Last Updated on October 2, 2020 by Jamie
An introduction to recovery supplements.
Recovery supplements, what are they? How can they help me? Are they a miracle pill, or a hoax? These are some questions often raised when the subject of recovery supplements is uttered.
In this article, not only will I address these questions raised, but I will also go through the best recovery supplements to date. These recovery supplements will aid in muscle soreness, stiffness, flexibility and much more.
After a tough workout, especially as a beginner or when getting back into the gym, pains and aches are common and must be addressed. If unaddressed, in best case it could just be tired muscles from working hard. In the worst case it could be signs of an on-coming injury.
So, to avoid future injuries and nagging pains, applying a proper recovery protocol is vital. Absolutely vital, not only in terms of avoiding injury but also in performing to the best of your ability and reaching your potential.
Without further a-do, let’s jump into my top recovery supplements to best help your fitness goals.
The Best Recovery Supplements
1. Sleep
Not a supplement, not a cheat code, not a short-cut just good old-fashioned sleep. In our modern day hectic lives, it can be sometimes hard to remember to simply sleep enough!
Sleep is our best tool in terms of recovery. Whether that be aiding in hypertrophy (building muscle) after a hard workout, recovering from injuries or simply just re-energizing. Getting enough sleep should be your go to ‘supplement’.
It has been scientifically proven that people who sleep less than the standard prescribed 8 hours, have significantly worse health. Be that physical and mental. Also in men, a bad sleeping cycle can seriously damage your overall testosterone levels. For more on how to balance your testosterone levels you can check out testosterone foods.
So, it is absolutely vital that you get your 8 hours. You should also take into account your quality of sleep and the possible distractions you may have. Such as curtains that let light through or having too much screen time before sleeping.
My final suggestion would be to have a ‘cool down’ period before bed. You can do this by reading for an hour with no screen time in a dim lighted room prior to sleep.
2. Quality Food
Once again, not a cheat, and definitely not a shortcut. But by learning how to eat properly with proper nutrition, will solve many problems in your fitness journey.
Furthermore, pretty much everyone’s diet is sh*t! From my experience in coaching over the years my clients diet is pretty crappy beforehand. In a sense of fatty, nutrient void and calorifically misleading rubbish. But we all start somewhere.
The first step for you, is to learn the concept of calorie counting. Calorie counting can be easily learnt by visiting the beginners workout program or the ladies fitness program. When you get a grasp of this you can figure out what you need to be eating in terms of calories.
Although technically for fat loss all that matters is calories in and calories out. When you’re eating for better recovery, quality food must be a part of your diet.
It’s simple, go by an 80/20 ratio rule. With this rule 80% of the time you’ll be eating ‘healthy foods’ that incorporate a balanced pallet. And the other 20% of the time you’ll be eating ‘unhealthy foods’. With this you should enjoy your meals as well as giving your body the opportunity to recover optimally.
3. Protein Powder
Probably the most famous or ‘infamous’ supplement out there. Protein powder has had the spotlight for years in the bodybuilding community and further a-far.
However, I feel Protein powder is often placed on a pedestal. Protein powder is given far too much praise for what it really does. Proetin powder alone won’t put you on the cover of men’s physique magazines. Nor will it get you all the girls or guys in the world.
Protien powder is simply that. A source of protein. The benefits’ protein powder actually brings you, Is the ease of consumption. For example making a Protein shake will cost you around 60 seconds. Where as cooking Chicken will take you 15 minutes. It’s all about ease of consumption.
Now that’s out of the way, you may ask; “But why is protein powder on a recovery supplements list?” I would say, the same way you overcome hardships and downfalls in life. Your muscles need something to draw upon to rebuild stronger and more resilient. This is why it’s on the best muscle gainer supplements list.
Protein powder can be used as a recovery supplement in the sense that it’s going to give your body the fuel to grow. So taking some sort of protein powder after a tough workout is more than worthwhile.
4. CBD
At the start of this article I said there was no miracle pill. However, In my personal experience, CBD is the closest thing to it in terms of recovery supplements. Other than steroids of course, but they are a no-no for obvious reasons.
CBD has many benefits. A few months back I made an article named ‘Pure Sport CBD review‘. Where Pure Sport sent me over their CBD oil and their CBD Muscle & Joint cream.
I took these two supplements for 14 days each in separation from each other. I noticed numerous benefits. The oil seemed to help drastically with my sleep. Whilst the cream did what it said on the tin and really alleviated some nagging pains and muscle soreness.
These are just 2 of the many benefits I gained from taking CBD in just a short period of time. You can see more of a detailed review in the full Pure Sport CBD Review article here.
CBD won’t fix everything, as you would have probably already known. But, it may be the catalyst for really positive changes in your life, so it’s totally worth giving a go.
5. Vitamins / Fish Oil
Vitamins and fish oil have been the go-to for athletes and the average Joe for years now. And for a good reason. It’s difficult to get all the nutrients that our body needs. So supplementation is definitely worthwhile.
The Vitamin D-3 is the most prevalent vitamin in Fish oil. As well as this, Fish oil also has its own properties that are well known to boost brain function. Building on that, If you have read the testosterone foods list you would have seen that Fish oil also dramatically boosts your natural Testosterone levels.
Moving on from Fish oil, a standard multi-vitamin will do you wonders. This multi vitamin will address many aspects of your bodies needs sufficiently.
A good multi-vitamin will aid in injury recovery, muscle breakdown recovery, mental alertness and much more, just to name a few.
You can get all the vitamins/oils your body needs from a dietary source. But including a decent multi-vitamin is definitely a good idea especially in terms of recovery supplements.
A Conclusion to Recovery Supplements
To finalise, in this recovery supplements article, Iv’e gone through 5 lifestyle changes and actual recovery supplements you can take in order for best your fitness journey.
Not only will these improve physical recovery but also psychological recovery, as well as energy levels. However, nothing will trump real food, sleep and a good protein intake.
However, taking these additional supplements with definitely benefit you and aid in recovery substantially. So, eat healthy, sleep well and use these supplements. In result, you’ll no longer need to search Google for ‘the best recovery supplements’.
