Muscle rebuilding

[nick_n]

how long does it take for a muscle to rebuild itself?

i always heard 48 hours but a lot of people are telling me different.

does taking creatine and protein have an effect on how fast they rebuild?

[Karl]

I have heard 48-72 hrs, i do each body part once a week.
I don't know how much creatine helps muscles heal, but protein is important

[Melissa]

In the book, A Practical Approach to Strength Training, written by Matt Brzycki, he suggests that a period of 48-72 hours is usually the appropriate recovery time for a muscle. Althougth keep in mind that every individual is different and recovery time may be shorter or longer. Brzycki also states that the muscle begins to lose size and strength if it is not exerciszed within 96 hours of the previous workout.

[cursor]

The question of how much rest is required to recooperate your muscles will depend on how hard you work them (intensity & volume). Of equal importance is how your nutrition dovetails (or doesn't) with your workout schedule. If you really know what you're doing you can work the same muscles quite frequently and achieve great results.

[wm009]

Most people work them once a week. I can say, I've been doing much better then everyother day or few days.

You might do this,
monday - back, biceps, abs
wednesday - chest, shoulders, triceps
Friday - legs and calves

Each week you hit all your main muscles, and you give yourself plenty of time to allow them to repair and to rip into the weights again next week.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by nick_n

how long does it take for a muscle to rebuild itself?

i always heard 48 hours but a lot of people are telling me different.

does taking creatine and protein have an effect on how fast they rebuild?

Like Cursor said, it depends on how well you worked the muscle. If you go in and do a half-assed job, then of course, there won't be too much muscle break down or stimulation for growth, so the repair time needed will be significantly less than if you went in and maximally overloaded the muscle and stimulated more growth.

Yes, protein does play a BIG role in how fast and how well you recuperate as well...and if you do not take in enough protein post workout, and with meals thereafter, you will for sure not get the growth you'd expect. No protein = no muscle ...plain and simple...protein is the building blocks of muscle construction, without it or without it at the right times and often enough, your gains will be short-changed.

As well as a whey protein shake, I believe taking creatine along with a simple carb drink immediately after each workout is crucial to kickstarting growth and the recuperation process. Without a carb drink, your body initially will have no energy replenishment it craves after intense exercise. Not giving your body glucose replenishment alone, could break your results from the previous training session. Creatine is a supplement proven time and time again to increase ATP (energy) muscle cell regeneration and output, increase muscle water retention, etc., and all of this leads to better nutrient uptake within the muscle cells...and this leads to quicker and better overall recuperation and MORE growth!

[NateDogg]

Originally Posted by Todd

If you go in and do a half-assed job, then of course, there won't be too much muscle break down or stimulation for growth, so the repair time needed will be significantly less than if you went in and maximally overloaded the muscle and stimulated more growth.

Also known to some of the world's strongest individuals (see Westside) as training intelligently. Each week they have a Max Effort day and a Dynamic Effort day. I guess they train "half-assed" though if they're able to train more than once per week.

EDIT: I know we've been over this before, but you really should stop equating not training to failure every time out as "half-assed" training. It's simply not always the case.

[Todd]

EDIT: I know we've been over this before, but you really should stop equating not training to failure every time out as "half-assed" training. It's simply not always the case.

I don't believe I directly mentioned or intentionally associated "going to failure" in my previous post. I simply meant, if you stimulate the muscle more during training, you will have therefore done more damage and require longer rest for that muscle group, than if you had stimulated the muscle less..that is all I meant. I was speaking in a general sense of terms.

[NateDogg]

Originally Posted by Todd

I don't believe I directly mentioned or intentionally associated "going to failure" in my previous post. I simply meant, if you stimulate the muscle more during training, you will have therefore done more damage and require longer rest for that muscle group, than if you had stimulated the muscle less..that is all I meant. I was speaking in a general sense of terms.

You stated the following:

"repair time needed will be significantly less than if you went in and maximally overloaded the muscle and stimulated more growth."

Where: "maximally overloaded the muscle" (in the terms you have used in the past) meant training to failure.

Therefore, using logic, it follows that if you are not training to failure, then you are training half assed.

If this is not correct, then when do you consider a muscle to be "maximally overloaded?" It was my understanding that you train to "failure" because that is when your muscles have been "maximally overloaded."

[Todd]

Again, sorry, I may have used the wrong words with that first post... I guess what I should of said and meant to say was....... dependant upon the degree of stimualtion the muscles receive during training, your muscles therefore will require longer or shorter rest and therefore recuperation will be longer or shorter dependant on the degree you worked the muscle on that previous training session. Sorry for the confusion.

[NateDogg]

Agreed. Thank you for clarifying.