnick at 8:35 PM on August 11, 2005

Try working out less hard.
posted by delmoi at 9:19 PM on August 11, 2005

Are you drinking enough water? If you're dehydrated, your strength level and ability to recover will go down the hatch.
posted by madman at 11:58 PM on August 11, 2005

Gatorade is pretty much the perfect recovery drink. Down one within 20 minutes after your workout. Stressing your body heavily will add to your sleep requirement, and your need for caloric intake. Skimp on either and you will slow recovery.

If you are eating and sleeping sufficiently and you still need one to two days then take them. I'm approaching forty, and I simply can't train any more than that myself anymore. Enjoy your time off, and/or crosstrain.
posted by Manjusri at 3:22 AM on August 12, 2005

you'll hit the wall but after that the stronger you get the easier it is to recorver. eat a banana too, not just good nutritionally because you'll get your mind off whatever hurts a little.

doing cooldowns really help me keep the lactic acid to a minimal
posted by chuckforthought.com at 1:39 PM on August 13, 2005

The vitamins I mention above are water soluble and will not build up in your body. Thus, ingesting too much of them will not harm you.

This isn't strictly true; taking too much vitamin C can cause rebound scurvy when its intake returns to normal levels.

OP: I think that you need to get your asthma under control to the point that you can do aerobic exercise with no difficulty. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to get into the kind of cardiovascular shape you need to be in to progress with your other exercising.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:59 PM on August 14, 2005

I second scalespace's rec for taking in both carbs and protien in a 4:1 mix soon after a workout.
posted by OmieWise at 12:51 PM on August 15, 2005