Hey All-
I would like to see any advice you have on maximixing recovery (Besides get enough sleep and eat right). Are there any supplements or routines any of you use to recover quicker from a hard workout. The reason I ask is because my leg workout leaves me with DOMS 5 days or longer after the workout. I want to do cardio on the treadmill a couple days after but I’m concerned it may inhibit my development of I exercise my legs again before they’re fully recovered. TIA
Surge! Best thing I’ve ever added to my program to help with recovery. I was skeptical at first because I’d used MRP’s with extra carbs before, but that is nothing like the recovery effects of Surge. See the “Solving the Post Workout Puzzle” articles for the science behind it.
Training wise, look into Chad Waterbury’s “100 Reps” program at T-mag and Dave Tate’s articles on “feeder” workouts also at T-mag.
There are numerous ways to recover from workouts other than nutrition and sleep. For instance, various forms of massage, contrast baths, epsom salt baths, dry and wet heat suanas, sled-dragging and/or mordrate to light workouts on the day or days folling intense training, just to name a few.
As far as supplements go, I believe that increased vitamin consumption particularly of vitamins C and E as well as the B-complex vitamins can help. You may also want to look into adaptogens such as Siberian Ginseng and Mumie – I believe Fulvic Acid is (not “Folic”) is the active ingredient in Mumie and I think it is sold under the name “Shilajit”.
These are just some of the methods and means of increased recovery. If you are interested in looking into it further, I suggest purchasing the book “Sports Restoration and Massage” by Drs. Yessis and Siff which is sold at Dave Tate’s elite fitness systems web site.
Try Surge with an extra 10g glutamine post workout, also take 10g about 12 hours later.
Light cardio or concentric only work 12-24 hours after a tough workout is a good way to enhance recovery. Also, you may want to take a look at the ice massage technique described in Charles Staley’s EDT Arms Specialization article. Although described for the arms, it should also help with the legs. Also, I think either Don Alessi or Ian King wrote about an ice wrap around the worked muscles immediately post-workout. Maybe somebody remembers the link to that article. Finally, static stretching within the 24 hours after a hard workout almost always seems to speed up recovery for me.
It hasn’t caught on, but I don’t understand why. RIBOSE. I take Surge and add some Ribose (5 grams) after a hard workout and the Ribose is really what does the recovery. The surge is important, without the Ribose the potency is greatly diminished. Also, Vitamin E really helps.
Ribose is a five carbon sugar essential in the production of ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate). Normally the body makes it, but it takes time [supposedly a couple of days] to really replace your ribose stores. Regardless of how it actually works, the stuff DOES. And it isn’t that much. I prefer it over Creatine any day (and btw creatine can help aid in recovery as well.)
How serendipitous. I just bought 2 containers of Surge last week. I was planning on slamming some down right after my workouts beginning Monday. #B^)
I second Jason’s post; the ice massage/cryotherapy approach recommended by Charles Staley is very effective. Just make sure that you do it within 15 minutes of your last rep.
I definitely agree with what Jason Norcross had to say. I used to have DOMS for days after workouts just like you. I have incorporated D-Bell/Kettlebell swings on the days following leg workouts and very light upper body movements on the days following upper body workouts. I have been able to recover much faster and get rid of the muscle soreness by doing this. I have also begun stretching following the light recovery work and it is has been great for recovery. No more limping around on off days for me. Another great upper body recovery workout I was doing earlier in the summer was an upper body pool workout. I just did chest flyes and rear delt flyes using the water as resistance. I thought that really helped me a lot although the water was fairly cool which didn’t facilitate blood flow. I am going to try the pool workout in the whirlpool and then follow up with a cold shower and see how that helps with recovery. The bottom line is getting good blood flow in the sore muscles followed by some stretching works wonders.
I play football once a week, and I’m super sore from it for a few days (hampering the desire to work out). Fish oils help suppress the immune response to exercise, so include them in your diet. As well, stretch for a few minutes after the work out and do it a few times over the next few hours. Finally, make sure that there’s a good complex carb in your belly for about 4-6 hours after the exercise (beans, oatmeal, etc.) - let the low levels of insulin speed recovery. This has really helped for me.
I really hope that fish oils don’t actually suppress the immune response to working out because the immune system is a big reason why you grow after a workout. Immune cells sequestered to the injured muscle secrete growth factors and neurotrophics along with the substances that are critical in the repair process. When I workout I want to maximize immune response.
It’s complicated. When you severly damage muscle cells, they release debris into the area around the cells. This will cause an immune response (though your body might treat it like an infection). This response could be over board and do more harm than good - this is what one type of overtraining is, where you lose muscle. I always liken it to declaring martial law to stop vandalism, over kill. What you want your body to do is heal, without killing off slightly damaged cells. Suppressing the immune response means you’ll spend more calories healing and building, and fewer calories destroying anything damaged… Okay, I’m super-tired, maybe someone else can explain it better.