How to Speed Up Muscle Recovery Over 50 (Recover Like a 20 yr old)

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When you’re young, after a workout, you can go to the pub. Watch a game with friends. Head home after, and the next day, be no worse for the wear unless you ended up drinking too much, but no thought of muscle or joint pain.

Now us, older guys we go straight home from the gym or in my case, I workout at home, eat and head to bed. The next morning, when we get up, we’re reminded of our workout.

The difference is over 50; We may have lost muscle mass, our joints have incurred damage or arthritis, and our circulatory system may be compromised, supplying less nutrient-rich blood to our muscles and slowing waste removal.

Today, we’ll look at ways to speed up our recovery, starting with something called the repeat bout effect.

If you’ve been training for a while, you’ve experienced this. After your first workout on a new program or if it’s your first time working out in a long time, you’ll have more muscle damage after the first session and less and less on the following ones because the muscle adapts to protect itself from future damage.

the more active you are, and the more you use those muscles in day-to-day life the less muscle damage you’ll experience when training. This is another reason why many over 50 need more recovery time than someone younger; they aren’t as active.

Active recovery can be done post-workout to aid in flushing out lactic acid and encourage blood flow. You can cycle, do callisthenics or swim anything that is low intensity for 5 to 10 minutes

Active recovery can also be done on non-workout days to relieve stiffness and improve blood flow. Again, this shouldn’t be intense. It could be a walk or cleaning the car.

Foam rolling has been shown to reduce the effects of delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS

One study I read had them foam roll after 10 sets of squats. They did this right after and again 24 and 48 hrs later, each time for 20 minutes in 5 different locations on the legs and glutes.

Finding “foam rolling effectively reduced DOMS and associated decrements in most dynamic performance measures.”

Foam rolling isn’t something I do, but it would certainly be worth trying. I use my massage gun on areas that are sore and tight. Some areas are more susceptible to damage than others, such as calves and hamstrings.

The research on massage guns and recovery really isn’t there, but they have studied massage, with a meta-analysis published in 2017 finding, “ massage therapy after strenuous exercise could be effective for alleviating DOMS and improving muscle performance.

An interesting thing we can do with recovery is compression clothing; they did a study where the participants did squats, lunges, and calf raises with a slow 4-second eccentric or lowering phase while giving them a small electric pulse to intensify the contraction. After comparing their recovery with the control group, the researchers “recommended athletes wear compression tights for faster recovery, particularly after intense exercise with a pronounced eccentric aspect.”

water and hydration are the unsung heroes of recovery.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends “drinking 16 to 20 fluid ounces 4 hours before exercise, hydrate according to your thirst during exercise and drink 16 to 24 ounces of fluid for every pound lost post-exercise.”

One of the best supplements to help us with recovery is creatine
Protein, sleep, including naps, and when you should and shouldn’t use cold water immersion

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I’m only 26 but I watch all ur videos ! I don’t drink, don’t smoke but I train and hope in my 50s I look like you! This channel is not just for over 50s it’s also for people like me and my age group who want to be prepared ! Love it

DUBLL

Interesting topic. I am 57 years old, the strenght and endurance is still there, but the recovery takes longer.
I also experimented with creatine, but it increased my blood pressure.

Kurikost_

Another informative and entertaining video. At 49 years old I hard foam roll before going to bed most nights of the week. I hold certain foam rolling positions (specifically when rolling the groin) to stretch that area 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. I use a hard rubber ball against a wall to hit muscle knots for my back, traps and neck as needed. Doing these stretches, hard foam rolling and self-trigger point work helps greatly with sleeping at night and waking up feeling good. I too do use a thumper on really sore areas as well as a deep penetrating heating pad as needed. And as you stated...water/hydration is very important also. Great work encouraging people of all ages and ability levels to work out. :)

BlaineDP

63 year old here, I do two times a week with 3 day soreness but working on stretching, heating,sleeping,hydration,and hot tub .

sipapito

I live on nothing but beef, chicken, eggs Celtic salt, cayenne pepper and water. ALL the old guy stuff vanished and I workout like a mad man 6 days a week. Weights, long runs and #80+ lb ruck marches. I'm 59.

scotthorton

Great advice…at 66 I find when I train heavy a workout every 3 days recovery works best for me…if lighter I can often workout 3x a week. I cycle my training intensity weekly as well..and yes, Creatine helps as does magnesium for me. In my case I prefer largely whole body workouts. Stretching before a workout also key for me. Great advice once again, especially active rest on off days!

gordon

I've found that conditioning on off days helps speed up recovery and ward off DOMS.

NikkiNexo

I really needed this, as in being mid 60's, I still have good strength, but my endurance is crap as compared to when I was younger and recovery time takes a lot longer

mercenarymike

I remember when I first started weight training, I did 4 sets of 12 flat dumbbell press, only 15 pounders, and my chest was sore for 5 days after and I couldn’t even lift my arms 😂

I’m in my 30s but I think my recovery still takes longer than usual, so these are some good tips, thanks 🙏

IntegraDIY

I’ve found heat is my best recovery method Laurence so I go on a sun bed once a week a long with using heat pads to ease any lower back issues

GreyWolfFitness

Always a physio knowledge boost Laurence! Thank You

Coltbreath

Massage gun helps me a lot too. I do it a couple hours after a workout when I start feeling a bit sore.

katzsteel

Thumbs up for a happy ending massage 👍 best recovery ever plus a litre of milk 🥛

AndyL

Hi Larry! It's time again for a greeting from your loyal follower from Germany.

schafchenschlau

Hello Laurence -

I was hoping you'd be kind enough to answer a question for me regarding an alternative method to eating in a weekly caloric surplus.

My body fat levels are below 15% at this point & I'd like to start a "bulking" caloric surplus plan in order to put on muscle mass. Where it gets complicated for me is - I personally feel & perform much better when I keep my calories either at maintenance - or even in a modest caloric deficit on most days - especially while I'm busy with work & training several times a week at the gym. I think more clearly - I don't feel bloated - & I have more consistent energy levels when I eat in this manner.

Was wondering...as long as I eat the right foods & get enough protein - while eating frequent balanced meals on a daily basis - could I still achieve decent muscle building/"bulking" results by eating all or most of my weekly surplus calories on a single day of the week - while remaining in a modest caloric deficit or maintenance calorie level on the other 6 days?

To be clear - I'm referring to a single balanced heavy calorie "feast day" that brings my total overall collective weekly calorie intake into the appropriate surplus range.

So - for example - if 2700 total calories a day would put me into the appropriate daily caloric surplus range for bulking - could I just eat 2100 calories a day for 6 days - & then on the 7th day have a balanced 6300 calorie "feast day" - & still get good results for my efforts - or would doing a caloric surplus "bulk" in this "alternate" fashion somehow render the process ineffective?

If it could work for its intended purpose - doing a "bulk" in this manner would allow me to feel better for most of the week & plan my activities accordingly around a single "lazy day" of indulgence.

Thank you for reading :)

jacksonxbaj