Healthy food and adequate rest build muscles after intense weight training. Without these, you might experience unbearable pain emanating from muscle soreness.
Excessive muscle soreness can stop you from working out in the gym and affects day-to-day chores.
That’s why one should take measures to promote rapid muscle recuperation. Fortunately, there are plenty of methods to eliminate exercise-induced muscle soreness, and food is one of them.
Poor nutrition slows the muscle recovery process, whereas eating healthy food speeds up muscle revival.
So, this blog covers the best muscle recovery foods along with the foods to avoid and tips to boost muscle recovery.
Foods That Encourage Muscle Recovery
Nothing can beat the power of nutrients in fresh fruits and veggies when it comes to curing muscle fatigue. In addition to recovering sore muscles, these foods offer numerous health benefits.
Anyways! Let’s talk about the finest foods for muscle recuperation!
#1. Watermelon
Watermelon is abundant with L-citrulline amino acid that enhances the production of Nitric Oxide. Nitric oxide ensures that muscles get adequate nutrients as well as oxygen. It also clears accumulated lactic acid.
#2. Pomegranate
Pomegranate juice supplementation can reduce oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant responses after intensive weightlifting. That implies one can consume pomegranate juice or fruit to improve muscle recovery.
#3. Beetroot
Beetroot juice supplements after exercise can reduce muscle soreness and improve CMJ (countermovement jump) performance. You can consume beetroot salad or a glass of beetroot juice.
#4. Whey Protein Shakes
Whey protein is one of the finest high-protein foods for muscle repair obtained from cheese manufacturing.
High ingestion of whey protein for five days after intense exercise reduced muscle damage biomarkers in non-athletic non-obese males.
#5. Starchy Vegetables
Working out depletes glycogen (a form of glucose) in muscles. It is essential to replenish these glycogen stores for optimal sports performance. Consuming vegetables rich in carbohydrates, like sweet potatoes, after strength training can help regain lost glycogen. Certainly, the study assures that carbohydrate is linked with glycogen regulation.
Adding forenamed foods to the diet ensures quick muscle convalescence after exercise.
Moving further, there are also certain foods that you should avoid during the muscle recovery stage. Continue reading further to learn about those foods.
Foods To Avoid Hinder Muscle Recovery
Foods with zero nutritional value are not beneficial for muscles and overall well-being. These foods must be avoided for muscle mass development. Let’s talk about those worst foods for muscle recovery!
#1. Doughnuts
Doughnuts contain high quantities of refined sugar, which is not beneficial for muscle recovery. It is because refined sugar doesn’t have nutrients and is high in calories which will lead to fat gain.
#2. Sugary Drinks
The fructose component in sugar contributes to the dysregulation of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. That implies your muscle-building efforts will go down the drain, and you may gain additional fat.
#3. Salty Snacks Like Chips
Ingesting sodium lowers potassium levels, which ultimately hampers muscle revival. Potassium deficiency also leads to muscle fatigue, cramps, as well as weakness. So, avoid salt-rich snacks or fast food.
#4. Alcohol
Testosterone and growth hormone are responsible for muscle building as well as recovery after rigorous workouts. Unfortunately, gulping liquor excessively after training can lower hormone levels and hamper muscle recuperation.
At last, refrain from ingesting highly processed food and smoking during your muscle-building journey for the best results.
Read the blog until the end to learn more tips to promote muscle renewal.
Tips to Boost Muscle Recovery Naturally
A healthy lifestyle is equally important as healthy food to encourage muscle revival after intense resistance training. Here are a few tips to maximize muscle recovery.
#1. Sleep for Eight Hours
Doctors recommend healthy adults should sleep for eight hours for maintaining physical as well as mental performance.
During sleep, your muscles recover from wear and tear induced by exhausting workouts. Sleep deprivation doesn’t contribute to muscle growth and lowers testosterone levels that regulate muscle mass.
#2. Get Some Sports Massage
Sports massage may improve flexibility as well as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). That implies sports massage can recover aching muscles after a workout.
#3. Try Contrast Water Therapy or Cryotherapy
In contrast water therapy, one has to bathe in warm water followed by cold water in professional settings, whereas cryotherapy involves using colder temperatures to freeze and remove abnormal tissue. Both therapies can be beneficial in promoting muscle rejuvenation.
Try forenamed tips if your muscles constantly feel sore and you see null improvements in your muscle mass or strength.
Final Words
Muscle recovery is an essential aspect of bodybuilding. When the body doesn’t get adequate rest for muscle renewal, your gym or sports performance declines, and the risk of injury increases. Natural foods play a significant role in accelerating muscle recovery.
Make sure to add them to your diet. Lastly, stay away from processed foods, liquor, and smoking, as they impair the body’s metabolism and lead to fat accumulation.
Also, it’s recommended never to overtrain yourself as it may tear muscles and takes more than usual time to get recovered. Hope you like the blog and find the information useful, do share it with your buddies and ask us about your further query.
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