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Salt wounds
If your desk job is making you cramp up, channel your better half and run a bath. But ditch the lavender for a soak in Epsom salts (AKA magnesium sulphate). It eases aches and speeds repair after the gym. You’ll feel well seasoned.
Beet the bros
Dig into spinach, chard and beetroot pre-workout. Nitrate-rich veg increase key muscle proteins, Physiology journal found. They’re easy to juice, if not exactly easy to drink.
Rest is history
Sofa days are for slobs. Danish researchers found that gently training the muscle groups you worked yesterday decreases aches. They put this down to a bloodflow boost accelerating nutrient delivery around your body. Comfy.
Break good
HMB helps in your fibres’ chemical helper. Synthesised from the amino acid leucine, the supp has been found by research group Examine to fight protein breakdown, while French tests show it slows muscle wastage. £11 theproteinworks.com
Light effort
For maximum strength gains, be your inner tortoise, not hare. The University of Tokyo found working with 50% of your 1RM, but so slowly you can only manage 8 reps, is as effective as hammering through at 80% of your max.
Don’t bottle it
Weights make a poor mixer. Massey University, NZ, found even moderate drinking after a touch workout means a loss of strength due to the ethanol treats your torn fibres. Keep the bar and barbells separate.
Compress on
Swap your trackies for tights at home. A British Journal of Sports Medicine study found people who wore compression gear post-exercise, rather than during, experienced less soreness. Possibly NSFW.
Do the splits
Rounding off your workout with steak and egg is no use if you carb out the rest of the time. A nutrition study found people who split their protein intake had 25% more muscle synthesis than those who ate it all at once. Divide, conquer.
Pants on
Make like a dog in a heatwave and take rapid breaths (one a second) to recover between intervals. Sydney University found this neutralises acid build-up in muscles, keeping you at peak power for longer.
Here’s the rub
Finally, book yourself in for a massage. Yes, it’ll make the hurts go away but, according to McMaster Uni, it’ll also fire up your mitochondria: your cells’ power packs. Stronger mitochondria means healthier – not just bigger – muscles.
Heat, roll or cool it
Pick your best recovery strategy, by PT Mikey Smith
Heat pack
You have tight muscles or recurrent pain after exercise. Best to apply a heat pad to the area for 20min up to 3 times a day.
Foam roller
Your muscles feel knotted; you want to improve flexibility. Roll over tight areas, pausing wherever you feel tension
Ice Bath
You are swollen or recently increased your workout intensity. After a hard run, soak your legs in a tub of ice water for 10min.
By: Scarlett Wrench; Photography: Debut Art Illustrations