Longest time to recover from a workout?

[Clamp]

The other day I had an espresso before my bicep workout. I normally don't have caffiene and had an AMAZING workout. I felt like a god who just snorted all the coke in Mexico City. I workout my biceps quite frequently because they normally recover pretty quick, however this time that's not the case. It's been four days now and I can't lift as much as I usually can. I'm on cycle so I wanna be able to lift ASAP.

What's the longest it's ever taken for you to recover from a workout?

 

[thgoance]

Should not take you 4 days to recover from biceps.
you can buy 100 200mg caps of caffeine for like 5 bucks.

 

[noway55]

First time I ever did a legitimate 20 rep squat set took me about a week to recover... The good old newbie days

 

[Clamp]

Should not take you 4 days to recover from biceps.
you can buy 100 200mg caps of caffeine for like 5 bucks.

No shit. The biceps are a small muscle, and it usually only takes about 2 days for me to recover. That's why I made this thread.

They've recovered now, in fact I'm lifting even more than usual. It took a whole 5 days though. I'm still not 100% sure what I did to them, maybe CNS fatigue or a minor tear.

 

[donjob]

if you worked them harder than usual then they will take longer to recover. going as hard as you can or maxing out every workout is going to work for a little while, especially if you are a beginner but it will eventually lead to overtraining, over reaching or plateaus. if you work a muscle extremely hard say on monday, it may not be fully recovered until say friday, but in between that time you can do a recovery workout. say you went all out on squats, it can be beneficial two days later to do some light leg work, like say pulling a sled or doing body weight jump squats. nothing too heavy though. also caffeine shouldn't have anything to do with recovery time, i believe it just helped you train harder which means more recovery time. i take it you don't use any type of preworkout? most preworkouts have caffeine in them. honestly instead of spending 30 or 40 bucks on c4 or hemorage etc., you can buy caffeine tabs for about 3 bucks. i wouldn't use it every time, i like to just use preworkouts on heavy deadlift or squat days.

 

[Clamp]

if you worked them harder than usual then they will take longer to recover. going as hard as you can or maxing out every workout is going to work for a little while, especially if you are a beginner but it will eventually lead to overtraining, over reaching or plateaus. if you work a muscle extremely hard say on monday, it may not be fully recovered until say friday, but in between that time you can do a recovery workout. say you went all out on squats, it can be beneficial two days later to do some light leg work, like say pulling a sled or doing body weight jump squats. nothing too heavy though. also caffeine shouldn't have anything to do with recovery time, i believe it just helped you train harder which means more recovery time. i take it you don't use any type of preworkout? most preworkouts have caffeine in them. honestly instead of spending 30 or 40 bucks on c4 or hemorage etc., you can buy caffeine tabs for about 3 bucks. i wouldn't use it every time, i like to just use preworkouts on heavy deadlift or squat days.

Yeah, I don't ever use caffeine or any type of pre-workout stimulant. I read some studies on the effects that caffeine has on cortisol levels and testosterone levels and I figured it'd slow down progress- Cortisol levels rose something like 50%. It sure helped me have one hell of a workout though.

 

[WestCoastActive]

Nice fact bro, i will keep my caffeine at a low dose!

 

[thgoance]

Nice fact bro, i will keep my caffeine at a low dose!

also takes calcium and water out of your body.

 

[Clamp]

Caffeine's negatives outweight the benefits. I'll pass on the coffee.

 

[SquadLeader]

It all depends on how well conditioned your body is, if I'm in my normal routine 2 days most if I took a long break I can be really sore for about 5 days.

 

[heavylifts]

A few days most

 

[donjob]

yes caffeine will hurt hydration, it is a diuretic. you should be drinking a gallon of water a day anyways, this will counteract taking a 100mg caffeine tab. i didn't know about caffeine's effects on cortisol or calcium, but if you drink atleast 4 glasses of milk a day, this shouldn't be a problem. or take a calcium pill upon waking up. you can take vitamin c, it is a natural cortisol blocker and you can never get enough, you will just pee any excess out. don't take a shit ton at once though, break it up into 4 seperate doses throughout the day. if you are on cycle, you don't need to worry about cortisol. if you know what you're doing, i believe caffeine as a preworkout once or twice a week is great to really get the most out of your heavy workouts (squat days or deadlift days. i'd skip the preworkout on chest day or arms day if you're that worried about it).