Muscle Recovery

Personal Best

Whether you're training for something or just want to get a bit fitter for the summer, what's your routine after exercise? Stretch, have a warm bath and eat protein? Or is it more likely you'll have some cake and slump in front of the tv?! Gillian Russell visits Perth College and asks if it's time we paid a bit more attention to our muscles after we exercise...? Physiotherapist Sarah Watts explains what happens to our muscles during and after exercise and why the right kind of recovery is important. Dale Roberson, lecturer in sport and fitness at Perth College, describes what active recovery is all about and how we can implement it into our routine. Andy Murray famously recovers his muscles by plunging himself into an ice bath - what is the extreme cold doing and would some kind of freezing treatment be useful for the rest of us non-elite athletes? David Jenkins from Sports Therapy Scotland uses cryotherapy for pain management and exercise recovery ... so Richard Forbes goes to meet him to find out just how cold is cold? Dr Olly Witard, Senior Lecturer in Sport at the University of Stirling, explains why protein is important for muscle recovery, how much we should be eating and what kind is best. Gavin Cooper, leader of the Sports Massage Course at Perth College, talks about how muscles can benefit from massage and demonstrates some techniques we could use at home.