Slow recovery after gym
 

Hi all looking for some suggestions on this. I started up in the Gym 3 months about and all is going well, feeling the benefits, weight slowly coming off, however I am having a small problem with recovery after a session. Esentially if I go to the gym on a Monday and then go back on a Wednesday my legs are like lead and I'm quite sluggish.

Now I'm (at least I feel) be no means over doing it, cardio wise my typical routine and the moment is 20 min on the cross trainer followed by 20 minutes bike and then back to the cross trainer for another 10-15 min. Weights wise I don't really work out my legs just upper body at the moment so I'd assume that is not the problem.

Food wise, I can still be a little bad, a bar of chocolate here or there but after the gym I'm usually going to have something along the lines of pasta and tuna steaks

Any tips on how I can get some pep back into my legs for the "wednesday" session

Stretch and take a hot shower.

In general, what you work out on monday, will be sore on tuesday. But you can reduce it by doing the above things. Stretching and hot showers are quite helpful I find. On tournament days, I stretch before my matches and after them. And then when I get back home/to the hotel, I take a long hot shower while massaging my muscles and then when I get out of the shower, I stretch some more.

Oh, make sure you have adequate warm up and cooldown sessions.

Congrats on the results :)

You should be stretching every day, and before and after each workout.

It's hard to say what the problem might be though. Did you just recently start working out your legs or have you been working them out as long as you have been going to the gym?

Stretching does tend to be left to gym days only, unless I remember and I was sort of coming to the conclusion that thats what the problem might be.

No real change in the amount of work my legs are getting now as to when I started at the gym a few months back

I always found, working out again when the muscle was sore would "work out" the soreness.

After a few times, I just didn't get as sore anymore. Maybe you should up your cardio, to do it more times a week. :P

do you 'warm down'? cos you may have lactic acid still in your legs. a warm down and stretch would help work the lactic acid out of your legs. a light stroll home and stretches seem to do me fine.

a hot shower and stretches at home is ideal, but most people dont bother iwth the stretches once they get home.

you can also get some supplements to help recovery time, but ive never been a fan of any supplements really..

if i do have a hard session in the gym, usually itll be a little sore the next day but even sorer the day after, but by the third day totally gone. so maybe try doing the same muscle 3 or 4 days apart depending on your body recovery cycle.

Hmm, Vincett has a point, maybe you can work out the soreness by doing some light exercises on your off days if you can. Nothing really intense, because your body needs to be using its off days to rest.

Eat some bananas, some green leafy gross shit like lettuce\spinach, and stretch before, during, and after workouts.

Eating is extremely important, both in general and after a workout. 5-9 1/2 cup servings of fruits and veggies daily. And vary the colors.

You need to recover within 45 minutes of a workout to get evrything in your system. A 4:1 ratio is best...then eat normally later. Acceleraide (spelling?) is good for that.

You may be overdoing it with your cardio - in terms of the level. Most people work out on cardio too hard, too often. I've posted else where - I think in a weight lost thread - with heart rate monitor tips. That's really the only way to measure cardio.

All the other stuff...stretching, etc., is right on target.

Holy hell. I must be one unhealthy motherfucker.

Shit, I'm lucky if I eat a vegetable a day, much less 5-9 cups of fruit and vegetables.

Try buying some protein powders. The protein (which has amino acids in them) will help soreness by giving your muscles the building blocks they need to recover. Other sources of protein are milk (~9 grams/8 ounces), peanut butter (~10g/2 tablespoons), and grilled chicken breasts (~18g/3-4oz). Protein powders typically have around 25g of protein per serving.

He's correct here.

I mentioned the 4:1 carb to protein ratio. That has both something to do with getting carbs in your system and it helps your body process the protein more effectively - and quicker. Both help you recover faster within that 45 minute window.

Carno... you are young and won't notice results of your eating for some time. Youth tends to overcome poor eating. However, you don't know how good you could feel if you did eat right. Avoiding all those trans fats and other bad fats, along with processed sugars and flours. Of course, that means almost no fast foods which is tough to do. You'll really miss out in years to come with quality of life. It's the old saying...you don't know what you don't know. Like someone that finds out they need glasses, but onlky when they go to an optometrist and find out what they could have been seeing.

It's never too late to improve lifestyles choices!

Thanks all, I've taken this all on board and will monitor progress over the next while, see if I can improve some

I find that sitting in the sauna at the YMCA means I'm TOTALLY not sore the next day, even if I have the kind of weight lifting session that leaves my arms shaky right after. I make sure to warm up before I do anything strenuous- getting my heart rate up gradually instead of hopping on the treadmill and running like there's a gaggle of hungry five year olds chasing me, holding spoons and screaming "ICE CREAM!!"

I make sure and strech after a workout too, which helps me feel loose instead of all tight and "OMG muscle cramp!"

If your gym doesn't have a sauna (god bless the YMCA) then try a hot shower or bath, or a whirlpool.