No matter what you do when you first begin a new fitness routine, SORENESS is sure to follow.
Now you might not believe this, but there will be a day when you miss this soreness. Yes, it’s true!
It’s important to realize though that soreness does not dictate whether you had a good workout or not. But in the meantime, let’s make sure YOU know how to recover between workouts, support your metabolism and fuel your body to transform!
There are a million and one things you can do including anti inflammatorys, hot showers, epsom salt baths, BioFreeze, standing on your head…yes, I’ve had someone tell me they’ve done this. While all these things help, their effect will be minimal.
My Top 5 Anti Soreness Tips:
1.) Drink more water- 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces daily is the minimum. Shoot for 8 ounces every waking hour. Set a timer on your phone if you have to.
2.) Stretch- take 5 minutes a few times each day and stretch your entire body from the bottom up. You can do it anywhere. Make time!
3.) Eat more protein- aim to get 1 gram of protein for each pound of lean muscle on your body. Ex. 200lbs person with 30% body fat would need to consume 140 grams daily. Dymatize Elite or Rule 1 WPI are great protein powders to help increase your protein intake. (more details below)
4.) Drink a Branch Chain Amino Acid product- Best BCAA’s or Xtend by Scivation will help to rapidly reduce the intensity level of soreness and reduce the amount of time to recover. (more details below)
5.) WORKOUT AGAIN!!! Even though the thought is crazy, it is the best possible solution to your problem. The people who are messaging me saying they are too sore are the ones who are missing the most workouts each week. It is not a coincidence. A BODY IN MOTION, STAYS IN MOTION. If you lay around, you will stay stiff. Get active, get moving!
More on Protein & BCAA’s
The first thing you want to make sure you are doing to recover in between workouts is to make sure you are consuming a post workout protein shake immediately after your workout.
Why immediately?
During exercise your body is creating a bunch of these small micro tears, which you want, so that your body builds it’s own protection (more muscle).
It’s similar to getting a cut on your skin. After a few days it stays to heal, the wound closes and the previous cut is now replaced with a thicker skin called scar tissue.
Now the better you treat that cut/skin during the recovery process with lotion or neosporin the quicker it will heal and the less tough the remaining scar tissue will be.
So post exercise when your muscles have all of these little micro tears, protein is going to be the nourishment it needs to build and recover properly.
Protein also helps to keep you feeling full, increase your metabolism, build lean muscle and supports fat loss. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP!
PRO TIP- put your protein shake AND your keys in the gym fridge (or on top) so you cannot leave without it!
The next step to a successful recovery from your workouts is to incorporate BCAA or Branch Chain Amino Acids.
BCAA’s are composed of the amino acids Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine. What’s significant about these 3 aminos is that even though they are naturally found in all protein sources, they are the only amino acids that your body cannot create on it’s own. It needs additional supplementation.
The best time to drink your BCAA’s is during and after your workout.
Why during? Well it’s actually one of the few supplements that will help to buffer and offset the lactic acid BURN you feel while exercising. What this means for you is more endurance, more strength and jump starting the recovery process.
Why after? Just like protein BCAA’s will continue to work for you long after you have left the gym. You can sip on them anytime after your workout: with meals, between meals, at night, during cardio, all morning.
PRO TIP- use your favorite flavor to pour into popsicle trays in the freezer for an awesome low carb treat!
BCAA’s will also help to naturally increase protein absorption, stabilize your blood sugar, dramatically increase your recovery between workouts and…oh yeah the taste freakin great!
Check out the video Shelly and I shot for you above to learn our favorite brands and flavors as well as some other key tips on how to implement Protein and BCAA’s into your post workout regimen.
Put these tips to use to recover faster, get stronger and have a quicker path to your transformation!
Committed to your fitness success,
Derek Kuryliw, your fitness Yoda 🙂
