How to Prevent Muscle Fatigue

Whether you're a weekend warrior or a professional athlete, muscle fatigue's probably one of your biggest enemies. Regardless of your sport, muscle fatigue affects your strength, power, balance, speed and endurance. Unless you're an absolute machine, you'll have to take certain steps in order to prevent muscle fatigue from setting in and ruining your day.

Instructions

1. Improve your aerobic capacity. Even Olympic sprinters do some form of endurance work (usually three to four-hundred meter intervals), and the added boost of oxygen in your blood will keep your muscles happy.

2. Spend some time strengthening your muscles. You can customize your strength training routines to fit the demands of your sport, and you'll make your body run more efficiently.

3. Stay hydrated while you're working out. Water's good, but depending on your exertion level you might be better off with an electrolyte-rich sports drink like Gatorade or Powerade.

4. Eat a balanced, nutritious diet that includes protein, carbs, fruits and vegetables. Carbs give you energy to last through tough training sessions, while protein helps your muscles rebuild after being broken down during exercise.

5. Improve your biomechanical form. Learning to move more efficiently saves your muscles from working overtime to keep you going.

6. Consume a reasonable mixture of protein and carbs soon after you work out. Generally, it's best to get your meal in within one hour of last exercising. This helps your body repair and refuel itself, reducing your fatigue over the following days.