Which muscle takes the longest to recover?

The human body has more than 650 muscles that help us in almost everything we do on a daily basis. The ones that are used for mobility (not the ones that help you smile or move your eyebrows), lifting objects, those in the legs, arms, core, etc… are muscles that can be trained with exercise. A question then arises: Which takes longer to recover?

This group is called “skeletal muscles“: “They have a great capacity for adaptation, changing both their content and their shape more than any other organ,” he indicates. Wikipedia. They are attached to bones and are necessary to give strength to our motor skills. These are the ones that can be exercised and also affect the body if they are not working well.

The truth is that muscle recovery is as important as training, since if you do not rest well or enough to recover it, the effort could be excessive and end up with an injury that leads to temporarily stopping physical activity: this is never advisable . Nutrition, quality sleep and adequate training methods are keys to muscle recovery.

Which muscle takes the longest to recover?

The first thing to say is that this will greatly depend on each person’s genetics. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that recovering the muscles between 24 and 48 hours so as not to overload them with exercise does not equate to having to resort to other treatments due to the muscle injuries.

Some studies, such as the one entitled “Temporal evolution of muscle protein synthesis after intense resistance exercise“detailed in various medical publications and the US National Library of Medicine. (NIH) indicate that the period for complete muscle recovery is between from 48 to 72 hours.

In this they make the distinction that the small muscles such as those of the arms (biceps, triceps, etc.), the deltoids of the shoulders, the abdominals and the soleus of the legs, require less rest time compared to large muscles (pectorals, back and legs such as quadriceps).

What about injuries?

Muscles can be tear, which is the tear or tear of the muscle fiber, but they can also have other types of injuries. The recovery time from a tear varies depending on several factors, beyond which the muscle is injured. For example, the type and extent of the muscle tear, the treatment received and the person suffering from it (weight, age, gender, etc.).

Depending on the degree of the tear (1 mild, 2 moderate, and 3 severe), it can take anywhere from eight to ten days to one to three months. Obviously, a tear is not the same as a muscular effort. In all these cases it is necessary to consult a specialist.

According to Medline Plus, the détente It “occurs when a muscle is subjected to excessive stretching and part of it tears”. “It is also called a muscle strain. A strain is a painful injury. It can be caused by an accident, overuse or inappropriate use of a muscle,” they explain.