BE CLOCKWISE

This breakthrough scientific study shows how to determine optimum recovery time.

FLEX often extols the importance of allowing proper recovery time to optimise muscle growth and strength gains. Typically, it is counterproductive to train a muscle again before it has fully recovered from a workout. Muscle recovery entails several stages that are initiated immediately after a workout and continue for several days, depending on how intensely the muscle was trained. The more intense the workout, the more muscle-fibre damage and the longer the muscle takes to fully recover.
The general rule that most bodybuilders follow is to allow a minimum of 48 hours of rest before training the same muscle group again. Many bodybuilders allow seven days of rest for major bodyparts. Bodybuilding is an individual endeavour, though, and what works well for one athlete may not necessarily work well for another. Just as one training method doesn’t fit all, one recovery scheme doesn’t necessarily fit all.

STAIRWAY TO MUSCLE | It’s true that the easiest way to ensure adequate recovery for your muscle fibres is to refrain from training them again for a full week. However, that doesn’t mean seven days is your optimal rest period. Not allowing adequate recovery time can be detrimental to your progress in the gym, but resting too long can also curtail your gains as dictated by the physiology of muscle recovery and growth.
Immediately after you train a muscle, genes within the muscle fibres become activated, initiating many processes that lead to muscle growth. Activating muscle genes isn’t like turning a switch on or off. There are levels of activation, ranging from very little to a lot. Most genes stay activated for only a few days after training.

If you wait to train a muscle until it and its genes are completely rested, then you start from zero the next time you work out. However, if you train a muscle before its gene activity returns to resting levels, you can expect greater gains.

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