Many believe that if they want to build muscle or get stronger, they must be uncomfortable and sore for months and months along with limited recovery. Uncomfortable due to soreness specifically.
They believe that they have to be sore and unable to move or it didn’t “work”. What’s that really mean anyway?
Specific Steps can be taken to improve muscle recovery
Some, maybe you even, avoid lifting weights because you want to avoid the soreness and discomfort altogether. Let us instead use the challenge of keeping our muscles and body strength with the focus of improving muscle recovery after your fitness workouts.
Strength training and building lean muscle shouldn’t be something that keeps you from doing the things you love; they should enhance your ability to do the things you love for years to come.
Being sore in the right places lets you know you’re activating the right muscles.
6 Truths About Muscle Recovery from Strength Training and Muscle Soreness
When you are strength training, it is important to pay close attention to where you’re feeling the muscle burn and when. When your muscles are burning with the proper muscle flex and stretch, you know they’re activating and at M3 we use the training protocol called Muscle Finder Method.
This is necessary for muscle growth and development.
Muscle Burn = Muscle Activation.
1. Fatigue is key.
If you’re not allowing your muscle to fatigue as you work it, then you won’t make the changes necessary to gain strength or lean muscle. If you aren’t focused on the last few repetitions of each set you perform, you should be adding more reps or more weight.
To cultivate muscle growth and increased strength, you must first feel the muscles burn and then allow them to fatigue.
2. Burn muscle sugar.
Your goal isn’t just to be sore for each and every workout, but to burn the sugars stored within your muscle. Our M3 programs can help you ensure you are burning muscle sugar during each workout to help you reach your fullest potential. This then requires an after-workout recovery for those muscles.
3. Feel it for a day, NOT a week.
Being sore post-workout isn’t a bad thing when it lasts just a day or two. Feeling it the next day allows you to acknowledge that proper activation has occurred. It also tells you that you utilized enough weight and enough volume to affect the muscle.
Recovery isn’t just about resting, it’s about getting the most out of the work you’re putting in.
4. Pay attention to your recovery.
The way you recover says a lot about your current condition, the intensity of your workouts, and if you need to make changes. If you are recovering well then you will feel a slight soreness in the areas you worked but will be fully recovered and ready for more within 48 hours. Not paying attention to the way you recover can lead to injury and burnout.
5. Focus on where you feel it.
Where do you feel sore? Are you feeling soreness within the muscles you’re working and activating during your workouts, or do you feel it in your joints and connective tissue? The answer to this simple question could answer a number of questions as to why you aren’t finding the results you’re looking for as you train.
6. Recovery and your energy intake.
Your energy intake will affect your ability to recover and recuperate. Adding sticky fiber to your diet on a regular basis will allow for more nutrient absorption with muscles that are ready to receive more nutrients for repair and recovery.
At M3, we will help you to find the right program to ensure that you are activating your muscles to the best of your ability so you can reach your goals without being sore and uncomfortable for days upon days.
Our M3 Team will teach you how to ensure you are working within these 6 truths to make sure you are able to reach your greatest potential.
Learn more information about how you can stop the lingering soreness and start strength training with success by subscribing to M3.