When it comes to adequately recovering from tough workouts in time to hit the next one, it stands to reason that kicking back and relaxing is the best course of (non) action, but according to a new study from the University of Ottawa, it turns out there might be such a thing as too relaxed. The study suggests that if you want to speed up your leg-day recovery so that you’re not groaning every time you sit down, the answer might be not sitting down so much in the first place.
The Research
In this pilot study, researchers put participants through an intense lower-body workout designed to push their muscles to their limits. They then tracked their recovery over several days, measuring key markers like muscle soreness, perceived exertion, and strength retention using peak torque tests (which assess how much force a muscle can generate). They also took blood samples and measured the levels of chemicals that indicate muscle inflammation. Participants then recorded their daily sitting time, giving researchers an insight into how sedentary behaviour might affect muscle recovery.
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The Results
The verdict? Well, this study seems in indicate that the more you sit, the slower you recover. Participants who spent more time parked on their backsides reported higher levels of muscle soreness, took longer to regain strength, and felt like their workouts were tougher compared to those who moved more throughout the day. Researchers believe that prolonged sitting could be restricting blood flow, limiting the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to recovering muscles – slowing down the repair process.
What This Means For Us
If you want to speed up your recovery and get back to training harder, sooner, it might be time to rethink how much you’re sitting during the day. You don’t have to overhaul your life: small changes like taking walking breaks, using a standing desk, or stretching every hour could make a big difference by keeping blood flowing and nutrients circulating.
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Of course, this doesn’t mean you should start pacing your living room instead of getting quality sleep or proper nutrition. But if you’re looking for an easy way to improve your recovery without adding another supplement, device or complicated routine, standing up more often might just be the simplest fix out there.We’ll chalk this one up to another big win for small, manageable lifestyle changes.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health UK.
