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Title: Exercise Recovery – What Works Best?
By line: By Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
URL: www.myFitterU.com
Word count: 1,300 words
Related keywords: exercise recovery, cool-down, stretch, carbohydrates, hydration, fluids, sleep, workout, post-exercise

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Exercise Recovery – What Works Best?
Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
www.myFitterU.com

The human body operates most efficiently when it is in balance, or has achieved a state known as homeostasis. As such, optimal recovery means that all body systems have returned to the state they were in before exercise (homeostasis). However, for most avid exercisers, recovery is a limiting factor. The better you can recover, the sooner and better you can train. The process of recovery (regeneration) gets less attention than it should. Every person should have a systematic plan that includes recovery activities on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. The following are simple tools that you can implement to help your body recover better between exercise bouts.

Cool-down

After exhaustive exercise, don’t stop and rest immediately. You can speed up the removal of lactic acid from your muscles by continuing to exercise at a low intensity for 10-20 minutes. Cooling down can help reduce the feeling of stiffness that often occurs after a workout and is especially important if your next training session or event is scheduled a few hours later.

Stretch

Static stretching before exercise puts you at risk for damaging the very tissues you are trying to protect and as such should be avoided. Research has shown that stretching causes lengthening of the tendinous fibers within the muscle-tendon unit. Such lengthening causes the tendon (or passive) component to lose much of its shock absorbency, thus, placing the muscle fibers at greater risk of trauma. However, stretching after exercise may help minimize muscle soreness and may even help prevent future soft tissue injuries. Thus, before activity, more active-type stretching routines that promote range of motion and increased blood flow are recommended. Conversely, after exercise, the emphasis should be on passive or static stretching to allow the muscles to relax and return to their resting lengths.

Carbohydrates

The muscles are primed for quick restoration of their carbohydrate fuel reserves (glycogen) immediately after exercise, so don’t wait too long to start eating foods and drinking beverages rich in carbohydrate. Fruits, energy bars, and sports drinks all contain large amounts of carbohydrate. From a nutrition standpoint, post-exercise is one of the only times where you want to be consuming high-glycemic index foods for they will stimulate a quicker release of insulin and, thus, carbohydrate storage in the muscles. Ideally, these fuels should be consumed as quickly as possible upon finishing your exercise session.

Protein

Most forms of exercise lead to the breakdown of proteins within the muscles. This breakdown-repair process stimulates the muscles to rebuild and become stronger. Moreover, some of our muscle proteins continue to be broken down during the recovery phase after exercise. For a faster buildup of muscle proteins during recovery, include a small amount of protein in the foods you eat. Milk, cheese, eggs, whey protein shakes, sandwiches, nuts (almonds, walnuts) and energy bars provide carbohydrate and protein. Look for easily digestible protein sources (such as the ones listed above) following strenuous exercise. Avoid saturated fats.

Fluids

Replacing lost fluid is crucial to the recovery process. Having adequate fluids within your body promotes the removal of toxins and waste from your muscles. Top off your supply of fluids by drinking before exercise, continue to hydrate every 15 or 20 minutes during a workout, and replace any body weight lost during exercise by drinking while you recover. Remember, 1 L of water is equivalent to 1 kg of body weight. Therefore, if the difference between your pre- and post-exercise weight is 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) you would want to rehydrate with 1.5 L of water to bring your body fluid back to homeostasis. Before, during, and after exercise, the rule of thumb is that if you’re thirsty, it’s too late! Therefore, be sure to have a water bottle throughout the day to sip on. On a daily basis (at rest), the number of ounces of water you should be consuming should equal half of your body weight (in lbs). Thus, if you weigh 200 lbs, then you want to be drinking 100 ounces of water (almost 3 L).

Salt

Your body loses water and minerals – mostly sodium chloride, some potassium – when you sweat. Drinking water alone during exercise and recovery will make it difficult to replace body fluids rapidly because much of it will pass through the kidneys to become urine. Replace the salt along with the water to counteract dehydration. If you have to compete again within a few hours, consider sports drinks that contain water, sodium chloride, or fruits such as bananas which are high in potassium. Add extra salt to foods at mealtime if you are susceptible to cramps. Consider using condiments, sports drinks, and fitness waters instead of salt tablets.

Damage Control

Inflammation, swelling, and muscle soreness are possibilities following strenuous exercise. To minimize the effects, consider cold packs around joint areas, alternating cold and hot whirlpool baths, and the use of specially designed magnets to speed the recovery process. Light massage is also a good option for promoting toxin removal from the tissues and reducing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). A study by Hilbert et al. showed that a 20 minute massage 2 hours following exercise helped to reduce the intensity of soreness 48 hours post-exercise in subjects who underwent 6 sets of maximal eccentric hamstring contractions. Minimize foot contact with the ground. Engage in light activities that increase blood flow while not taxing the nervous system. Swimming, cycling, walking, and light jogs are alternatives, but minimize foot contact with the ground.

Sleep

There is plenty of evidence to show that lack of sleep can have an adverse affect on training and competition. You might get by for a day or two with inadequate sleep, but it will catch up with up sooner or later. If you haven’t monitored your sleep habits already, determine how much sleep you need each night to ensure full recovery. It’s not eight hours for everyone – could be less, could be more. Then try to establish a routine that will allow you get what you need to perform well.

Sleep is divided into 1.5-hour time cycles. If you can time sleep cycles in increments of an hour and a half (1.5 hours, 3.0 hours, 4.5 hours, 6.0 hours, 7.5 hours, 9.0 hours), you have a better chance of waking up refreshed. The idea is to awake at the top of the cycle instead of at the bottom. And don’t dismiss the power of a 20-30 minute nap during the day. The journal Sleep highlighted a meta-analysis done on studies looking at the effects of sleep deprivation on performance. The researchers found that overall sleep deprivation strongly impairs human functioning. Moreover, they found that mood is more affected by sleep deprivation than either cognitive or motor performance and that partial sleep deprivation has a more profound effect on functioning than either long-term or short-term sleep deprivation.

Also be aware that overtraining can impair your body’s ability to fully rest and regenerate. A study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise revealed that female swimmers who trained excessively showed a higher incidence of sleep disruptions.

In sum, there are several measure that you can take to better your recovery between exercise sessions. Remember that a combination of the several of the aforementioned tools should be implemented for best results.

Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
Creator, Fitter U

References:

Safran, M. et al (1989). Warm up and muscular injury prevention: an update. Sports Medicine, 239-249.

Hibert, J. et al (2003). The effects of massage on delayed onset muscle soreness. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 37: 72-75.

Pilcher, J & Huffcutt, A. (1996). Effects of sleep deprivation on performance: a meta-analysis. Sleep, 19(4): 318-326.

S. Taylor et al. (1997). Effects of training volume on sleep, psychological, and selected physiological profiles of elite female swimmers. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 29(5):688-693.

About the Author

Yuri Elkaim is a world-renowned fitness, nutrition, and weight loss expert. He is the creator Fitter U and Treadmill Trainer, author of Eating for Energy, and the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s soccer program at the University of Toronto. His trademarked 12-week Fitter U iPod workout program has been helping thousands of people around the world get in shape and lose weight fast without the cost and inconvenience of hiring a trainer. Go to www.myFitterU.com now to get your FREE Fitter U workout and “How to Get Fit and Lose Weight Fast” report!

One of the reasons why people tend to get hungry soon after a meal is that the food they had eaten had been too quickly digested and the carbohydrates and speadily treated, burned or stored as body fat.

Foods that have this problem are mainly those that contain mostly simple carbohydrates such as sweets, chocolate and white bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

These over-processed foods also have a high glycemic index. The glycemic index (GI) is a term that refers to the way your blood sugar level in the organs responds to certain foods. Foods that have a high glycemic index (simple carbohydrates like those mentioned above) to increase the sugar level in the organs rapidly, while the opposite is true for foods with low glycemic index.

When your blood sugar rises too quickly, causing a large increase in insulin that is released into the bloodstream. This excess insulin reduces the level of blood sugar far below normal, which will signal the brain to eat more sugar, but if it does, the cycle repeats.

The secret then to eat the right kind of food to decrease the absorption of sugars in the body will also decrease the amount of insulin released. Insulin is also known as the storage of fat hormone “that will make the sugars that are not essential to bodily functions which are stored as body fat for later use.

This is why some people have what they call a “sweet tooth” all the time.

The trick then is to not eat foods high in simple carbohydrates, but eating something with a low glycemic index, like a piece of fruit or protein foods that will cause your blood sugar in the blood enough to go back to normal and not make it go up and down considerably.

Doing this will remove the constant desire to eat sweets, sugary foods.

Adding more fiber to your meals is an excellent way to slow absorption of carbohydrates in the body. He does this because it is not digestible by the human body that allows you to drastically slow down the rate of absorption of calories than any other you eat with him.

If you can learn to love vegetables in your meals then you will get leaner faster than ever before.

Frozen mixed vegetables are actually one of the easiest to prepare meals, taking a few minutes in the microwave, with almost no effort. Fiber is found in vegetables would be one of the best sources, plus they have the added advantage of having other nutrients within them.

Some other good sources of fiber are fruits and oatmeal.

Beware of fat-free foods or products advertised as “low fat”, because we know that they are loaded with sugar, honey, corn syrup, glucose, maltose, molasses or (6 different types of sugar).

These foods stimulate the pancreas to release large amounts of insulin to get all the sugar in your blood, and now know that insulin is a hormone that promotes fat storage and prevents fat loss.

The solution for permanent weight loss is to consume the right types of foods with each meal to limit the amount of fat storing hormones released in the body while increasing the speed of your metabolism. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

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Studies have shown that, although with a reduced calorie diet, subjects in a group that had a higher percentage of protein in your diet and eat more often (5 times a day), preserved more lean muscle mass all other groups.

Preserving lean muscle mass and other vital tissues of the body is of vital importance when it comes to losing weight. It is for this reason you should stay away from low calorie or starvation diets or diets that require little or no protein.

Did you know that the protein word meaning “great importance”? It is the vital nutrient that builds up the body. It is necessary to build muscles, internal organs, nails, hair, hormones and more. The human body can not survive without the protein.

People who tend to have weight problems generally consume much less protein than their bodies need. This is especially true for people who exercise, as their protein needs will be much greater.

One of the reasons why the protein is a useful addition to any weight loss plan is for its thermal value. It actually has the highest heat value of any food. This means you need more calories to digest, and is the nutrient most difficult for your body to become fat.

Being harder to digest, protein will help you feel more satisfied and after meals and help keep your levels normal blood sugar.

Another thing about protein is that it is composed of amino acids. There are 12 essential amino acids that the body can not produce itself and must obtain them from food sources. Many people are actually deficient in some essential amino acids, either because they do not consume or not consume enough protein quality protein.

Eggs contain protein of high biological value. This means that our body can assimilate and use this protein, much better than most other sources. Another great source of high quality protein powder is whey or soy protein.

If you eat foods that are low in nutrients and essential amino acids, then your body naturally makes you feel hungry all the time in order to extract the small amounts of these nutrients to the large amounts of food you eat.

If I had to start eating foods that are “high” in the nutrient content, then your body will be satisfied much earlier and not get the desire to eat much, because the body needs more than just “calorie” food and This is one of the biggest reasons why people are not in hunger or low calorie diets simply are not getting the nutrition your body needs.

It would also be worth noting that the protein you cooking actually destroys some of the essential amino acids. Some of them are very sensitive to heat, so you should try to add some sources “crude” protein in their diet, like fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds and protein powder or any source other been heated or cooked.

The solution for permanent weight loss is consume enough protein to preserve your lean muscle tissue and to increase the fat burning rate by building new muscle to speed up your metabolism. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

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If you are overweight and are prone to overeat through a constant feeling of hunger, you might just not hungry for food, but your body can really be hungry for essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, oils, proteins and other nutrients that are important for proper body function and healthy.

Worse, if you are already deficient in some nutrients and you try to diet by reducing the amount of food ingested, can kill deficiencies leaving your body no choice but to demand to eat more to give you an appetite powerful that it is unstoppable.

You need to understand that just will not eat for calories for energy. The modern American diet is full of processed foods and nutritionally empty which means they must eat more to get the nutrients the body needs.

One of the reasons why they feel the need for a second and third serving of food is that your body is desperately trying to get smaller amounts of vitamins and minerals scattered food and we will not surrender until he gets what he wants and needs .

If you start adding more nutrient-rich foods to your diet and maybe add some form of supplements, you will begin to meet the nutritional needs of your body and you feel less hungry and more likely to eat only what your body needs in terms of calorie needs for your body weight can return to a normal level.

Eating better will help you avoid the “hunger stress” that give us these cravings to overeat and overindulge.

So how are nutrient poor Americans? Researchers at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion said that only a dismal 10% of the U.S. population had an adequate diet, while 16% were rated as having a poor diet, which increased the risk of health problems. Also, unfortunately, 74% had inadequate intake of nutrients.

Want to know what the top 10 are nutrient deficiencies? Son of fiber, Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFA), vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, selenium, zinc and chromium.

We should also note that many people are deficient in certain amino acids (proteins). Although most people eat enough protein, it is usually cooked or processed which means that certain amino acids have been damaged or destroyed, leaving only “partial” protein.

It would be a good idea to seek and investigate the nutrient content of foods you eat during the week and see if there is potential for any deficiency. If there is, you can then start adding to your diet foods that are rich in a particular nutrient or find a way to supplement your health food store.

Fruit and vegetables themselves lower in nutrients than they were several decades of overharvesting, it is advisable to supplement with vitamins and minerals as a precaution.
The solution for permanent weight loss is to add certain key nutrients with each meal to allow you to feel more satisfied without having to overeat. We recommend using the new fail-proof diet from The Weight Loss Grail.

This is a brand new type of diet never seen before that will never leave you feeling hungry or ask you to give up any of your favorite foods.

You can begin this fantastic new diet right here:

The Weight Loss Grail: Lose 28 lbs. Every 28 days!