How can I get faster recovery times?

[emma1903]

I workout 4 times a Week 3 strength training with some hit in there and rackets and swimming once a week. I do strength training mon, wed, fri.And find that I am aching all the time pending on which body parti have worked today it's shoulders yesterday it was legs, I tend to eat a high protein meal after I train or drink a protein shake, is there anything else I can do to stop aching?

[MiniHulk]

It's DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and it can either be a godsend, or a nightmare...

I personally love having the soreness and try to push through it when I can. If you are aching, you know that your body needs to repair and use the calories that you are eating. At least with the soreness, you know that you will be using your meals for muscle instead of fat storage.

I always find that I get DOMS if I do a slow eccentric (negative) movement... for example, if you lower the dumbbell slowly - normally your biceps will get more soreness the next day. This is often up for debate, but I personally find this as the case. Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to skip out on the eccentric movements as they build muscle really well. If you use an exercise all the time, you will find that you get less DOMS from it sometimes.

You can try some contrast showers if you are tough enough, they always helped me. Get in the shower and do 30 seconds hot water and then 30 seconds as cold as possible on the targetted muscle and keep repeating. It is also really good for your circulation and immune system, you should get used to it after a few goes. It is especially good post-workout.

[MiniHulk]

There was also some claims by one company that special digestive enzymes can help reduce DOMS... I can't remember how exactly and I haven't tried it so I have no idea of it's effectiveness. It is really expensive though - I think a similar digestive enzyme with high protease could probably offer the same benefits, if it's true.

[Wotan]

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to help alleviate DOMS is to take largish quantities of vitamin C. A gram a day is not unreasonable. A 100 gram packet from MP will last well over three months at that rate and cost £4.59.

That works out at less that 5p per day ... and you won't get scurvey either! What more could you want??

[MiniHulk]

Thanks Wotan, I hadn't heard of that before.

I personally will avoid vitamin C now as I judge my workouts on how much DOMS I have, and I tend to not work the muscle again to the DOMS eases off a bit, to ensure plenty of rest.

[Odevans]

Vitamin C FTW!

[dowdy16]

some people like to use L-glutamine to reduce recovery time. . . not sure on the effectiveness

[MiniHulk]

Anyone actually use contrast showers? I might make a thread on them at some point - they really are fantastic... but you definitely need to man up to handle it - I back out of the idea at least 40% of the time because I hate cold water.

[stavrog1]

I used to use them regularly when I was playing rugby and doing high intensity rugby training sessions, matches and squats. They are very good but now I'm doing a 5x5 program, low volume/high intensity I find that I don't need to have the contrast showers to recover before the next session. I use them for injuries still though!

I found that contrast showers can be a hassle though if you are constantly turning them hot to cold and found that the cold is never as cold as it should be! For this reason I filled my bath with cold water and ice (just to get it as cold as poss - good indication is that the ice cubes don't melt! haha) and then switch between the bath and a hot shower.

[MiniHulk]

My tap is always cold enough, unfortunately... I am fine with pain, but cold water turns me into a sissy.