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Regular exercise has been shown to increase lifespan, strengthen bones and muscles, reduce disease, and even improve brain health. Even small, consistent efforts like gardening or taking a walk with the dog can make a difference in your overall health. Going to the gym can offer both cardio and resistance exercises for more rigorous physical activity. And then some active adults go beyond the average gym workout: they are highly trained athletes who do regular, intense exercise and undergo significant oxidative stress – sometimes even going to high altitude for additional training.
Yet, exercising too hard can leave you feeling sore and exhausted. You may think you’ve heard all the tricks in the book for resilience after a workout: more stretching, drinking pickle juice, foam rolling, and more. While movement is good for you, even basic, everyday movement generates oxidative stress on a cellular level. Rigorous workouts (at regular or high altitudes) especially increase free radical levels in the body. However, no matter what your active lifestyle looks like, a Kaneka Ubiquinol® supplement is a smart choice for keeping antioxidant and free radical levels balanced to combat oxidative stress, so you can maintain cellular wellness.
Follow these seven simple guidelines to avoid injury, restore cellular energy levels after a rigorous workout, and maintain healthy mitochondrial wellness as part of your active lifestyle.
1. Incorporate a Cool Down Into Your Exercise Routine
When you finish your workout, start with a cool down while your muscles are still warm. A simple five-minute walk will help your heart rate and body temperature return to normal, which can reduce feelings of lightheadedness or dizziness.
Adding stretching to your post-workout routine can increase flexibility and range of motion — and some athletes also report a reduction in pain and muscle stiffness. For ideas for simple cool-down exercises, try this handy guide from Healthline.
Read More: Explore How Stretching Supports Longevity as You Age
2. Rehydrate After Exercise
It’s important to hydrate after a workout, especially if you worked up a sweat. During an intense workout, you can sweat between 1% and 4% of your body weight every hour, and you’ll want to replace those liquids to protect against dehydration.
Water is always a good go-to, but you can also try drinks such as coconut water, tea, protein-rich chocolate milk, or low-sugar sports drinks that contain electrolytes that have been shown to relieve muscle cramping. Other foods and beverages that contain electrolytes include bananas, milk, watermelon, orange juice, and even pickle juice!
Read More: Looking for Ways to Drink More Water? Check Out These 5 Tips
3. Eat a Healthy Post-Workout Snack
Aim to eat a healthy snack within 45 minutes of completing your workout, especially if you’re engaged in endurance sports or are trying to build muscle. This will help refuel your body’s stores of glycogen, the main fuel source used during long bouts of aerobic exercise.
Stock your kitchen with healthy proteins like dairy, eggs, lean meat, fish, nuts, and quality protein bars. In addition to protein shakes, healthy carbs like whole grain pasta, oatmeal, fresh fruit, sweet potato, whole wheat bread, quinoa, and legumes are also great for a quick energy boost.
Read More: Heart Healthy Recipes & Snacks
4. Massage and Bath Therapy for Sore Muscles
Sometimes the best thing you can do after a workout is to indulge yourself. Try taking a relaxing hot bath with Epsom salts, getting a massage, or using a foam roller on aching muscles.
In addition to relieving soreness and helping lower stress levels, recent studies found that massage increases the percentage of regenerating muscle fibers. Just don’t wait too long to treat yourself — the same study found massage had the most impact when done immediately after exercise.
Can Hot/Cold Therapy Help Sore Muscles?
Many athletes swear by ice baths and contrast water therapy (alternating hot and cold showers) to reduce muscle soreness and speed recovery — but there are a few things you should know about this kind of therapy.
Hot therapy has been shown to reduce joint stiffness and muscle spasm, helping relax tight muscles. Meanwhile, cold therapy (also called cryotherapy) can ease pain while reducing swelling and inflammation.
Despite its popularity, it should be noted that icing has its detractors. According to physician Gabe Mirkin, who once helped popularize cold therapy’s use as part of the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) method, new evidence suggests that inflammation is, in fact, your body’s way of healing. Mirkin cautions that icing can delay this healing response.
When in doubt, be sure to take cues from your body — and don’t be afraid to take a day or two to let your body rest (more on that below).
Read More: Want to Learn More About the Science of Exercise? Start Here
5. Try Light Exercise on Your Recovery Day
Not every workout needs to be super intense — in fact, it’s a good idea to alternate high-intensity workouts with gentler recovery workouts. Whether it’s walking, swimming, yoga, or other forms of low-impact exercise, research suggests that lower-intensity exercise is the most effective way to recover from sore muscles, or DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).1
As a general rule of thumb, aim to have 24-72 hours of rest between rigorous training sessions involving the same body parts. Your ideal recovery period could extend from a day, for a regular workout, to up to a week when recovering from a 10K race, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE) Scientific Advisory Panel.
Recovery Tip For Older Athletes:
Research from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health suggests that older muscles take longer to recover after heavy exercise. If you’re feeling sore from a tennis match, skiing, weight lifting, running, or other form of intensive exercise, it’s okay to take a day or two to enjoy a walk in the park or a leisurely bike ride!
6. Rest Your Body and Mind
Did you know your body produces its own muscle-building hormones while you sleep, including human growth hormone?
During NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep, blood flow to your muscles increases and tissue growth and repair occurs. During REM sleep the muscles relax, which can help sore muscles recover. Getting quality sleep each night, or even taking a short power nap during the afternoon, can aid muscle recovery.
Managing stress levels is equally important. Try meditation, yin yoga, breathing techniques, a hike in nature — or even just listening to relaxing music. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found that listening to slow-tempo songs following exercise can help reduce your heart rate and get your blood lactate (an indirect marker for fatigue) back down to resting levels more quickly.2
Here are some practical muscle recovery tips: prioritize consistent sleep, manage stress, and give your body downtime to repair.
7. Consider a Kaneka Ubiquinol® Supplement
An active lifestyle is important for maintaining health, but there is more to an active lifestyle than rest, food, and massages. Thanks to its antioxidant properties, Kaneka Ubiquinol® supports individuals who live different active lifestyles. By keeping free radicals and antioxidant levels in check, it supports everyone — from those who take their dog on daily walks to those who hit the gym a few times a week to competitive athletes doing strenuous workouts — sometimes at high altitude.
During rigorous exercise, or exercise at high altitudes, your body experiences an increased need for cellular energy production. This high energy demand, in effect, generates free radicals as a byproduct. When the number of free radicals outnumbers the number of antioxidants, this causes cellular damage and oxidative stress — a key component of premature aging. In addition, this damage can hinder muscle function, cause muscle fatigue, reduce performance, and prolong recovery time.3
Kaneka Ubiquinol®’s antioxidant properties make it ideal for supporting cellular wellness during exercise and balancing oxidative stress.4 For athletes doing strenuous exercise at normal altitude as well as high altitude (with limited oxygen), Kaneka Ubiquinol® increases resilience and enhances peak power production.5,6 At high altitude, it enhances cardiovascular function and oxygen intake.7,8
There are many ways to rest after a workout, but this fact is for sure: Adding a Kaneka Ubiquinol® supplement to your workout regimen can be a great addition to your post-workout recovery, thanks to its role in cellular support.
The Benefits of Movement and Rest for Longevity
Remember, remaining active is important for long-term well-being, but balancing that with rest, positive lifestyle habits, and supplementation can round out your wellness journey. Whatever exercise routine you choose, listen to your body’s signals to ensure you are fully rested between workouts and are ready for the next challenge.
*Always consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise program or adding a new supplement to your regimen.
