speeding up recovery time

[fa_jing]

It seems like the limiting factor in my training is the recovery period. I get enough food, what other supplements could I use to speed it up?

[Chief Fox]

What you ingest during and right after your workout will impact your recovery period.

I've never tried it but maybe something like this: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/end/r4.html

or this:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/end/acc.html

[Reggie1]

I don't think it's that you eat a good diet, it might be when you eat the diet.

I have no scientific base for this at all, but I know I feel like this has helped me. I try and get some kind of sports drink immediately after I work out to rehydrate. I usually get a little protein + some complex carbs (like a tuna sammich) about 45-60 minutes after I work out. Even though you're supposed to, I can't do the protein shake or eat right after I workout, or I yak it all back up.

I then have a balanced meal w/ good protein about 2-3 hours after I work out, and the next morning I drink a protein shake (~40 g protein) for breakfast.

I used to do roughly the same thing, but without the 45-60 minute food and without the protein shake the next morning. I've noticed a significant difference in my recovery time with the food I've added.

[rubthebuddha]

fa-jing: creatine is good, as its main purpose is to draw water into your muscles. that helps flush out any badness like lactic acid.

also, look into glutamine (http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/supplements-reviews/glutamine-side-effects-benefits.htm)

i know bodybuilding says nothing's wrong with it, but i've read studies where those with alzheimers and other such neurological diseases had a bit of excessive accumulation. however, you're active enough that all the glutamine should be used up simply by your exercise.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by fa_jing
It seems like the limiting factor in my training is the recovery period. I get enough food, what other supplements could I use to speed it up?

Roids.

As for glutamine, I've heard that it's all absorbed in your large intestine anyway.

[mickey]

fa_ jing,

You may want to try a pre workout drink similar to one that I listed in the make your own protein drink thread. By the time that you are finished working out, you already have in your system elements already facillitating your body's recovery.

mickey

[fa_jing]

thanks for the tips. I have been staying away from creatine, but I'm rethinking it now. I hadn't realized that it helps your training as well as your performance.

[rubthebuddha]

fajing -- i'd easily recommend creatine, but as most here will agree, don't bother with the loading phase.

and one caveat -- when i was taking creatine, i became much much more moody than normal. days when i didn't get to work out tended to make this worse, and i'd be a ass to several people, my fiancée receiving the brunt of this. my suggestion is that you just keep an eye on your moods. if you notice no problems, then no worries.

[mickey]

fa_jing,

I would never say that creatine is absolutely safe. I have ranted against it so much in the past in these forums that it is tiring.

Here is a site that hardsells the safety and softsells the dangers. Make your own decision:

http://www.absolute-creatine.com/

With regard to lactic acid relief, they do write that more research needs to be done.

As I have recommended to Oso, the following I recommend to you:

Prescription for Nutritional Healing

Dynamic Nutrition for Maximum Performance

The Human Fuel Handbook from Health for Life


Good Luck to You,

mickey

[MoreMisfortune]

hey kids

does stretching (or the lack of it) influence in the muscle recovery?

[mickey]

Hi,

I think post workout stretching is a positive one. It helps with flushing. That facillitates the process of recovery. Don't forget that recovery also involves nutrition and rest.

mickey

[IronFist]

Massage (maybe).

Hey, check this out:

I read that there is some evidence that the people who work out later at night (6-7pm) may have less soreness due to the fact that they go to bed sooner after their workout than those who work out earlier in the morning. Makes sense to me.

But please, eat a good meal before you go to bed if you have a late workout. I hate people who like lift weights at 8pm and then eat a bagel and then go to bed. Don't forget your protein.

[abobo]

I'm too tired to think, but doesn't ZMA help recovery? Or at least it helps you sleep, which is good for recovery.

Or what about Spike? I heard that stuff does everything. Even your taxes.

[Serpent]

More sleep.

[fanzi]

Recovering quicker,

Calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, vitmains A, C, E, B vitmamins. Balanced diet of meats, vegetables, whole grains. Avoid fried foods and white flour since they can create inflammation and delay healing.

Deep muscle acupuncture can realign muscle fibers and restore muscles ability to contract and relax properly. Massage, stretching, heat, all do so to a lesser extent.

Stretching to keep circulation to the injured area. Stretching should be mild and never to the point of pain, a physical therapist could guide you on that. Exercise to prevent atrophy and recover injured muscles, tendons, bones. Also needs to be mild and best prescribed by a PT or doc.

Heat, in the form of warm baths, heat pads, herbal patches, etc, to promote circulation at rest and decrease recovery time. Do not apply heat to an area that is inflamed, hot, or red. By Chinese medicine standards, ice may be good initially to reduce swelling, after that cold should be avoided and heat used for the above reasons. Some practitioners avoid ice/cold at all costs.

[Ford Prefect]

I'm lazy today and didn't read all the posts, so I appologize if any of this is redundant. A few good recovery tips:

1) Meal planning: You may be getting enough food, but when you get this food is important as well. Having a small meal (2 cups of chocalte milk/ also having BCAA's at this point helps too) immediately after working out and having a very large meal (supposed to be the largest of the day) 1 hour or so after that is very important in recovery. It keeps your body anabolic.

2) Ice massage: Just what it sounds like.

3) Contrast baths: basically 105-110 degrees Farenheit soak in a hot tub, followed by a 65-70 degree soak in a pool. Obviously you probably don't have this available, so alternating temp in the shower can work... just not as well. This is great for preventing soreness.

4) Supplements:
a) Multi-vitamin
b) glutamine
c) anti-inflammatory like Fish Oil
d) BCAA for post-workout (Branched Chain Amino Acids)

5) Stretching post-workout and throughout the day.

[Toby]

What FP said about the ice/contrast baths - we often see stuff on TV in Oz with pro footballers recovering after a game. They have garbage bins full of ice and water next to a pool. They slowly swim a couple of laps, then jump in the ice bucket for a short while, then back in the pool and continue to alternate. Dunno exact times etc, but I've heard it's to remove lactic acid and aid recovery. That's all I know about it, but I'm sure you could find out more with a bit of digging around.

[Serpent]

Exactly right. It triggers vasoconstriction/dilation and helps to shift the blood around and move lactic acid. After full contact tournaments back in the day we would always have a big old ice bath and alternate hot showers with dunks in the ice bath. Does wonders for bruising too, for the same circulatory reasons. I still hot/cold shower after every training session.

[fanzi]

In studying Chinese medicine I have met some doctors who, also trained in western medicine, began their careers doing the alternating hot and cold to treat injuries. Through their experience, they found just heat works better to aid recovery from injuries. I can't say which is better, but this is something to consider. That being said, when an injury is new and there is redness and/or heat, avoid heat. Some reccomend using pressure (ace bandage) to keep the swelling down or to only use ice for the first hour after injury. The idea is that the cold constricts the circulation and while it may reduce swelling at first, it will actually slow the healing process. Once swelling and heat have dissipated, heat will benefit.

[fa_jing]

actually I'm talking about regular soreness and fatigue in the muscles, not actual injuries. Thanks though.

[Mo Lung]

For injuries, especially bruise and sprain type injuries, use ice for the first hour or two, then massage and heat.

DOMS and general training soreness is different and hot/cold as described before is good.

[Akhilleus]

I remembering reading in Flex that carbs after a workout are good...that was a few years ago and I know they are always finding out new stuff...but I know from experience that rice or pasta after a workout seems to help speed up recovery...I also find that a sauna after a workout helps with muscle soreness...that and the more bodyparts you train the more you will spread out the lactic acid...

[fanzi]

Delayed onset mouscle soreness is not only due to build up of lactic acid. A doctor Dinghou Lu from Beijing did research, inluding biopsy of muscle tissue that showed that the soreness is due to the misalignment of muscle fibers. Thin and thick muscle fibers normally contract and relax around a "Z" line. After strenuos exercise Doctor Lu found that the Z Line changes shape and moves causing an inability of muscle fibers to properly contract and relax around that line. His experiment showed how acupuncture realigns the Z Line with the fibers, but also suggested that massage, stretching, and heat work similarly.

[Mo Lung]

Considering that DOMS is a mystery to just about everybody (as in, why it really occurs and what it really is) I'd love to see this research. Can you link up any evidence of these trials?

Carbs certainly help recovery as the carbs in the muscle are used up by exercise and need to be replaced. A good option is a low acid fruit juice like grape juice directly after training to boost carbs quickly, then a good solid meal within an hour of training.

[fanzi]

I can't link it because I don't think it's online. I have the literature so I could scan it and email it if you like, but you'll have to wait till early next week for it.

I read something online by an American doctor who said DOMS was caused by tiny tears in the muscle tissue and that recovery was actually the healing of these tears.

[Mo Lung]

Yeah, well that's one of the more accepted theories, but it's only a theory. If you get around to scanning the article, let us know.