by George Zhou

Created on: October 03, 2009   Last Updated: July 11, 2010

Without the intake of workout supplements or nutritious foods, the human being's workout recovery is quite slow, over 48 hrs. However, training the body sometimes is an everyday thing. Individuals reaching towards the goal of replacing body fat with lean muscle (or just simply weight loss), aim to do so in the shortest amount of time. Bodybuilders (or perhaps anyone wishing to get ripped) want to see maximum results in the smallest time-span. Therefore, the more an individual "can" workout, the better the results and the faster they come.

First we can go to the assumption of the beginner exerciser, ready to lose weight and replace the flab with lean muscle. Now for this group of individuals, it is better to not overwork at first and exercise more, at less intense levels, like long distance runs or lifting small weights many times in a row. But for those wishing to build mass, it is better to have short bursts of intense exercise sessions a couple of times a day (you may read some of my other articles for exercise routines and other tips).

Now in order to prevent soreness, muscle injury, or fatigue after an exercise routine we must cautiously follow these important steps every time we begin and end an exercise session. The most important step is warming up/down. This includes a series of stretches to prepare your muscles for the strenuous exercise to come. Exercise puts much pressure on your muscles and if your muscles are not properly relaxed, they may be injured. Stretching before an exercise session is not much of a problem for most but stretching after exercise, warming down, is most commonly neglected. Warming down is important because when you exercise muscles might tense up again, causing uncomfortable sensations in your muscles. Also, muscles will release a substance called lactate acid (this is what helps build your muscle) which can cause great soreness if left in the muscles. Warming down will remove a lot of this substance.

Nutrition is the next vital part of workout recovery. Eat plenty of protein and calcium along with other vitamins and minerals. Every vitamin and mineral has a positive benefit to the body so the more nutritious foods you intake, the better. Eat a balanced and colorful diet and fruits, vegetables, meat, grain, and milk products. Avoid junk food. 

When you intake food is also important. Do not take too much food (like a meal) before exercise. Only take some easily digestible and light food before exercise. And only a very

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