Ever pushed yourself so hard in a workout sesh that every little movement (say, getting up out of bed or even *ahem* off the toilet seat) felt like a Herculean task the next day?
That’s because you killed it in the gym, quite literally. Or, rather, you “killed” your muscles enough for them to sustain some superficial damage and produce that aching, burning sensation, says Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, an exercise physiologist and sports dietitian. “During strenuous exercise, the muscles being trained, as well as the connective tissue—tendons and ligaments—sustain minor to moderate amounts of damage, which leaves the muscles fatigued in the immediate aftermath and creates an inflammatory response,” Machowsky says.
While that inflammation and soreness can cause you to feel like you might need to invest in a walker to drag yourself up from the couch, there’s also a long-term gains-related benefit going on here, he says: “This inflammation triggers the recovery and adaptation process. It tells your body it needs repair and to get stronger.”
However, that post-workout soreness doesn’t necessarily equate to muscle growth or an increase in strength, he says. Improvement in fitness over time will depend on pushing hard plus a handful of variables, like rest, nutrition, and certain recovery modalities, like foam rolling and active rest, according to Machowsky. Basically, you need to prioritize muscle recovery to see any gains—and stay away from overtraining-related injuries.
Here’s exactly why muscle recovery matters, strategies to maximize your post-workout recovery, as well as common myths and mistakes to avoid.
Meet the experts: Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, is an exercise physiologist and board-certified sports dietitian.
Why Muscle Recovery Matters More Than You Think
Though you might see your favorite HIIT class solely as a series of moves—hip thrusters to squats to burpees to incline push-ups—fueled by motivation, there’s a whole lot going down from a physiological and cellular perspective that’s propelling you through the session.
For example, when you’re sinking to the bottom of a squat, your glutes, hamstrings, and quads are all contracting, causing micro-damage to the muscle fibers which releases a whole host of chemicals that lead to inflammation, according to a 2024 study in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. You might feel the effect of that inflammation 24 to 72 hours after your workout, which is called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.
The thing is, if you haven’t done a squat in a while, or you’ve added weight to the move, more muscle fibers tear, resulting in (you guessed it) more inflammation. And that’s *generally* a good thing, says Machowsky: It’s a message to your body to adapt.
But here’s the kicker: Pain isn’t always gain. “The goal is to perform a workout that provides enough stress or strain onto the working muscles and tissues to stimulate a positive adaptation without so much strain that it leads to injury, or inhibits the ability to workout again in a reasonable amount of time,” he says. Basically, yes, your body is primed to take on a *lot* from a physical perspective, but there’s a cap. “You want to aim for the ‘minimum effective dose’ and the ‘upper-tolerable limit’ for a particular activity and intensity based on your current adaptation and skill.”
So if you push yourself too hard from the get-go, or assume that more is more when it comes to going further and harder (without allowing your muscles time to recover and adapt), it could lead to injuries or even reduced athletic performance, according to 2022 research in Frontiers in Network Physiology.
The Best Science-Backed Muscle Recovery Strategies
Seeing muscle growth and general progress in your fitness routine involves working hard at the gym, but for those micro-tears to repair themselves faster, you need to strategize how you fuel, rest, and recover, according to Machowsky. Here are a handful of strategies he recommends.
1. Time your intense workouts carefully.
The first step in proper recovery is the most simple, according to Machowsky: You need to give your body time to heal itself. “Recovery is the time between training sessions where your body rebuilds itself stronger, better, faster through a bunch of different metabolic and hormonal processes in the body,” he says, adding that a 24-hour waiting period for less challenging workouts and 72 hours for more intense ones is a good rule of thumb.
Of course, easier/challenging is completely individual—what’s intense for one person might be run-of-the-mill for another. Importantly, you should start training again within a few days of feeling recovered so that you keep the body adapting and growing, says Machowsky.
2. Prioritize active rest on recovery days.
That said, don’t go totally horizontal on days you’re not training hard, Machowsky says. “Gentle, low-intensity movement and stretching and mobility work can help with promoting blood flow and nutrients to areas that have been trained and are recovering,” he says.
However, just be sure that the intensity stays far below strain—you should feel rested and rejuvenated, not drenched in sweat and completely spent. “Even 15 to 30 minutes of gentle bike riding, walking, mobility drills, gentle yoga, Tai chi, or other movement practices may be sufficient to elicit this response.”
The best part? You don’t have to engage in movement long at all: as few as six to 10 minutes of active recovery per day might improve overall athletic performance, according to 2019 research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning.
3. Don’t skimp on sleep.
Speaking of rest: If you’re banking on making that 5 a.m. workout class, despite having binged Netflix well into the midnight hour, you might want to think again. That’s because skeletal muscle grows and repairs at the fastest rate while you snooze, according to 2020 research in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. (So, the fewer hours of sleep you log, the less time your muscles will have to recover.)
“Aim for at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night to provide adequate time to recover from higher demand training,” Machowsky says.
4. Fuel up on carbs and protein.
Like sleep and time spent recovering, fueling your body to recover is pretty much a non-negotiable, says Machowsky. “Ultimately what matters most is that you eat enough carbs over the course of the entire day to replenish your body’s energy, or glycogen, stores,” Machowsky says. “Low glycogen levels are associated with impaired recovery.”
The official recommendation is to consume roughly 1 gram of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). (For a 150-pound woman, for example, that’s about 68 grams of carbs per day.) But that’s with a caveat, Machowsky says: “That can run high for some people who are not training hard most days of the week, so I typically recommend 30 to 60 grams of carbs [in a meal or snack] after training.”
And definitely don’t skimp on protein. “Post-training, you can aim to consume about 15 to 25 grams of protein, paired with adequate carbs, to jumpstart recovery,” Machowsky says, adding that you should pair the protein and carb together for the best muscle recovery fueling. “If you are in a low energy state (a.k.a. a calorie deficit with low glycogen levels), your body will burn the protein for energy instead of keeping it available to be used in rebuilding your muscle.” It’s also a good idea to add some fat to the post-workout meal (say, dark green leafy vegetables, flax and hemp seeds, walnuts, cold water fish, beef, and eggs) for long-term muscle recovery, per NASM. Here are a few ideas on how to pair all three macronutrients in a post-workout snack or meal.
5. Don’t neglect warming up, cooling down, and stretching.
To combat inflammation directly, it’s a good idea to try foam rolling (or myofascial release), says Machowsky. Rolling out for just 10 minutes per day can help combat pain, fatigue, and muscle inflammation post-exercise, according to a 2024 study in Scientific Reports. “If you are foam rolling, you’ll want to roll across all aspects of the targeted muscle, with some extra focus given to tighter areas if desired. Usually about 40 to 60 seconds per muscle.” He says stretching can achieve a similar massage-like effect: “For stretching, I like to use breaths instead of seconds because you typically get better relaxation of the muscle from exhaling—usually six to 10 breaths for a stretch,” he says.
Speaking of muscle T.L.C.: Don’t neglect a proper warmup and cooldown, Machowsky says. A warmup can help ensure your body is primed to lift heavy loads, and cooldowns might help promote blood lactate recovery and faster recovery time, according to a 2018 study in Sports Medicine. (Whether that translates into reduced muscle soreness is up for debate though, Machowsky says.)
6. Use ice strategically.
While ice can be an effective part of muscle recovery, you should only use it if you’re feeling unusual or excessive soreness, says Machowsky (say, you just started a new workout modality or really (really!) upped the ante in your routine. “15 minutes of ice applied with a wrapping around it to the sore areas a few times during the day could help reduce the inflammation to a more reasonable level,” he says.
But if you’re rubbing ice on your muscles daily, that’s not necessarily a good thing, Machowsky says. “If you trained and you have a regular amount of soreness (or not sore at all), then you probably don’t want to ice because the ice will reduce your inflammation level to a point where it lowers the adaptation response,” he says.
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3 Muscle Recovery Myths And Mistakes
The best, science-backed muscle recovery strategies are largely low-cost and simple (hello, eating and sleeping). There’s no way around the basics.
But muscle gain is big business—and there are plenty of voices on social media claiming certain gadgets, juices, or methodologies will promise the best results. Here’s a quick breakdown of what techniques are slightly overrated, majority overhyped, or even counterintuitive to your goals.
1. Going all-out *all* the time isn’t ideal.
Yes, it’s important to work hard at the gym or on the track—but you need to approach your effort strategically, Machowsky says. “If you train intensely every day, you won’t have enough time to fully recover from the previous days’ workout, so you will likely end up doing the next workout in a more fatigued, *weaker* state, which will then damage the muscle more and leave you even weaker,” he says, noting that this can quickly lead to injuries.
If you’re feeling rundown, don’t push it. Take a rest day, or better yet, keep your muscles gently engaged with some light stretching or walking.
2. Some supplements can help, but shouldn’t be a priority.
Like everything worth working toward in life, success won’t come in a pill form (or even overnight). And while certain supplements can kinda-sorta help with muscle recovery, by and large, Machowsky says they’re not reeeealllyy worth your hard-earned money (unless you have some to spare). “Assuming you are consuming adequate calories, carbs, and protein, most supplements marketed for post-training recovery lack enough evidence to be recommended on a regular basis,” he says.
But there are a few notable exceptions: tart cherry juice and creatine “Natural antioxidants, or polyphenols, found within the cherries reduce inflammation and soreness from intense activity,” Machowsky says. Still, it takes several days of chugging the stuff to see any noticeable changes in inflammation, as 2022 research from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports found (so if you want to save your tastebuds, stick to regular fueling and resting for muscle gains).
Creatine, on the other hand, may support muscle recovery after intense exercise by promoting glycogen storage in muscles, which helps fuel the healing process.
3. High-tech, buzzy “recovery” tools are probably overhyped.
In that same vein, any gadget or tool marketed to help you recover faster probably isn’t worth your money, Machowsky says. “It’s not necessarily overhyped, but more of a cost-to-benefit ratio,” he says. Basically, things like compression therapy devices, hyperbaric chambers, heart rate monitors, and fatigue-monitoring bands and rings can definitely cut back on workout-induced inflammation, but again, they’re not nearly as impactful as sleep, workout timing, and nutrition.
Julia Sullivan, CPT, is a New York City-based writer, indoor rowing instructor, outdoor enthusiast, newbie powerlifter, and devoted cat mother. Her work has been published in Women’s Health, SELF, Health, Huffington Post, and more. She holds a B.A. in journalism and gender studies from Arizona State University and a personal training certificate from the American Council on Exercise. When she’s not covering the latest health and wellness trends, you can find her hitting the hiking trails, working toward her deadlift goal of 400 pounds, and forcefully hugging her cat, Jeeves, against his will.
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