Frosty
Pro Bodybuilder
Just did a new workout? Know you're gonna be sore for the next...oh, 5 days? That can sometimes really mess up your workouts after this one, so how do you prevent this? Not doing the new workout isn't an option, and lifting lighter isn't an option, either. So recovery techniques are the key.
The first thing you do after your workout is to do 1 or 2 high rep/low weight sets of the lift you just did. For example, if you did squats 4x10 with 250, you can do 1 or 2 sets of squats after this with just the bar for 15-20 reps. That is, if you can even do this after a tough squat workout! This will help to get fresh blood into the muscles and flush out waste products.
Once you finish up with this, then do thorough stretching. Stretch every muscle you can that was involved. This helps relax the muscle and further bring fresh blood into the muscles.
When you get home, it's time to ice the muscles worked heavily. Remember RICE? Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Well, we can skip the elevation part since this isn't a real injury, but get an ice pack and put it on the muscles that were worked, then wrap an ace bandage around the ice pack so it's tight (the compression part). Do this for 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, and repeat depending on severity of soreness.
Don't have any ice packs? They're easy to make. All you need is some gallon ziplock bags, water, and a big bottle of rubbing alcohol. Mix 3 cups of water and 1 cup of alcohol into the ziplock back, get all the air out, and close it. Then put it in another bag to prevent leaking, get all the air out of this bag as well, and seal it. Put it in the freezer and it should be a nice jelly ice pack that's very cold. You can make as many as you want this way for CHEAP.
The day after training, you should continue to stretch gently to get blood flowing into the muscles. Massaging the legs can really help out. You can use a rolling pin, cardboard roll, or anything that you can roll over the muscles. Roll towards the heart and massage it has good as you can. Just don't go TOO rough so you don't bruise yourself or anything.
You can also add in a couple low weight/high reps sets of the exercise you did the day before to get blood flowing into the muscles. This will help a LOT.
Another huge tool for recovery is absolutely free and easy. Stay active! When you lay around, the muscles stiffen up. Ever notice after a hard squat day and you get up out of a chair after sitting for a while, you're extremely stiff and sore? You probably also noticed that after walking around for a while you're not very sore or stiff anymore. So use this as a recovery tool!
Combining all these cheap, easy techniques can really help boost your recovery so you can get back in the gym and do it all over again!
The first thing you do after your workout is to do 1 or 2 high rep/low weight sets of the lift you just did. For example, if you did squats 4x10 with 250, you can do 1 or 2 sets of squats after this with just the bar for 15-20 reps. That is, if you can even do this after a tough squat workout! This will help to get fresh blood into the muscles and flush out waste products.
Once you finish up with this, then do thorough stretching. Stretch every muscle you can that was involved. This helps relax the muscle and further bring fresh blood into the muscles.
When you get home, it's time to ice the muscles worked heavily. Remember RICE? Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Well, we can skip the elevation part since this isn't a real injury, but get an ice pack and put it on the muscles that were worked, then wrap an ace bandage around the ice pack so it's tight (the compression part). Do this for 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, and repeat depending on severity of soreness.
Don't have any ice packs? They're easy to make. All you need is some gallon ziplock bags, water, and a big bottle of rubbing alcohol. Mix 3 cups of water and 1 cup of alcohol into the ziplock back, get all the air out, and close it. Then put it in another bag to prevent leaking, get all the air out of this bag as well, and seal it. Put it in the freezer and it should be a nice jelly ice pack that's very cold. You can make as many as you want this way for CHEAP.
The day after training, you should continue to stretch gently to get blood flowing into the muscles. Massaging the legs can really help out. You can use a rolling pin, cardboard roll, or anything that you can roll over the muscles. Roll towards the heart and massage it has good as you can. Just don't go TOO rough so you don't bruise yourself or anything.
You can also add in a couple low weight/high reps sets of the exercise you did the day before to get blood flowing into the muscles. This will help a LOT.
Another huge tool for recovery is absolutely free and easy. Stay active! When you lay around, the muscles stiffen up. Ever notice after a hard squat day and you get up out of a chair after sitting for a while, you're extremely stiff and sore? You probably also noticed that after walking around for a while you're not very sore or stiff anymore. So use this as a recovery tool!
Combining all these cheap, easy techniques can really help boost your recovery so you can get back in the gym and do it all over again!
