293-SYNCPodcast_OptimizingMuscleRecovery

[00:00:00]

[00:00:00]

[00:00:57] Jenny Swisher: Welcome friends to this episode of the Sync Your Life podcast. Today we’re diving into optimizing muscle recovery. In the last few weeks, I’ve had several women reach out to me saying that the Sync Fitness program is making them sore again. It’s made me smile because actually I’ve been doing Sync workouts myself with Kelsey for the last several months and I am still sore after every leg day and every upper body day.

[00:01:19] Jenny Swisher: That is the beauty in progressive overload training. If you’re truly getting stronger and consistently looking to up your weights, your muscles are working, and they’re growing, and with muscle growth comes the need for proper muscle recovery. I want to start by saying that if you’re not feeling a bit of soreness from your workouts, I would encourage you to evaluate, number one, if you’re focusing on gaining muscle through the type of workouts that you’re doing, and number two, if you are,

[00:01:42] Jenny Swisher: are you lifting heavy enough? Just a reminder, but your last two reps or so of an exercise should be difficult, but you’re still able to keep proper form. That’s how you know you’re getting stronger. Just this week, I was able to go to 22 pounds on a single arm overhead press, but I started at 12 pounds just a few months ago.

[00:01:59] Jenny Swisher: By the 10th rep out of 12 yesterday, I was having to dig deep to press up, but I could still maintain proper form. That is the goal. So hopefully, whether you’re following Sync Fitness or PeriRx Fitness, or even if you’re just training on your own at home or in the gym, you’re focusing on a progressive overload training regimen.

[00:02:16] Jenny Swisher: If you are, muscle soreness is likely something that you’re experiencing as your muscles grow stronger. My goal for today’s podcast is to give you my top tips for muscle recovery, especially as a female. So let’s start, number one, with sleep. Your muscles, much like your brain and digestive system, need proper sleep in order to recover well.

[00:02:35] Jenny Swisher: You release something called growth hormone when you sleep. Growth hormone is a vital part of muscle repair, so if your sleep is disturbed, the amount of growth hormone released while you’re sleeping drops significantly. I find that most women aren’t sleeping enough. And remember, women need more sleep than men.

[00:02:51] Jenny Swisher: Typically at least 7 8 hours of sleep per night, with that being 8 9 hours a night on your period for menstruating women. As we’ve said before on this podcast, it’s not just about quantity of sleep, but quality too. Number two, replenishment post exercise with electrolytes and proper protein.

[00:03:08] Jenny Swisher: Most women are under eating protein and on top of it, most training women aren’t utilizing nutritional timing around exercise. We need at least 10 grams of protein pre workout to avoid any fasted state heading into our workout. Remember, blood sugar and cortisol are known to go haywire in fasted workouts, and that makes the workouts essentially counterproductive.

[00:03:27] Jenny Swisher: We also need 30 grams of protein post workout within 30 minutes of exercise. And if you’re in late perimenopause to menopause, make that 40 grams of protein post workout within 30 minutes of exercise. Now, likewise, we need to replenish electrolytes. Think magnesium, potassium, sea salt. Once again, most women are drinking filtered water or bottled water, but often they’re not remineralizing their water.

[00:03:50] Jenny Swisher: We need water, but we need proper electrolytes which become depleted in exercise. I will link up for you my favorite electrolyte mix, which also aids as a digestive and immune system booster. Number three, building deload into your overall progressive overload program is key. If we train hard for three weeks, we need one week where we maybe just focus more on eccentric work, or a slower tempo, where we simply deload the heavy weights with the goal of coming back stronger after the deload.

[00:04:17] Jenny Swisher: Most bodybuilders and strength competitors will tell you that the deload weeks often feel just as hard, but they are oh so needed. Number four, biohacking muscle recovery with various supplements. Now, I like creatine every single day for women, whether you’re training or not. And you want to make sure that you’re looking for creatine monohydrate because there’s so much research on its cognitive benefits and even muscle recovery benefits.

[00:04:40] Jenny Swisher: I will link up my favorite brand for you and another podcast that I did where I did a deep dive on creatine. I also love tart cherry juice before bed, either a small amount, like two to three ounces in a glass mixed with ice and sparkling water. Or I like a brand called noon rest, which I will also link up for you in the show notes.

[00:04:57] Jenny Swisher: Noon rest has significantly less sugar and more magnesium, but the tart cherry does make a nice evening mocktail. If you’re a wine drinker, consider making this a swap for more health benefits.

[00:05:08] Jenny Swisher: So why tart cherry, which is also in the noon rest? Well, tart cherry is known for boosting natural melatonin production to aid sleep and for aiding muscle recovery. Per the NIH in several research studies tart cherry lessens pain and accelerates strength recovery after exercise and decreases blood markers of inflammation and oxidative stress.

[00:05:29] Jenny Swisher: Number five, if you’re a menstruating female, incorporate cooling towels into your luteal phase. Post-workout Cooldown. Progesterone is catabolic and raises our core temperature, and therefore it makes recovery a bit more difficult in this phase of our cycle. 6. Consider a carbohydrate post workout in addition to your 30 40 grams of protein.

[00:05:51] Jenny Swisher: I like an apple or a cup of berries for added fiber, and a yummy treat. It’s great for glycogen replacement. Also, make sure that the protein you’re consuming contains BCAAs, ideally 5 7 grams. BCAAs are branched chain amino acids. Now, I use Triple Boost in my post workout regimen, along with a scoop of creatine and a cup of berries, and I’m telling you, I look forward to it every day.

[00:06:13] Jenny Swisher: In fact, you could say that it’s my motivation to work out some days. Number seven, beyond these things, there are more biohacking things that you can consider. Massages, compression socks for sore legs, ice or heat, chiropractic, of course yoga work and foam rolling, but I believe that if we focus on sleep and proper nutrition surrounding our workouts.

[00:06:32] Jenny Swisher: Both before and after, we are well ahead in optimizing muscle gain and recovery. Too many women are out there exercising blindly, doing all the cardio, not fueling before or after workouts, and they’re wondering why their bodies aren’t changing. Your bodies need strength training to change body composition, and improper fueling with that training will keep you stuck.

[00:06:52] Jenny Swisher: It’s a combination of the two that we need. I recently read a quote from Dr. Stacey Sims that said, quote, If you delay calorie intake, you stay in a breakdown state. Your body won’t start repairing until you take in some food. Even if you eat enough in the rest of your day to meet what your body needs, not eating post workout acts the same as not eating enough.

[00:07:13] Jenny Swisher: And on days when maybe you’re running around and not meeting your total energy needs, proper fueling before and after your workout can help you prevent going into a state of low energy availability. My friends, I hope this is helpful. I’m all about working smarter, not harder. And honestly, that’s what our bodies crave, too.

[00:07:30] Jenny Swisher: We don’t need to complicate things. Lift heavy shit, recover well, fuel well, repeat. I hope you found value in today’s episode. As always, my friend, thank you so much for listening. We will talk soon. Bye bye.