After the Work-Out

Why is it so important to "recover" after a workout?

"Building recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss"

There are 2 different kinds of recovery. Long and short term. If you're a serious athlete with a hardcore program, or have participated in a major event, such as a marathon? Just your average gym bunny, walker, or do you take advantage of group or in home exercise programs? You need to worry about short term recovery.

Long term recovery is built into year-long training program.

Here is the low-down on the two recovery types.

"Short-term recovery, sometimes called active recovery occurs in the hours immediately after intense exercise. Active recovery refers to engaging in low-intensity exercise after workouts during both the cool-down phase immediately after a hard effort or workout as well as during the days following the workout. Both types of active recovery are linked to performance benefits. Another major focus of recovery immediately following exercise has to do with replenishing energy stores and fluids lost during exercise and optimizing protein synthesis (the process of increasing the protein content of muscle cells, preventing muscle breakdown and increasing muscle size) by eating the right foods in the post-exercise meal.
This is also the time for soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments) repair and the removal of chemicals that build up as a result of cell activity during exercise.

Long-term recovery techniques refer to those that are built in to a seasonal training program. Most well-designed training schedules will include recovery days and or weeks that are built into an annual training schedule. This is also the reason athletes and coaches change their training program throughout the year, add crosstraining, modify workouts types, and make changes in intensity, time, distance and all the other training variables. "

This information brought to you by: about.com

I'm not going to focus on long term recovery since I'm not going to be a heavy duty athlete. I'm more interested in recovering from my workouts. So, how should I recover?

I'm going to recommend Beachbody's recovery systems. Follow the link to find out why and how Beachbody's recovery system is important: P90X Results and Recovery Tub  and why supplements are important to making the most of your workout Beachbody supplements. Not into the heavy training, but want something that will make them most of your workout and replenish the nutrients you've sweated out? SHAKEOLOGY!! I can't say enough great things about Shakeology. You can follow the link on this page for some info. Or, you can follow this link: Shakeology. I know you're looking at the price of Shakeology, but if you break it down over the course of a month, it ends up being $4 a serving and you're putting something healthy into your body as opposed to processed, carbohydrate-ridden food. If you become a Premiere club member, you can get a 10% discount off of Shakeology and any other Beachbody program.

But..... if it's not in your budget, it's not in your budget. Your best bet for a post-workout recovery drink? Low fat chocolate milk.

Fat-free chocolate milk beat out carbohydrate sports drinks at helping to rebuild and refuel muscles after exercise, researchers report.

The combination of carbohydrates and protein in low-fat chocolate milk appears to be "just right" for refueling weary muscles, says William Lunn, PhD, an exercise scientist at the University of Connecticut.

Post-exercise muscle biopsies showed increased skeletal muscle protein synthesis -- a sign that muscles were better able to rebuild -- after the milk drink, compared with the carb-only beverage.
Additionally, drinking fat-free chocolate milk led to a higher concentration of glycogen, or muscle fuel, in muscles 30 and 60 minutes after exercise, compared with the sports drink. Replenishing glycogen after exercise helps future performance, Lunn says. Why chocolate milk?

So, when I got home this afternoon from my 2 hr trip to the gym, what was going into my body? Chocolate Shakeology made with almond milk (I'll go into the benefits of this in a different blog), PB2 (a powdered peanut butter alternative) and a banana for some added potassium.