Recovery and Growth

Dedicated athletes feel that if they aren’t in the gym working, they’re not meeting their full potential. The truth is that the work may be done in the gym, but the results are determined by what you do outside of the gym. Recovery time is an essential part of muscle function and growth. Fitting recovery time into your schedule allows your body to adapt to the rigors of an extensive workout regimen. There are three important aspects of recovery that you must adhere to if you don’t want you’re hard work in the gym to be detrimental to your body, your growth, and your performance. You must have adequate amounts of sleep, protein intake, and time off.

The most important part of recovery is sleep. During sleep your growth hormone levels peak, and protein synthesis occurs to help rebuild your muscle tissue. During deep sleep your body enters a paralytic state that allows for optimum muscle growth and recovery, and without it all your hard work would be a waste. It isn’t a guarantee that we will all reach the deep stages of sleep, so to assist your body in reaching those stages you should let yourself relax thirty minutes before you head for the bed. This can be done by doing breathing exercises, meditation, a warm bath/shower, or many other techniques. Some people believe they don’t need as much sleep as others, but if you’re looking to gain muscle mass you NEED eight hours of sleep a night. When I say eight hours a night, I don’t mean five one night and eleven the next, I mean eight hours every single night. You also need to have a set schedule for when you sleep. I recommend that you go to bed and wake at the same times each day. This will allow your body to get into a rhythm of recovery, and you allow for the best results.

Your nutrition is the next step to your recovery. Protein intake is the most vital part of your diet, and is the most vital nutrient for muscle tissue repair and building. You need to keep your body in an anabolic state(state in which your body has enough fuel to build the complex molecules needed for the growth and repair of your muscular system). To maintain an anabolic state you need a positive nitrogen balance. To do this you must consume at least one gram of protein for every pound of body weight you have a day. Your caloric intake levels must be higher than your output levels as well. Try to consume anywhere between 300-700 more calories than you burn off every day.

The time you spend in the gym is very demanding, and if you’re serious about building mass then it’s important that you don’t skip out on a workout. On the other hand you have to give yourself a break once in a while. Every couple months you need to take a week off and stay away from the gym completely. Although your body makes huge strides towards recovery between workouts and while sleeping, the most significant recovery occurs when you take a break from everything. Intense weight training places an abundant amount of stress on our bodies, and it’s essential that you allow your body to relax. The body needs down time every 8-10 weeks, so give it what it needs. The time off will help to fill your tanks, motivate you, and give you the mentality to head back into the gym with a strong work ethic.