Tips to Help your Muscles Recover

As you work to establish a workout regime that works really well for you, you need to start thinking about how to look after your muscles to avoid injury. You may be eating all the right foods, using all the right techniques and using some of the best bodybuilding supplements from LA Muscle, but if you don’t have a good enough cool down routine, you could be putting yourself at serious risk.

Here is a list of some of the best ways to help restore your body after a workout, to ensure that you can keep going throughout the week with minimal pain or strain.

Muscles RecoverApply an ice pack to worked-on areas

Using an ice pack will work wonders to soothe your muscles, as long as you don’t overdo it too much. Look for ice packs that are specific to the area you’re working on if possible, too.

Take a hot bath

Combining heating and cooling will benefit your muscles greatly, and will speed up your recovery time. After you’ve used an ice pack for a good few minutes, submerging into a hot bath will help take your muscles from one extreme to the other, preparing them for harsh workouts.

Avoid the sauna

Saunas are a bad idea after a workout and can wreak havoc for your muscles, meaning that they take a lot longer to recover. So although relaxing, go home and take a hot bath instead.

Rest and get enough sleep

It’s essential that you take it easy after an intense workout to avoid straining your muscles by putting them under too much pressure. If you train particularly hard especially, take enough days off in the week too so that your body has time to relax and rejuvenate.

Drink tea

Tea (without sugar and a minimal amount of milk) has a number of health benefits, and has also been said to lower your blood pressure which will be good for getting your heart rate back to resting pace.

Use a muscle cream

Find a good heating cream for your muscles, such as Deep Heat, and apply it to the areas of your body that you are working on after each workout. This will also help reduce any pain or discomfort you may experience, as well as helping your muscles to generally recover.

Eat enough snacks

Consume a high protein or high energy snack before a big workout to not only fuel the exercise, but to also fuel your muscle recovery. Protein bars are a good choice as they will be high in protein and energy.

Include a cool down as part of your workout

A cool down is an essential part of any workout, so it’s vital that you don’t skip this step. The idea of it is to be relaxing and calming, so don’t overdo it either. It shouldn’t need to take you any longer than ten minutes, and should consist of things like stretches and a slow run or jog.