Recovery – How, What, When

The human body is capable of some amazing things, including adaptation to challenge and change. When we exercise, whether that looks like 20 mins of demanding high intensity resistance training or a full days activity like hiking or climbing a mountain, we are causing damage to our tissues – muscles, ligaments and tendons. After this damage the body will repair and regrow that damaged tissue in a way that will make that same challenge or exercise easier than before. In the world of Wellness, there are so many new technologies and products that can grab your attention and promise recovery from anything. But what works, what doesn’t and when should you use it?

Lets focus on return to exercise recovery to start for which we need three key things. To rest, rehydrate and refuel.

Rest
The body’s biggest tool when it comes to rest is sleep. Getting a full nights rest helps the body to rebuild and adapt to stressors we put it through every day to prepare for the next days challenges. At minimum, you should look to get 7 hours of good sleep each night, with the ideal range being 7-9 hours, on all nights.

Rehydrate
Your body uses water during all key chemical reactions, which will include all activity, exercise or not. It is especially important however to rehydrate after exercise as not only are you causing those chemical reaction inside the cells, you will also be sweating. As a guideline, try to replace each litre of sweat with 1.2 – 1.5 litres of water – this will allow for inefficiencies in the body when replacing its water levels. If you’re noticing a large amount of sweat on the ground after your workout or you’ve got white salt marks on your shirt, your body has also lost key minerals – Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium – Electrolytes. An easy way to replace these is through supplementation, a tab in your water bottle whilst you’re drinking during or after your workout.

Your key window for rehydration is in the first hour to 2 hours post exercise!!!

Refuel
After about 45 minutes of continuous exercise, you will have used up stored energy, called Glycogen, from the muscles and Liver. Refuelling after this effort is important for recovery and performance in your next session. We get our Glycogen stores mainly from

Carbohydrate and we should refuel with 0.8-1.0g per kg of bodyweight in the first 4 hours after exercise for general recovery or 1-1.2g for recovery from a more endurance based activity. Across an entire day try aiming for anywhere between 3-12g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight to maximise Gylcogen store recovery.

During the refuelling process we should also be consuming Protein, the body’s building material, to help repair that damaged tissue and maximise your adaptation to the strain you have gone through in your training. In your 4 hour post exercise window look to consume ¼ the amount in grams you take in in carbs. Across a day between 1-1.6g or protein per kg of bodyweight will be appropriate for most.

Remember these figures are for return to sport and exercise to perform well, a weight loss goal or specific performance goal will be greatly nuanced to your personal goals. Speak with a Personal Trainer to discuss what your recovery tactics should look like.