You can always tell when you’ve pushed yourself to the limit during a workout. The next day, your whole body will be aching, and that’s your body telling you that you have done some damage and it needs time to recover. It’s during these recovery periods that your muscles will rebuild and start to grow, and it’s an incredibly important part of the workout process. However, if it takes you a long time to recover, that can interrupt your routine and you may not be able to get as many workouts into a week as you would like. When you have fitness goals that you want to achieve, this can be so frustrating.

The worst thing that you can do is continue to work out even though you have not fully recovered. This makes you more likely to sustain an injury and you will not be able to push yourself as hard during workouts, so the results will not be anywhere near as good. What you should be doing instead is finding ways to reduce recovery times so your body can still heal fully, but it does not disrupt your workout routine. These are some of the best ways to cut down on recovery times. 

Sleep 

Your body does most of its recovery during the night while you are asleep. You are not expending energy elsewhere, so your body can focus all of its attention on repairing your muscles. If you don’t have a good sleep schedule and you don’t get the recommended 7 or 8 hours every night, you are limiting the amount of recovery that your body can do, and you will feel soreness in your muscles for a lot longer. It is vital that you get the recommended 7 or 8 hours after a workout, if not every day. Improving your sleep schedule will make you healthier overall, and also boost energy levels so when you are doing a workout, you will be able to push yourself harder. 

Drink Plenty Of Water

Dehydrated muscles will quickly seize up and become sore, which slows your recovery down a lot. That’s why it is important that you drink plenty of water when you are exercising, even if you are not doing cardio. Make sure that you drink enough before, during, and after your workout and you will find that your recovery times are reduced in a big way. On a day when you are doing a workout, you should be drinking 2 liters of water at the very least. 

Protein Shakes 

You should already know how important your diet is when it comes to recovery times. Your muscles need protein to repair themselves, so you need to make sure that you are eating a protein heavy meal after you exercise. However, if you are doing a lot of intense muscle building exercises, you may not be able to get enough protein from your meals alone, and you should consider protein shakes. There are some great companies like Fuel Station that sell a range of protein shakes to help you ensure that your muscles have everything that they need to recover properly. You can get some effective meal replacement shakes and bars as well, so you get all of the protein and nutrients that you need without any of the fats or excess carbohydrates. Using supplements and shakes is one of the most effective ways to make sure that you are getting everything you need so you can recover quickly. 

Stretch Every Day 

Stretching before and after a workout is so important, and if you are not already doing that, you are very likely to injure yourself. But have you considered stretching every day, even if you aren’t doing a workout? This is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your muscles are not tight and improve your flexibility, which will help to speed up your recovery times. If you implement yoga into your routine between workouts, you will find that your muscles recover a lot quicker, and it’s a good way to treat sports injuries as well. Yoga also helps to build muscle, just make sure that you are sticking to simple stretches so you do not put excess stress on your muscles when you are trying to give them time to recover. 

Ice Baths 

Inflammation is one of the most common reasons why muscles get sore, so finding ways to reduce that inflammation will help with recovery times. It may not sound like the most pleasant thing to do, but if you soak in an ice bath for a short period, it can make a big difference. It will bring down inflammation and prevent sore muscles, so you can recover a lot faster. There are a number of other health benefits to taking an ice bath, so it is a good activity to add to your fitness routine, even if it does take a bit of getting used to when you first start.   

Take More Rest Days

When you first start a new fitness routine, it’s tempting to push yourself to the limit and get as many workouts as possible into every week. Once you start seeing results, it boosts your motivation and you want to keep going. However, if you find that your recovery times are long, that could be a sign that you are pushing yourself too hard. Even if you try all of the other suggestions on this list, you still need to take time to recover. There is no hard and fast rule about how many rest days you should take in a week because it all depends on your specific routine. However, if you find that your muscles are constantly sore and you never fully recover, that is a sign that you are not resting often enough. Although it may seem counterproductive because you are trying to meet your fitness goals, working out less often can actually help. You will recover more effectively and you will be able to push yourself more during your workouts because you are not fatigued. 

If you follow these tips and reduce recovery times, you will avoid injuries and get better results from your fitness routine. 

Whether you’re an athlete or an everyday fitness fanatic you’ll do everything you can to improve your performance, pushing your boundaries and exceeding your limits in order to reach the very peak of your capabilities. Although your training regime may be a vital component of your success, we all know that it goes hand in hand with proper nutrition, and as you reach the upper edges of your limits it’s often the small changes, such as taking the right supplements, that can make the biggest difference. 

It’s easy to get lost in the sea of supplement marketing and it’s important not to stray too far from the facts – so here’s everything you need to know about one little supplement called Beta-Alanine that could help to improve your endurance and reduce muscle fatigue. 

What is beta-alanine?

Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid, but that doesn’t mean that it is redundant in the body. When combined with the amino acid Histidine, the two combine to form carnosine, a dipeptide found in skeletal muscle that is responsible for reducing lactic acid accumulation in our muscles. 

Why do people take beta-alanine supplements?

Histidine levels in the body tend to stay relatively high, while beta-alanine levels remain relatively low, this means that it is the level of beta-alanine in the body that determines how much carnosine can be produced. By taking a beta-alanine supplement, up to 80% more carnosine can be created, acting as a buffer against lactic acid and helping athletes to increase their TTE (Time To Exhaustion). 

Can you get beta-alanine from food?

Beta-alanine can be attained naturally from carnosine rich foods such as fish, poultry, and red meat. Because carnosine, and therefore beta-alanine rich foods tend to be of animal origin, vegetarians and vegans often have much lower levels of carnosine in their muscles and so taking a supplement is the most reliable way to increase their levels.

How much beta-alanine should you take?

It is recommended that most people consume between 2-5 grams of beta-alanine per day, and many people choose to break this dosage up into smaller doses eaten with their meals for maximum efficacy. Another reason why people often break up their dosage of beta-alanine into smaller doses is that a large dose of beta-alanine can cause a tingling feeling called paraesthesia, which although harmless, can be a little unpleasant. 

Why does beta-alanine make me tingle?

The beta-alanine tingle is actually a histamine response and occurs when the nerve endings become hypersensitive. Although the beta-alanine tingle is nothing to worry about, people can be surprised when they experience it for the first time, but it really isn’t anything to worry about and will subside on its own. The tingle usually begins about 15 minutes after taking a high dose of the supplement and is typically felt on the back of the hands, neck, and back and lasts for between 30 minutes to an hour. Although some users like the tingling feeling, others find it unpleasant, in which case simply lower your beta-alanine dosage and take it throughout the day.