Help your body recover

If rest is so good for avid exercisers, then the next question they may ask is how they can help the recovery process along.

Start by replenishing water, carbohydrates and protein, ideally within two hours after working out, when muscles are most receptive to absorbing the nutrients. Many experts recommend eating a ratio of 1 gram of protein to every 4 grams of carbohydrates.

The best way to determine the amount of carbohydrates needed is to convert your weight to kilograms and consume 1 gram of carbohydrates for every kilogram of body weight, says Scott Trappe, director of the Ball State University Human Performance Lab. The widely accepted formula evolved from a series of studies conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Thus, a 155-pound man would weigh 70 kilograms, and should eat 70 grams of carbohydrates, and a fourth of that, or 17.5 grams, of protein at his next meal. Hydration is also important. Trappe says it doesn’t have to be any more complicated than noting the color of your urine. If it’s too yellow, drink more water.

And rest. “People are afraid of rest,” he says. “But rest makes you strong.”

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-- Marnell Jameson