Top Ten Take-Away Points for Muscle Recovery:
1. Every week, take at least ONE full rest day–no more than walking on this day!
2. Vary your exercises from day to day. Don’t work the same groups too frequently or they will not recover well.
3. Eat within an hour after your workout. Muscle gain and fat loss are maximized this way.
4. Consume at least 20 grams protein post-workout, 40 grams if you are 60+ years old.
5. After long or intense workouts, consume 0.5 grams carbohydrates per pound body weight.
6. Do not starve yourself! Overtraining is caused primarily by under-nutrition. Never consume less than 10 — 20% under your normal caloric intake, including calories burned during exercise.
7. Eat antioxidant-rich foods like berries and other fruits post-exercise to help with muscle repair and soreness. Supplements may not be as effective.
8. Get plenty of high-quality sleep! Sleep helps determine the hormonal message you send to your body. Little sleep = fat-gain message. Enough sleep = muscle-gain message.
9. Icing your muscles may help, but nutrition is MUCH more important.
10. Overtraining is not caused by training too much–it is caused by training too much and not eating enough food or the right foods! OVERtraining = UNDER-nutrition
