Maximising Post-Workout Recovery

We all know the feeling about 1 day after a solid workout session, where the muscle aches and stiffness starts to kick in, and you find yourself waddling around like a penguin after leg day, or need a helping hand to rip off your sports bra after training upper body. The struggle is all too real.

Even if you’re not overly sore as such (which by the way, is not a great indicator of the quality of your workout anyway), it’s not uncommon to feel a bit rundown between sessions if you’re not dedicating enough time to recovery.

We have teamed up with Renowned Exercise Physiologist and Sports Scientist Tony Boutagy to hear his top tips to help you speed up the muscle recovery process and soothe the soreness. The MWU team will also break down the important of post-workout nutrition and other hot tips to help recovery. 

What does Insufficient Recovery look like?

Tony points out that the main signs of insufficient recovery include, ongoing soreness, fatigue, irritability and agitation, having problems sleeping, compromised performance, and a resulting lack of motivation to continue with your fitness plan.

If you're familiar with these symptoms, it's important to take a step back and give your body time to repair and recover so you can bounce back feeling stronger.

By taking the time to understand the most effective recovery strategies for your body and implementing them into your routine, you can train much harder, more effectively, and most importantly – with a higher degree of consistency.

How to Recover Wisely

Numerous methods have been used for decades in hopes to accelerate recovery between workouts and reduce the discomfort of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Before jumping right into these strategies, it’s very important to remember that not all of these are created equal. Some methods, while helping alleviate soreness and other negative symptoms, can unfortunately also undermine the adaptation to exercise when performed too close to your workout.

This is because exercise essentially induces a number of stressors, damage, and inflammatory responses in the muscle. Research shows that all these stressors play a very important role in the reaction of muscle tissue and the remodelling process that occurs in the critical hours after the session is finished.

Because of that, although this may seem counter-intuitive, we don’t actually want to overuse recovery methods that blunt this essential stress-response – as this is detrimental for exercise adaptation, meaning you get less out of your session.

So broadly, recovery methods can be broken down into 2 categories: those you can implement right after the session, and those that are best left for at least a few hours after.

After your Session

Here are a few recovery methods that you can apply immediately after exercise, without worrying about interfering with exercise adaptation:

• Keep your body moving. Active recovery means performing low-intensity exercise following a strenuous workout. It sounds fancy, but is basically all about moving your body as opposed to doing your best impression of a couch potato after a challenging session. Some examples of active recovery include walking, gentle yoga, or leisurely swimming.
• Getting a massage can really boost your recovery. In a recent analysis of 1700 studies, massage was deemed the most effective strategy compared to stretching, self-myofascial release, compression garments, and many other techniques (although all demonstrated good results).
• Stretching is a great way to enhance recovery and improve your flexibility. You can find a Library of stretching routines in the MWU App and add them to your Workout Planner. Head to the Live Workouts to find more guided stretch sessions by Coach Morgan and pilates trainer Alexis.
• Foam rolling is another beneficial recovery technique that can help to reduce DOMS and stimulate blood flow to the muscles you just trained. Foam rolling will help alleviate tightness, tension and reduce inflammation of muscle tissues, as well as help to increase your range of motion. Research some foam rolling routines rather than going through random motions, as this can sometimes be harmful.
  
• Post-workout Nutrition can also play an important role in recovery. Research shows that rehydration, protein, and carbohydrates together all improve both recovery and adaptation to exercise. 

Post-Workout Hydration & Nutrition 

Guidelines for post workout hydration recommend replacing 150% of the water weight lost during your training session in the hours after training. So, if you see people at the gym weighing themselves before and after a session, that's most likely to estimate how much fluid they’ve lost to replenish it accordingly. Unless you perform very intense workouts and/or train outdoors in hot weather, this level of precision may not be required, but definitely always remember to drink plenty of fluids after exercising.

With regards to macronutrient intake, recent research shows that unless you’re a professional athlete or perform multiple training sessions each day, the most important factor is hitting your overall daily nutrition targets.

If you’re someone who prefers to follow nutrient timing, you can definitely try consuming more protein and carbs around your workout and see if it makes a difference. For protein, well-accepted recommendations suggest having around 0.4g of protein per kg of body mass after exercise and a similar amount several hours later.

Research also suggests that the addition of having carbohydrates with the protein may provide additional benefits to just eating protein alone. Consuming around 1.2 g total carbohydrates per kg of body weight soon after training is a good place to start, although you can have a bit more or less, depending on your overall targets.

Remember though that these are just guidelines, and individualised approaches may vary. So long as you’re consuming plenty of carbs and protein around your sessions and hitting your daily requirements, you’re on the right track.

Another nutrition strategy to improve recovery is ensuring you’re consuming enough magnesium in your diet. Most studies show that your recovery and performance is most benefited when 300-600g of elemental magnesium is consumed per day.

However, applying magnesium externally with creams, sprays, or baths doesn’t appear to be as beneficial, and evidence around these methods is incredibly mixed.

Ultimately your best bet is consuming enough magnesium from whole foods - some great sources include almonds, spinach, cashews, avocado and oats. If your dietary intake is not sufficient, your doctor may recommend taking an oral supplementation of magnesium tablets too.

Here are some great Post-Workout Recipes from our dietitians for you to try!

Protein Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1x Mixed Grain Wraps
• 180g Egg Whites (Raw)
• 1x Egg
• 40g Mushrooms
• 50g Capsicum
• 50g Asparagus
• 50g Zucchini
• 50g Avocado
• Red Onion, to taste
• 1tsp Lime Juice

Directions:

1. Prepare ingredients: finely dice mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, capsicum and onion.
2. Heat pan over medium heat and apply a light spray of oil, if necessary. Add vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook while stirring for 6-8 minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside.
3. Add egg and egg whites to pan and stir while cooking for 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
4. Lay wrap flat and add egg to centre and top with cooked vegetables, avocado and drizzle lime juice.
5. Fold wrap from bottom upwards followed by top down. Roll from sides and slice through middle.

*Egg and vegetable mixture can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days. We recommend assembling wrap at time of consumption.

Beef Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients

• 30g Rice Paper
• 30g Rice Noodles (Raw)
• 130g Beef (Sirloin, Rump) (Raw)
• 10g Lettuce
• 20g Cabbage
• 3 tsp Tamari
• Red Chilli, to taste

Directions 

1. Prepare rice paper and rice noodles as per packet instructions.
2. Prepare ingredients: finely slice chilli, finely chop cabbage and lettuce. Cut beef into thin strips and season to taste. 
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and apply a light spray of oil, if necessary. Once hot, add beef and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked to your liking.
4. In the meantime, mix together chilli and tamari in a small bowl. Set aside.
5. Lay out rice paper and add even amounts of beef, rice noodles, cabbage and lettuce. Drizzle with tamari chilli sauce. Keep ingredients close together so rice paper can be rolled easily.
6. Fold the top and bottom edge of rice paper towards the centre, then fold in both sides to make a roll. Repeat for remaining rice paper rolls.

*We recommend making this meal at time of consumption. This meal can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Weetbix Overnight Cheesecake Oats

Ingredients

• 30g Weet-Bix
• 100g Cottage Cheese (Creamed)
• 30g Rolled Oats (Raw) 
• 140ml Milk (Low Fat)
• 15ml Maple Syrup
• 40g Apple

Directions

1. Finely dice apple. 
2. Combine oats, crushed weetbix, milk, apple and maple syrup in a medium-sized container. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. After 1-2 minutes, roughly stir through cottage cheese. 
3. Seal container and store in fridge overnight (or for 1 hour minimum). Serve cold.

*This meal can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Chicken Couscous Bowl

Ingredients

• 160g Chicken Breast (Raw) 
• 30g Pomegranate 
• 50g Couscous (Raw)
• 20g Feta Cheese (Reduced Fat)
• 30g Capsicum 
• Fresh Parsley, to taste
• Fresh Mint, to taste
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• Lemon Juice, to taste

Directions

1. Prepare ingredients: finely dice capsicum, roughly chop herbs and crumble feta. Sprinkle turmeric and salt over chicken and press to coat. 
2. Cook couscous as per packet instructions. 
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and apply a light spray of oil, if necessary. Once hot, add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip chicken and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside and rest for 5 minutes. 
4. Add couscous, feta, pomegranate, capsicum and herbs to a bowl and mix to combine. Drizzle with lemon juice and season to taste. 
5. To serve, slice chicken and place on top of couscous. 

*This meal is great for meal prepping, and can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.

In the Following Hours after Training

Here’s a few recovery strategies that you may want to leave for the hours following your workout (6+ hours):

• Wearing compression garments
• Cold water immersion, such as ice baths or plunge pools 
• Heat exposure, such as a heat/infrared sauna or hot tub
• Contrast hot/cold therapy
• Cryotherapy

Many of these methods are aimed more at very advanced trainers, so don't feel like you must follow them to achieve the best recovery results. Experiment with a few methods and find what feels best for you and your lifestyle.

Ice Bath Benefits for Recovery & Mental Health

• Reduction of Muscle Soreness: Research indicates that cold-water immersion (CWI) may help ease muscle soreness following exercise. By decreasing inflammation and constricting blood vessels, ice baths can provide temporary relief. However, the extent of this effect varies among individuals, and the optimal timing and duration of ice baths are yet to be precisely defined.
• Improved Muscle Function: One of the potential upsides of CWI is its impact on muscle function and strength recovery. The exact mechanisms that facilitate this benefit are not fully understood, but there is evidence supporting its positive influence. As with muscle soreness, individual responses play a significant role in determining the degree of improvement.
• Accelerated Recovery Time: For those with packed training schedules, the possibility of faster recovery times between sessions is enticing. Some studies suggest that CWI might aid in hastening the body's recovery process. However, the ideal frequency and duration of ice baths required to achieve these benefits remain subjects of ongoing investigation.
• Mood Enhancement: While the primary focus of ice baths has been on physical recovery, some studies have touched upon the potential mental health perks. Cold-water immersion may provide a short-term mood boost, possibly due to its analgesic and invigorating effects. However, long-term effects on mental well-being are not yet fully established.
• Stress Reduction: A fascinating aspect of ice baths is their ability to increase the production of norepinephrine—a neurotransmitter and hormone that enhances alertness and activates the body's "fight or flight" response. This heightened state of alertness may contribute to a sense of focus and reduced stress levels.
• Mindfulness and Focus: Taking an ice bath can be a novel and intense experience. Engaging in such activities might promote mindfulness and help individuals focus on the present moment, providing a break from everyday stressors.

A Few Words on Sleep

Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. The way you feel while you are awake depends in part on what happens while you are sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. So it is crucial that you are getting sufficient uninterrupted rest.

Having a good sleep routine is such a simple yet under-appreciated aspect of recovery. Sports and exercise sleep experts advocate for 8-9 hours of sleep each night. If your lifestyle permits, adding a short nap in the day can provide additional benefits for recovery but understandably it's not feasible for everyone.

When your sleep time is compromised, this can really undermine your fitness performance and overall progress, as well as negatively affect your mental health and stress levels.

In Summary

So don't be discouraged if you're experiencing muscle soreness after some tough training. Implement some of these strategies to aid your recovery and allow your body the time it needs before getting back into your routine.

With consistency, your body will start to adapt to the exercise you're doing and you'll begin to feel more refreshed after each workout.

As always, pay attention to your body and choose the movement and recovery strategies that suit you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to our team of friendly staff who will be more than happy to assist.