The volume, intensity, and duration of your workout all play a role in determining how taxing it is on your body. After a relatively light workout , your muscles may be able to recover in 24 hours, whereas a more challenging workout might take two to three days. Very intense workouts might take even longer.

The basis of any good training program is small incremental increases in intensity or volume over time. If you jump ahead too quickly, you put yourself at risk of injury or overtraining. Different trainers have different philosophies when it comes to training.

Many agree that you should leave your workout session feeling challenged but not completely exhausted. Designing your program so you work alternate muscles groups in different workouts is a good way to increase the recovery period between sessions.

For example, if you are lifting weights three times a week, try a schedule like this to give each muscle group a full week to recover:. Athletes training for specific sports, like sprinters or Olympic lifters, often train the same body parts almost every day.

They often alternate high- and low-intensity days to give their muscles time to recover. Repeated stress from exercise causes small tears called microtears that lead to muscles feeling sore and inflamed.

An accumulation of tears puts you at risk of developing torn muscles, also called muscle strains or pulled muscles. Muscle strains can range from mildly uncomfortable to complete ruptures that may need surgery to repair.

Muscle injuries can range from mild to complete tears. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. VIEW ALL HISTORY. Not all muscle soreness is the same.

Acute muscle soreness is felt during or immediately after exercise. With delayed onset muscle soreness, your…. You may find that you feel less tight, sore, and even have more energy to exercise after active recovery. Here's how it works. Eating the right foods after workouts is important for muscle gain, recovery, and performance.

Here is a guide to optimal post-workout nutrition. Targeting heart rate zones as you exercise is one way to maximize the benefits you get from your workouts. Learn about your different heart rate zones…. There are several causes of numbness in your toes and feet when you run, ranging from poor-fitting shoes to health conditions like diabetes.

For people who run or do other aerobic exercises on a regular basis, starting up a low heart rate training program may be frustrating at first. The average 5K time depends on a few factors, including age, sex, and fitness level.

But, you can expect to finish a 5K in roughly 30 to 40 minutes. Thinking about using an AI tool like ChatGPT to help you get in shape? Here are the pros and cons health experts say you should consider. We're testing the Lululemon product for you and weighing in on whether the trend has past or if it's still worth the hype.

When designing a workout, it's important to move in all of the body's planes. What are they? Here's an anatomy primer to help. A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Get Motivated Cardio Strength Training Yoga Rest and Recover Holistic Fitness Exercise Library Fitness News Your Fitness Toolkit.

Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M. Foods Drinks Supplements Lifestyle Things to avoid Recovery time Injury prevention Potential complications Takeaway Living an overall healthy lifestyle is the most important step you can take to maximize your recovery from working out.

Was this helpful? Things to avoid. How long does muscle recovery take? How do I prevent injury during muscle recovery? Are there complications from not allowing muscle recovery time? The takeaway.

How we reviewed this article: Sources. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Mar 10, Written By Daniel Yetman. Sep 9, Written By Daniel Yetman. Medically Reviewed By Daniel Bubnis, MS, NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS. Share this article. Our proven interactive personal training technique helps to motivate you achieve your fitness goals in the shortest possible time, and in the most enjoyable manner, where our trainers also accompany you for your workouts whether your goals is to lose weight, gain lean muscles or total body transformation.

It has been such a hit among our clients as they can choose from a wide range of fitness practices such as functional training, body building, cross fit, weight loss, boot camp, yoga, Pilates and other sports such as football, kick boxing, karate, and swimming. Everyone wants to find results quickly if just the thought of being in shape.

However, based on the goals and body composition, the food that we eat is a major factor in determining the best results. Getting comprehensive training is like attaining a precious gem. However, there are many ways in which we can improve workouts and it can lead to better results. Here are some top 5 beauty tips to get better workout results.

Routine breakfast should be followed every day and never skip it unwontedly. While if we skip the habit of breakfast other than dinner and lunch, the chances of getting acid reflux or ulcer start dominating in our body. This, however, leads to many health issues and if you are following a workout plan, it will produce negative results.

You are having your food after a long sleep and your body needs the best amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. However, the routine breakfast habit will certainly boost up your health and if you are following like as said a workout habit, it renders the best results. You should be very sure that your body is getting enough water every day.

There is no limit to drink water every day, as if we drink more, we just urinate it. However, this leads the body to function much better with the presence of water content in our body. Furthermore, if we work out, the water level is reduced at a time from our body through sweating. So, keep hydrate your body and never skip it, and it will be a problem for your tissue growth.

Likewise, the results can be viewed by yourself and if you have got a personal trainer , it can be easier. If you are doing some fitness exercise in terms of CrossFit, Gymnasium practices, or some corporate training. Training with the support of a partner will obviously benefit you.

There were people who find excuses if they feel lazy to work out. For those who find lazy in between the workout, try to bring a partner with you to find the better workout.

Watch this explainer video on whether you really need eight hours of sleep every night or not:. Indulge in a massage That post-workout massage does more than just feel good.

According to research from McMaster University in Canada, it influences genes in your muscle cells to decrease inflammation and increase their number of mitochondria, which help power exercise and recovery. Drink chocolate milk A recent Journal of Exercise Physiology study found that cyclists who drank low-fat chocolate milk after their workouts recovered just as well as those who drank commercial recovery beverages.

The protein stimulates muscle repair, while carbohydrates replete your energy stores and even help protein get into your muscles, says Carlson-Phillips. After high-intensity or long duration workouts, try drinking a glass as soon after your workout as you can.

In a East Tennessee State University study , exercisers who performed both deep and full squats reaped greater fitness gains than those who performed only deep squats.

The same holds true for any exercise variation. Performing multiple variations of an exercise changes the muscles recruited and the amount of weight you can lift, leading to greater gains than if you did the same exact movement month after month, says Wilson.

While you can include multiple variations of the same exercise in a single workout like planks and planks with one leg raised , changing those variations every month will also keep your body guessing. Read more: Ariel Winter: Breast Reduction Surgery Changed My Life.

Get a cardio buddy In one Annals of Behavioral Medicine study, cyclists who exercised with a partner pedaled almost twice as long as those who rode solo.

Having someone else around pushes you to perform at your best and even makes workouts feel less difficult, says Perkins. The results: You can exercise longer and harder and get more out of every trip to the gym.

Luckily, research from Maastricht University in the Netherlands shows that a nighttime snack rich in casein, a slow-digesting protein, keeps amino acid and muscle protein synthesis rates elevated all throughout the night.

To get the casein protein you need, Carlson-Phillips recommends eating Greek yogurt or cottage cheese after your workouts and before you turn in for the night. Contact us at letters time. Molly Cranna for TIME. Aleisha Fetters. March 3, AM EST. Why People Love Snow So Much Taylor Swift Is TIME's Person of the Year Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More?

Sign Up for Worth Your Time. You May Also Like. TIME Logo. Home U. For lack of a better way to phrase it this means using weight during your workouts that's actually difficult for you.

Not just grabbing a weight that's comfortable and using it because it's "easier". Your workouts shouldn't be easy they should push you. A working set uses a weight that's fairly heavy because without pushing yourself and your muscles you're not going to see much change.

To be honest, one tough working set per exercise is going to lead to better results than 4 sets using easier, lighter weight. I'd suggest adding anywhere from working sets per exercise with maximum effort. Oh and remember light and heavy weight is relative to your personal fitness level. The point is you need to be challenging yourself if you want to see change.

Repetitions or reps for short is referring to how many times you do a certain movement in your workout routine. Say your plan calls for 4x12 bench press What you might not realize is there's specific rep ranges for specific goals. Now you can accomplish any goal with any rep ranges technically I've found that mixing in each type of rep range seems to work best for me and also helps keep me motivated.

When I'm more motivated to workout, I'll push myself harder A great way to boost your progress is to SLOW DOWN. Focus on the muscles you're working, squeeze the muscle, lower the weight slowly and stay controlled with your movements.

If you're not used to slowing down your movements you're really going to feel this, and it will boost your progress tremendously.

You'll probably notice you'll have to lighten the weight a bit too and that's ok! Quality movement leads to much better results than just tossing the weights around. because you should try to master the concepts above before adding anything new to your plan.

For one, it's always exciting trying a new program or movement. It can also give your body a new challenge But like I said, I wouldn't add too many new exercises to a plan until you've mastered what you're currently doing.

you need to be focusing on full range of motion with each movement you do.