It’s important to remember that recovery time is of utmost importance for anyone wanting to gain muscle. Remember, your muscles don’t grow when you’re in the gym, they grow when you’re resting. The time it takes to recover from a workout could be different from one guy to the next. Us hardgainers often take more time to recover from workouts than the genetically gifted bodybuilders. That’s one of the reasons we overtrain if we try to follow the “pro’s” routines.
There are certain things though that aid in speeding up our recovery time. One such thing is consuming the proper nutrients directly after our workouts.
Right as you finish your workout you body is in a primed state to digest and utilize nutrients. Your body is looking to restore it’s muscle’s glycogen levels and begin repairing the micro-tears that your muscles have sustained. Liquid calories are especially effective at this time as they are more easily consumed and digested. A good recovery shake will be a combination of proteins along with simple carbohydrates which are quickly digested. Here’s a recipe for a basic muscle recovery shake.
2 cups skim milk
1 scoop protein powder
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup instant oats
This will give you about 500 good calories, simple carbs for quick digestion, more complex carbs for sustained uptake and some good protein to boost your muscle recovery. This should be consumed directly after your workout. Two to three hours later it would be good for you to have a meal of whole foods.
Combine these basic nutritional recovery tips with lots of sleep and rest and you will be completely recovered for your next workout.