Workout Recovery Time

The recovery time required between workouts is related to the following factors.

1. The training load.
For any particular individual, greater training loads require longer recovery periods. As novices usually train within their limits and with a low training volume they tend to recover fairly quickly after a workout. More advanced strength athletes who train closer to (and often beyond) their limits with higher volumes may require between three and five days to recover.

2. The quality of recovery.
Some research has shown that total inactivity during recovery allows a more rapid return of strength than even gentle exercise. This highlights the importance of organising the training week in such a way that no muscle groups are exercised too intensely two days in a row.

3. Contraction speed and degree of eccentric activity.
The duration of recovery is also influenced by the nature of the exercises employed. For example, there is a distinct difference between strength and power exercises and the amount of recovery required affer each type of training session.

Athletes training for muscular power will most often employ fast to moderate contraction speeds and submaximal resistances. Recovery times for this type of training are reasonably short and these methods are often utilised to train the same muscle group on consecutive days. In contrast, strength athletes lift at a slow to moderate pace with the heaviest resistances possible and are more likely to require two to four days rest between workouts for the same muscle group.

In accordance with the force-velocity curve the amount of intramuscular tension created during faster contractions is low compared with those generated at the slow end of the curve. It is presumed that more muscular'damage' is incurred during slow speed strength training and that this damage requires a more time consuming repair process.

The extent to which eccentric contractions are employed also influences recovery times. Research has shown that eccentric muscular activity contributes far more to post-exercise muscular weakness and delayed muscular soreness than concentric activity. Olympic weightlifters, for example, employ many lifts which require little or no eccentric activity because the use of rubberised weights and solid lifting platforms allows them to simply drop the weight to the ground prior to the next lift. Thus, the lack of eccentric activity may be an important factor which allows for the rapid recovery between the Olympic lifters training bouts. Asa result it is not surprising that theweightlifter may utilise an exercise like the power clean four or five times per week whilst the strength trainer may consider two leg training sessions (using the squat or leg press for example) sufficient.

Some hydraulic resistance training equipment is designed to recruit antagonistic muscle groups in an alternating fashion so that only concentric activity is employed. For example, a machine of this type may require quadricep activity in leg extension and then hamstring activity during leg flexion. The manufacturers of this sort of equipment claim, quite correctly in this case, that the use of these machines minimises the risk of delayed muscle soreness.