Roll Out Session
Static Stretches
Sleep
Recovery after a workout is so important. Not only is it necessary for the muscle fibers to be able to repair themselves and grow but you also need to recover so you can give 100% effort in your next workout.
Leg day specifically tends to bring on more delayed onset muscle soreness (aka DOMS) compared with upper body workouts. Though it should be noted not everyone is the same, so your own DOMS will differ from another individual.
But with that being said DOMS post legs day is a pretty common affair, I most certainly feel the burn after hitting a leg workout in the gym.
I have tried various things to reduce the DOMS/help my legs recover faster, and I have created my top 5 list which has worked for me. Now these are no miracle, but they definitely help you recover faster and reduce the DOMS.
Tip 1: Roll Out Session.
You may have heard of atheletes using foam rollers or tennis balls to help massage their muscles. This is a very effective method to help ease your leg pain post leg day and boost your recovery in the process.
What is this best for.
You want to use a foam roller or foam ball when you have delayed onset muscle soreness, (your legs muscles feel achy and painful).
Anyone can use a foam roller/ball, it relies upon your body weight pressure to help massage your muscles.
If you are new to foam rolling check out Tune Up Fitness which has lots of videos showing you how to use their foam balls. Click here to learn more about what Tune Up Fitness offers.
Benefits of foam rolling.
- Improved blood circulation
- Release Muscle tightness
- Breaks down Muscle Knots
- Alleviates DOMS
All these combined will improve and increase your recovery rate. By increasing your blood circulation it helps the muscle fibers to repair at a faster rate, whilst breaking down knots and releasing tightness will help alleviate the achy feeling in your legs.
Roller Vs Ball
Both Foam rollers and foam balls are used to help alleviate pain in the legs muscles. If you are able to get both I would recommened but if your would prefer to choose just one here are the differences.
The foam ball is more geared towards targeting specific places along the leg. So if you tend to have knots in specific places post-workout I would recommend the foam ball.
If you find that your legs ache in general after a workout and want to help stimulate blood flow to speed up the recovery process I would recommend the foam roller.
It can be noted that both can be used on any muscle to help alleviate soreness, they aren’t just for the legs.
Pricing
As I mentioned before Tune Up Fitness has an array of different-sized foam balls to help massage your muscles. They come as a pair and range from $13.95 – $27.95.
If you would like to purchase a foam roller, I bought this one off of Amazon for £17.99. They also have an electric foam roller available for £189.50, which is the most powerful foam roller on the market and is used by many athletes to aid their recovery process.
Alleviate your pain by using this electric foam roller!
Tip 2: Static Stretches
Stretching after a workout is very important for your muscles and has been proven to reduce muscle soreness whilst also reducing the risk of injury.
What is this best for.
You want to aim to do static stretches as part of the cool-down to your leg workout and it is best to complete stretches when you finish your workout rather than waiting till you feel sore.
The three static stretches that I am going to recommend are geared towards anyone, so it does not matter whether you are a professional or beginner.
My top three static stretches.
Quad Stretch; Grab ahold of your ankle and bring it up to your hip and face forward. Repeat for both legs, and hold on to something if you struggle to balance.
Hamstring Stretch; Keep one leg straight and point your toe up, bend the other leg slightly and sit back a little till you feel the stretch in the back fo your leg. Repeat for both legs
Abductor and hip stretch; Lunge out to the side keeping your hips facing forward. Repeat for both legs.
Benefits of Static Stretching
Stretching after a workout is so beneficial, it is important to not wait to do these stretches and aim to complete them as soon as you have finished your workout.
By stretching out your muscles after a workout it decreases the likelihood of your muscles seizing up and becoming tense. The tenseness can lead to soreness and can even increase the likelihood that you could pull that muscle the next time you workout.
Programs.
Tune Up Fitness has videos which walk you through different stretch routines; they have one that is geared towards post-running stretch which will be beneficial for your leg muscles.
You can either access these videos by renting them for $2.99 each or by subscribing to their membership where you have access to these videos 24/7 starting at $24 per month.
Click here to find out more about Tune Up fitness’ subscription plans.
Tip 3: Getting enough sleep.
I have already written about why sleep is so important for the recovery process, if you would like to read click here.
But because it is so important I had to include it in these tips also.
The Key Benefits of sleep.
- helps repair/grow stronger muscle fibers
- helps reduce the significance of DOMS
- helps the body/muscles feel recovered and ready to work again
By resting your body during sleep it can repair and recover itself; meaning that all the benefits listed are more likely to occur.
It must be noted that getting good quality sleep is just as important as the quantity of sleep that you get. It is no good if you are waking up during your sleeping period every hour; it will not provide optimal muscle repair and recovery.
If you have trouble sleeping I recommened getting a sleep tracker to help you idetify your problems and help provide solutions so that your quality of sleep improves.
Bettersleep.
Bettersleep is a sleep tracking program that monitors your sleeping patterns and produces a data evaluation on your sleep each night.
It also has several sounds and mediations to follow along to for people who struggle to get to sleep initially. Over 80% of people have said this program has improved their sleep quality.
Pricing.
BetterSleep offers a 7-day free trial where you can build your own customized sleep routine. From then on it is $59.99 per year.
I want 20% off; Click Here!
Want a more in-depth review of bettersleep read this article.
Bonus Tip: Hydration and Protein.
Staying hydrated and increasing your protein intake will help the muscles to repair and recover at a faster rate. Water and protein are fuel for the muscles and so without it or with little of it they will struggle to repair and recover themselves.
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