Exercising regularly and eating right are the best places to get started when it comes to gaining muscle mass and strength.
Well, while hitting the gym hard when working your way into shape is excellent and perhaps healthy, spending hours a day training can rob your body off the nutrients necessary to build and protect your muscles.
When you exercise, your energy stores are depleted, and your tissues are worn, making it hard to adapt or even continue training. That’s why muscle recovery is an essential component of your strength training.
After all, no one wants to go back to the gym when you can barely get up the stairs in your apartment.
If you have recently taken up a training regimen, you will want to know the best way to fight fatigue as you speed workout recovery. Thankfully, there has never been a shortage of post-workout muscle recovery supplements that promise faster muscle recovery.
This post will discuss the best supplements for muscle recovery.
Read on to know supplements that will help you recover faster as they reduce mass breakdown and soreness so that you can get the most out of workouts.
1. Creatine
Creatine is a molecule that is naturally produced within our muscle and tissue cells. It is one of the primary sources of energy for your muscles and tissues.
As a supplement, creatine has been shown to improve exercise performance and help muscle recovery by hampering fatigue. It super-hydrates muscle cells while boosting the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate.
Consuming creatine prevents or reduces injury during workouts and encourages recovery in case of injury.
If you exercise during summer, this supplement has also been proven to increase heat tolerance.
2. L-Glutamine
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your body, making up over 60% of amino acids in your muscles. However, intense training depletes gluten stores faster than your body can supply, which can potentially cause the body to be catabolic.
Taking Glutamine supplements supports and expedites your body’s ability to recover by preventing injuries and fatigue caused by excessive training and preventing dehydration.
Glutamine also increases the synthesis of proteins, maintains high levels of nitrogen in muscles, and prevents muscle breakdown, which increases stamina to continue hitting the gym.
3. BCAAs
Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) are another excellent muscle recovery supplement and, of course, should be a staple within everyone’s recovery strategy.
Composed of three elements: valine, isoleucine, and leucine, BCAAs stimulate protein synthesis, decrease catabolism rate, prevent muscle breakdown, and quicken muscle recovery.
4. Whey Protein
Research shows that supplementing proteins helps athletes build lean muscle mass and help with muscle recovery.
Whey protein is rich in BCAAs, which are known to build, rebuild, and repair muscle mass breakdown as well as encourage muscle growth, making it one of the best supplements for muscle recovery.
The good news is that Whey protein is easily digested and rapidly absorbed into your body, delivering the required nutrients very fast.
ALSO READ :- 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GLUTAMINE BEFORE CONSUMING IT5. Electrolytes
Electrolytes are minerals responsible for maintaining alkaline pH and keeping you hydrated. They normalize pH balance, ultimately helping your muscles recover faster.
After all, muscles require a higher concentration of alkalizing minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, and bicarbonate) to function smoothly and maintain a constant blood flow.
- Calcium - helps with muscle contraction.
- Magnesium - helps muscles to relax.
- Potassium - reduce muscle cramps.
To maintain ideal levels of these minerals, you can consume electrolytes before, during, and after intense workouts to replace nutrients lost through sweat.
Do muscle recovery supplements work?
The health supplement business is booming and bigger than ever. That said, people working to build muscles and want to continue hitting the gym will likely ask: Do muscle recovery supplements work?
YES.
There are many recovery supplements out there that do a great job in aiding muscle recovery and muscle building. The muscle recovery supplements listed above do their job well, and, as you would expect, they have real-deal proven science to back them up.
Causes of poor muscle recovery
If you have just started a training regimen, you have to swallow this bitter truth: you get fitter not from training but from recovery from training.
So, what might cause poor muscle recovery?
- Poor sleep habits or less rest
- Poor nutrition
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Stress
- Age
- Taking alcohol
- Hormonal imbalance
- Overtraining
The Takeaway
Recovery from workouts is as important as the training itself.
If you don’t allow your muscles to recover, you increase the chances of getting injuries or other serious health conditions.
Basically, you need a recovery strategy that includes rest, stretching, healthy nutrition, and the right supplementation products.
The above-listed supplements are proven to work. So, which one will you be adding to your recovery strategy?
ALSO READ:- BEGINNERS GUIDE TO WORKING OUT: HOW & WHEN TO EXERCISE
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