Whether you are an athlete competing on a professional levels, a bodybuilder, or a regular gym goer looking to get fit, you should never underestimate the importance of workout recovery. Doing the training itself may be important, but it’s during rest and recovery sessions that the body gets a chance to rebuild damaged tissues and refill its stores of minerals carbs and protein. For this reason, many professional athletes see recovery as part of their training. Without proper recovery, your body won’t be able to progress at the speed that it can, which can leave you behind. Although someone who does an extra training session might seem more determined, in reality it is a cause of damage to the body in the long run. One of the major disadvantages of not recovering after a workout is that your muscles start breaking down and your performance starts to get affected. In short, not getting proper recovery is counterproductive. 

What happens during recovery? 

During the recovery process, several things happen to your body. When you exercise, your muscle fibers may break down causing aches in the muscles. This may decrease their functioning capacity in the short term. If you put extra pressure on your muscles in this state, you could cause further damage. However, when you give it rest and take a good recovery supplement, your muscles will be repaired, which gives a slight improvement in your strength. In the long run, all these sessions’ combined effect will help improve your overall strength. It is also the reason behind muscle growth.  

Essential for refilling energy reserves

Another thing that most people don’t understand is the energy depletion of the body. It takes several hours for the body to digest the food and several more hours for the nutrients to have an impact on your system. If you’ve completed an intense training session the previous day, you should allow time for your body to absorb these nutrients and fill up the depleted energy reserves. It also gives ample time for proper protein synthesis, which helps build muscle fibers. Using your body in a depleted state will only cause further damage to your system. You may feel fatigued and your muscles will start to become heavier. This damage can actually be long term and you may need to rest completely for several weeks to get back to a normal state. 

Benefits of recovery 

• Helps prepare you for the next workout: Proper recovery will allow your muscles to relax and prepares you physically and mentally for future workouts. 
• Helps speed up muscle growth: Your muscles actually get bigger during recovery sessions. Although gym sessions help start this process, it is completed during recovery. That’s why you will usually notice bigger muscles after you’ve rested for some time.
• Prevents muscle wastage: Improper recovery can cause your muscles to break down, which could lead to a decrease in strength. 
• Replenishes vital energy reserves: Recovery helps replenish vital energy and mineral reserves, which prepares you for future workouts.