Hey, guys. Dr. Axe here, doctor of functional medicine. Today I’m going to talk to you about the do’s and the don’ts of muscle recovery. Whether you’re trying to burn fat or build muscle, what you do in terms of exercise, diet and the time in between is crucial for how you burn fat and how you build muscle. First, let’s start off with the don’ts. The number one don’t in muscle recovery is don’t over-train. Listen. Your body needs rest to grow. In fact, your muscles don’t grow when you’re exercising. They actually grow while you’re sleeping and resting and recovering. So don’t over-train. You want to take off at least one day a week for most people. You want to take off two days a week.
Completely let your muscles rest. And so again, don’t over-train. The other big don’t is don’t consume a bunch of sugar and fast foods. If you’re consuming a lot of sugar it’s causing inflammation that’s going to slow down your recovery. The same thing goes for fast foods and hydrogenated oils. They’re going to cause inflammation. They will absolutely slow down your muscular recovery.
And the last don’t that you definitely don’t want to do or you want to skip is don’t do a lot of isolated movements. If you are going to be building muscle, you want to do more of what we’re going to call compounding movements in a minute. Now, here are the big do’s you want to do as you approach proper muscle recovery. The number one thing you want to do is you do want to consume an anti-inflammatory diet.
You want to load up and get plenty of omega-3 fats found in things like wild-caught salmon and take a fish oil supplement, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, grass-fed beef. Get more omega-3 fats in your diet. The second thing you must do for muscle recovery is get plenty of protein and amino acids. So many people today are not getting enough protein. You want to take your body weight, and typically if you’re a male trying to build muscle, get that many grams of protein a day and at least get half of your body weight in grams of protein a day if you’re trying to build muscle.
Right after a workout you want to get some good quality whey protein and collagen amino acids. That’s ideal for muscle recovery right when you’re done working out. So really track your protein and amino acid intake. The other thing you want to do and absolutely must do to improve muscle recovery and build muscle is you want to do what are called compounding movements with large muscle groups. Listen. If you’re going to the gym and just doing a bunch of bicep curls and calf raises, that’s not going to build the maximum amount of muscles.
You want to work your largest muscle groups, which include your legs and your back, as well as your chest and shoulders. But you want to use the larger muscle groups and do full compounding movements. So things like squats with overhead press combined. Those sorts of things together, and pull-ups where you’re using your entire body, those things are the best exercises because you’re working your largest muscle groups. That’s going to help you release the most human growth hormone which is going to help you recover even faster as well.
And last but not the least, get more fruits and vegetables in your diet. It’s easy when you’re trying to build muscle to say “I know I need protein.” You also need the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables. Aim for five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Hey, guys, if you follow those do’s and those don’ts, you absolutely will see improvements in your muscle recovery..
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