Your sporting career or workouts are a great way of remaining fit and fulfilling your dreams. However, your muscles are vulnerable to exhaustion and possible injuries. The big issue isn’t whether these two possibilities happen or don’t. Instead, it’s about your ability to recover and bounce back from them to remain on course.

How do you recover from muscle strains and injuries? Do you know the little hidden secrets NBA athletes use to hasten their muscle recovery moments? No worries if you don’t have the answers because this post answers these questions. We walk you through the top secrets of keeping your muscles in shape after tiring sports activities or workouts. Keep reading to learn more.

Keeping Cool

Your body needs to cool after a hot workout session. You can take a cold-water bath to speed up muscle recovery. Immersing yourself in this cold bathtub reduces the perception of muscle soreness. While it doesn’t remove any injury, it’s a great way of triggering the release of the body’s natural pain-relieving endorphins and dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in pain and pleasure sensation.

Rest

You can refuel your muscles by resting. The temptation to exercise or engage in other sporting activities daily can be real. However, taking a break between sessions and even days is a natural way of relieving and restoring your muscle power. This step is perfect for avoiding injuries and preventing sustained muscle soreness.

Sleep

If resting isn’t enough, you can take a wholesome rest session in bed and log out of every earthly activity. Remember, exercisescan cause small tears in your muscle fibers. The body’s natural wiring makes it respond by triggering the human growth hormone (HGH). This protein promotes tissue growth and tissue, including muscles.

So, what does sleep have to do with HGH? Almost everything! This hormone is produced in the brain’s pituitary gland and secreted during sleep. Thus, a good night’s sleep promotes natural sports recovery. The best side of this tool is that it’s free of charge and doesn’t need any additional learning. Just log out and sleep when you need to, and the recovery will take care of itself.

So, what happens when you deny yourself enough or quality sleep? Much harm happens. First, sleep deprivation causes slower reaction times, increased pain sensitivity, impaired motor learning, and immune system suppression. It also reduces focus, exposing you to avoidable muscle injury.

No wonder the Spanish soccergiant Real Madrid has installed sleep pads in its training facility and uses sleep coaches’ services. Studies have also found that teen athletes who sleep less than eight hours nightly are, on average, 1.7 times more likely to sustain injuries than those who do.

In fact, all scientists agree that sleep is the world’s most powerful bodily and mental recovery tool. So, prioritize it to your highest benefit.

Contrast Water Therapy

They rightly said that water is life. You can leverage this simple and natural liquid to boost your muscle recovery. Applying contrast bath therapy requires alternating periods of immersing yourself in very cold and very warm water. This sudden temperature change stimulates your blood vessels’ dilation and contraction. It also changes your heart rate.

Contrast bath therapy involves alternating periods of submerging in very warm and cold water. No wonder researchconfirms that this technique reduces muscle soreness post-workout.

Hydrate Yourself

Hydration is another technique you can harness to boost your muscle recovery. Please note that dehydration impairs your muscles’ natural repair ability. This problem arises mostly when exercising in hot or humid weather. No wonder the American College of Sports Medicinerecommends taking 16 to 24 ouncesof fluid for every pound you lose during training.

Moreover, a 2004 studyon rehydration and recovery after workouts say you must drink a volume of fluid greater than your sweat loss. Also, consume enough replacement electrolytes, including minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, and sodium, readily available in most foods. These minerals are instrumental to your muscle’s contraction.

You can also enhance your recovery by drinking tart cherry juice because it contains anti-inflammation and antioxidant properties. A 2020 studypublished in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports discovered that marathoners who consume this juice five days before, on the day of, and 48 hours after their races reported reduced muscle soreness.

Drink Coffee

Coffee drinking is another tool you can use to manage your muscle recovery. Numerous studiesconfirm that pre-workout caffeine consumption reduces future muscle soreness and fatigue. Besides, caffeine has painkilling properties, which you can optimize to reduce post-workout pain. You only need to take it moderately to enjoy its benefits safely.

We recommend taking two cups of coffee at least one hour before a demanding workout. Moreover, coffee’s hydration power is as good as other liquids, including water.

Balance Your Diet

From water to juice to coffee, now we arrive at food. Eating a balanced diet is vital for speeding up muscle recovery. You need to eat lots of proteins in your meals. These proteins vary from tuna, cow milk, legumes, cheese, eggs, and chicken. The list is endless, and you can add any other favorite protein source to it.

Lacking proteins and other nutrients the body needs to recover can significantly hinder recovery processes. Ensure you take enough carbs and greens to maintain a healthy body. Also, avoid extremes in all these food categories so you don’t shortchange your efforts.

Foam Rolling

You can incorporate this tool into your recovery toolbox. Foam rolling focuses on myofascial release, relieving the tension in the muscle’s connective tissue. No wonder even research has foundthat rolling out your muscles like dough reduces delayed onset muscle soreness. It also improves performancein future training.

We recommend investing in a foam roller and spending at least 15 minutes daily on it. It’s a great tool that can easily fit into your cool-down, warm-up, and recovery.

Massage

Massage is another effective tool you can employ to boost your muscle recovery. While this option might seem too obvious, its benefits aren’t inferior to other options that might seem novel. Massaging significantly reduces pain by releasing cytokines, compounds that cause inflammation. Also, massage stimulates mitochondria in cells, boosting tissue cell function and repair.

Another reason massage works well to promote recovery is that it happens when you are fully rested. Remember, we said that rest is a natural recovery tool. Taking time off everything and allowing someone else to work on your body is a two-edged sword that combines relaxation and tissue stimulation.

Meditation

We end on a mental note because every physical recovery process is directly connected to the mind. A settled and relaxed mind enhances recovery, even from diseases. Medicating while resting physically or walking in the garden alone boosts recovery. Meditation helps you bring back your focus and retain energy.

Also, consuming CBD gummies for stressis another great and easy way of relieving stress and boosting recovery. CBDis known for enhancing focus and reducing stress by interacting with the endocannabinoid system that regulates stress and anxiety.

Bottom Line

There you go with the little secrets NBA athletes use to recover after workouts and sporting activities. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and apply them to boost your sporting career and workouts.