Overtraining is not something you want to be doing for a number of reasons.
For one, training beyond what your body is able to endure comfortably is extremely taxing at the moment. You’re not going to enjoy yourself and you might give up when the result of that training doesn’t yield the results you expected.
Perhaps more important is the fact that overtraining is more difficult to recover from, giving you painful moments for the next several days.
The best advice anyone can give is to only exert yourself within your own personal limits. However, this can be hard to measure if you’re beginning a new workout regimen. So if you’ve overdone it, for one reason or other, here’s how you can recover efficiently.
Eat Protein!
When we work our muscles, we use resistance and weight to stress the muscle, causing tears and increasing tissue metabolism in controlled and desirable ways.
Tearing muscle fibers and increasing tissue metabolism is desirable because this is how our bodies make muscles grow. The muscle grows back stronger in just a few days, and this makes your muscles larger in the process. Our muscles are made of protein, so you’ll definitely want to eat or drink as much protein as possible to give your body the building blocks it needs to rebuild.
Ice
If you’re in real pain, ice your sore muscles using ice packs. You could even choose to be like LeBron James and rest in an ice bath or cryogenic chamber. Of course, you probably don’t have a cold chamber of your own, so ice will have to do. Ice numbs and soothes muscles, taking away the worst of your pain at the moment. It also reduces swelling, which can help bring pain to an end more quickly as you bounce back from your workout.
Do Light Exercise
One of the best ways to recover from overtraining is to… train. However, you won’t train at nearly the intensity of the workout that left its mark on you in the first place. Instead, go at about 50% intensity, focusing on going through the full range of motion. Do your best to relax and enjoy the process. Exercising this way will provide positive flow of blood to your sore muscles to aid recovery.
Drink Lots of Water
Your muscles love protein, but they love water just as much! We lose water during training, especially if we hit the gym a little too hard. Make sure to give this water back to your body. Drink electrolytes to replenish the salt you lost through sweat.
Massage
If you’re super sore, consider getting a massage. A professional massage is ideal, but if you can’t get that scheduled for whatever reason, a friend or partner might be able to help in a pinch. Just have them run their hands the length of the affected muscle. You can also do this yourself to improve blood flow, work out knots and pain, and make yourself feel better.
Supplements
There are a variety of supplements that are optimized for training recovery. We can suggest a few specific products that may help and provide your body with what it needs to rebuild after difficult workouts.
- Mucos Pharma from Wobenzym Plus is a supplement for athletes and anyone who lives a healthy, active lifestyle. Wobenzym Plus contains bromelain, trypsin, and rutin to support maintaining healthy joints, flexibility, and mobility.
- Pure Solutions – Pure Factors Professional Pro IGF T 1100 contains naturally occurring growth factors. It is designed specifically to help amateur or professional athletes to reach the next level.
- Researched Nutritionals – RibosCardio Powder may help to restore energy, oxygen uptake, cardiovascular function, physical performance, and quality of life. Additionally, it may help to support temporary relief from occasional pain, fatigue, and support exercise tolerance.
We think these may help you a lot!
At the end of the day, hard exercise is going to benefit you in the long run, and sticking to an exercise regimen will make it less painful to continue as you get used to it.
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