Exercise Recovery
An off-season conditioning program includes proper lifting and drill technique along with muscle recovery to ensure the athlete has reached full recovery from the previous workout. Athletes usually complain of sore muscles after working out. People typically associate this with the athlete as “being out of shape.” Contrarily, regular exercisers also will experience muscle soreness. It simply means a particular muscle group has been overexerted during a workout.
Muscle soreness causes:
- First time exercisers will have soreness because they have worked muscles not used in a long time
- Regular exercisers have soreness because their muscles have not adapted to a particular exercise demand
Muscle soreness prevention:
- Do a proper warm-up and cool-down before and after exercising to improve the athlete’s flexibility of all muscle groups
- Alternate between heavy and light workouts. For example, an athlete can lift heavy one day and should have a less strenuous activity such as: jogging, cycling, or swimming for 10-20 minutes on the next day
- Light exercise and stretching every day
- Apply ice to fatigued muscles during the first two days
- Eat a properly balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and protein daily
- Eat a recovery meal after exercise consisting of legumes, dairy products, and low-fat meats after exercise
- Replenish fluids lost during workout with either water or sports drinks containing electrolytes
- Rest your muscles 24-48 hours before exercising again
- Get plenty of sleep