Trainer-Approved Ways to Enhance Your Recovery

"Train strong, recover hard!"

2 min

©Westend61

By Lisa Gutknecht
July 25, 2022

Why trust us?

I love to give my all during training, with my muscles burning and the sweat dripping. But that is only part of my success story. The other element is regeneration, which I give just as much priority to as the workout. My motto is: “Train strong, recover hard!” To prevent recovery from becoming a factor that limits me, as an experienced fitness trainer I have learned a few tricks over the years that help my body recover even faster. After only a short time, I feel fit again for the next training session.

You can read here why regenerating after exercise is so important.

Drink plenty of water

Drink, drink, drink! Quickly replenishing fluids after a sweaty workout is the key to recovery. Water helps to ensure that oxygen and important nutrients, such as those from your post-workout meal, are transported to your cells. And if you want to grow muscle or melt fat cells, a good supply of nutrients is essential. In addition, hydration regulates your body temperature and stabilizes your pulse.

It is best to combine water with a dose of valuable minerals and amino acids, such as those found in Recovery Aminos. The high-quality BCAAs are immediately absorbed into the muscles and rejuvenate the energy that your body expended during the workout – that makes a real difference. After every intense workout, I drink my favorite variety of pomegranate.

Regenerate faster by getting sufficient sleep

After getting enough water, getting enough sleep is priority number two for fast regeneration. For a long time I paid little attention to the quality of my sleep. Staying in bed while staring at my cell phone, falling asleep way too late and always waking up tired in the morning was normal for me. Yet many important processes take place during sleep that help you make strides in your training. Damaged muscle fibers are repaired and growth hormones are released to build muscle. Since following these tips for restful sleep, I am more productive during the day and perform much better during training.

Another article worth reading is Sleep, Muscle Building, Body Fat Reduction: How Are They Related?

High protein and high carbohydrate post-workout food

Nutrition has a massive impact on your regeneration and fitness. Food not only serves as fuel for performing better, but also for recovering as quickly as possible. When your goal is to build muscle, your body needs plenty of protein and carbohydrates, especially after strength training. My absolute favorite is the Vegan Protein Shake for even more mental performance. I also swear by a slice of whole wheat bread with banana, and Protein Cream.

Foods that can kick-start your recovery basically include protein powders, legumes, whole grains or pseudo cereals, oatmeal, quark, and organic chicken or fish.

Active recovery

Lastly, I am a big fan of active recovery. This is a rest day when you don’t do a hard workout, but still incorporate a little low-intensity exercise into your day. If, like me, you find it hard to just do nothing for a day or two, active recovery is perfect for you too. In addition, this type of regeneration yields many benefits: minimal stress on the body can promote blood flow to the muscles. This allows more nutrients, which are needed for repair and growth processes, to reach the muscle cells. Also, you can demonstrably reduce the intensity of your muscle soreness. My favorite is a relaxing yoga session, such as Yin Yoga or Fascia Yoga. I also love these nine yoga exercises for more relaxation. A great alternative for those less into yoga is a low-intensity session of mobility training.

More things to know from foodspring:

Sources for this article

We at foodspring use only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial policy to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.