Muscle recovery is an important but overlooked aspect of fitness. Many people feel that to build muscle quickly they need to do resistance training every day or even most days. Weight training is one of those things where less is more.
In this article, we are going to address why muscle recovery is more important than training frequency.
Training 5-6 Days a Week is Unnecessary
You want to know the truth about lifting weights 5-6 times a week? This approach was popularized by body builders that take anabolic steroids. They have superhuman levels of testosterone and can recover much faster than natural lifters.
The typical 5-day a week bodybuilding split may consist of:
- Arms on Monday
- Shoulders on Tuesday
- Chest on Wednesday
- Back on Thursday
- Legs on Friday
1-2 rest days is not enough time for central nervous system recovery or muscle fatigue to where off. You would be sore all week long.
Gym time and recovery would be better optimized if you worked more muscle groups in a session with an emphasis on compound movements. Multi-muscle exercises burn more calories and activates more muscle fibers.
If you a adopt a 3-day a week training split, you can work your:
- Chest, back, arms, and a bit of shoulders on Monday
- Legs on Wednesday
- Shoulders, back, arms, and a bit of chest on Friday
Working out 3 days a week gives you sufficient recovery as a natural, because you are not training 2 days in a row. You would be allocating at least 48-72 hours of rest in between lifting sessions.
How Can You Build Muscle Training Only 3 Days a Week?
If you can consistently overload key compound exercises over a period of years or months, then you can build dense hard muscle lifting weights only 3 days a week.
The research shows that muscle protein synthesis is elevated for up to 72 hours after an intense strength-training session, so if you did an intense workout on Friday, you would still be receiving the mass building benefits up until Monday.
Sleep Affects Muscle Recovery
Muscle is broken down in the gym, but sleep is where muscle is repaired, and new muscles are built. As you sleep, you release anabolic hormones that are imperative for muscle growth and repair such as testosterone, IGF-1, and human growth hormone.
Sleeping less than 5 hours a night has been shown to lower anabolic hormones and increase the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
Cortisol is not inherently bad, but a high presence of it can hinder muscle growth and fat loss.
Generally, people should be getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you get less than 6 hours of sleep per night, you can lose more lean body mass than fat mass.
Muscle Recovery and Nutrition
Nutrition is going to play a vital role in your recovery efforts.
Protein for Muscle Recovery
You should be getting sufficient protein feedings in between lifting sessions. Protein promotes muscle tissue repair and the growth of new muscle cells.
Protein would also help reduce your risk of injury from intense weight-training sessions. Even if you are doing compound movements with perfect form, you still run the risk of getting injured if you are deficient in protein.
You don’t need as much protein as you been led to believe by fitness experts. All you need is about 0.7 -0.82 grams of protein per pound of body weight based on the scientific literature.
Carbohydrates and Muscle Recovery
Carbohydrates refill muscle glycogen storage after an intense workout. This is important for minimizing delayed on-set muscle fatigue. The body will have the best response to carbs post-workout.
This is why training in a fasted state is so effective. As you lift heavy weights and eat a meal with carbohydrates afterwards, your body is better able to direct those calories from carbs to muscle glycogen rather than fat storage.
Fat Intake Supports Muscle Recovery
Dietary fat supports muscle recovery by:
- Supporting the hormonal system
- Providing the body with energy
- Reducing Inflammation
Fats and carbs work together in supporting functional testosterone levels in men, which supports muscle recovery.
Micro-nutrients Can Improve Muscle Recovery
Balanced macros are great for muscle recovery, but eating more micro-nutrient-rich foods can expedite recovery efforts. You can get macro nutrients from highly processed foods or junk foods, but you won’t get many micro-nutrients.
You need to consume more healthy foods or whole foods to get more micro-nutrients.
Some of the essential micro-nutrients include:
- Vitamin D
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Vitamin C
- Iron
You don’t have to eat healthy 100% of the time to get the recovery benefits from nutrition. Pleasurable junk foods can be integrated into your diet daily. However, you should be eating healthy at least 80% of the time to optimize micro-nutrient intake.
Actively Recovery from Workouts
Proper sleep and nutrition are imperative for muscle recovery, but steady state movement should be incorporated in the recovery plan.
You don’t have to do high-intensity cardio, but you should do some daily enjoyable activity that would still allow you to hold a conversion with someone.
These can be activities such as:
- Going for walks outside
- Hiking
- Playing leisure sports
- Yoga
- Dancing to incredible music
Walking is the easiest form of active recovery you can do on a routine basis. If you go for a 45-60 minute walk every day, you will increase blood flow in the body. This helps deliver nutrients to the muscles, which aids in recovery.
To learn more about the incredible benefits of walking, check out this article Why Walking is the Best Exercise for Long-Term Fat Loss.
Conclusion
In summary, to optimize muscle recovery, there are a few things you need to do. First, take more rest days. Don’t lift weights 2 days in a row. Leave 48-72 hours of rest in between lifting sessions.
Second, get sufficient sleep at night. Third, eat balanced macro-nutrients while still optimizing for micro-nutrient intake.
Lastly, do some kind of low-intensity enjoyable activity everyday especially on your rest days.
If you do the things mentioned in this article, you would be surprised how relatively strong you would get with such a low-frequency training program.
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