Your rest days are just as important as your training days. This is just the fact of bodybuilding, because it is during this period that your muscles can heal and grow even bigger at the same time. But just laying down at home and resting on your bed or comfy couch is not enough if you really want to recover fully from an intense workout session. You need to also backup you rest with post workout drinks that will make healing a whole lot quicker and certainly less painful.Â
Typically, it is advisable to take your choice of post workout drink recovery supplement in and around 45 minutes after your workout session. This is scientifically proven to be a good time to take your post workout nutrition for optimal benefits. Most post workout drinks are available in powder form which can be diluted in water or any other approved fluids before being consumed.
Some of the key benefits of taking a post workout drink for recovery include:
Combats Fatigue
A HIIT session can be energy sapping, but you can greatly replenish your energy levels as well as the fluids lost during your training with a post workout drink. It is widely known that in just a couple of hours after your workout session, your liver will generate glycogen at a pretty high rate of almost twice what is generally considered as normal.Â
For the uninitiated, glycogen is the form in which glucose is temporarily stored in the body. You can expect your glycogen levels to continually rise within four hours after your training session. However, after this time, your glycogen levels will begin to decline.
By drinking a carbohydrate-rich hydration supplement within the hour after your session, your pancreas will be stimulated to secrete insulin in your body. With insulin surging through your body, the cells of your vital organs including your skeletal muscles will absorb glucose to replenish the energy lost during your training and prevent muscle soreness and fatigue.
Skeletal Muscle Repair and Growth
Whenever you recover from a HIIT session, you give your body the time it requires to repair itself. It is at this time that you recover from the wear and tear of your muscles. It is also during your rest days that muscle growth occurs. But you can promote the quick repair and growth of your muscles when you take post workout nutrition.Â
The best post workout drink often has essential amino acids that promote protein synthesis. Increased protein synthesis in your skeletal muscles will lead to the quick repair of damaged muscles while also promoting muscle mass growth. Again you can speed up your recovery when you take your post workout drink within an hour after your workouts.
Improved Body CompositionÂ
Post workout drinks contain protein, carbohydrate, and ribose which makes up ATP, a molecule that carries energy and plays a big role in enhancing body composition in bodybuilders. Post workout drinks may reduce your body fat by stimulating your metabolic rate and promoting lipolysis.Â
Lipolysis or fat burning is where your body breaks down stored or dietary fat into energy fuel that is subsequently absorbed by your skeletal muscles. With the regular use of post workout supplements, you would be able have low body fat and gain lean, dry, vascular skeletal muscles.